One of the joys of getting deeper and deeper into roots music and covering the world of roots music is finding out about its figureheads and cornerstones and, put in less art-fart terms, important people of the field. That would be Neal Casal in this case, a man whose work I’m not terribly well-versed in but whose impact and influence is now impressed on me thanks to Highway Butterfly.
When this many people come together to cover your songs to honor you after you die, this many people who make such different kinds of roots music and come from so many varied backgrounds, then you know your life had meaning. Highway Butterfly is a big, lumbering, all-around elegant record, and it shows just how much Casal meant to his world.
You can read my full review over at No Depression.
A Constant Visual Feast 