Neal Morse has released a video for ‘Livin’ Lightly’. The song is opening track of his new solo album, “Life & Times,” which will be released on February 16th on Radiant Records via Metal Blade Records/SONY on all digital outlets, as well as CD and vinyl. The video can be watched below below.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading progressive rock (“prog”) musicians, there is now no doubt that Neal Morse is a “big success,” but his desire to move people through his music burns brighter than ever. Now in his mid-fifties and his children grown up, there is a sense on Life & Times that Morse is looking around and taking stock.
“I’ve come through a lot of difficult times and I’m in a fairly content place now,” he says. “You can feel that on some of the songs.” Much of this ‘acoustic-orientated, singer/songwriter’ album was written while he was travelling around the world on The Road Called Home tour in 2017, with some of the songs being inspired by the places he visited, while others are from spending time with his family.
For example, ‘Manchester By The Sea’ is a musical portrait of that notorious rarity—a sunny day in Manchester, England—when Morse was sitting in a coffee shop watching the world go by. ‘Selfie In The Square’ captures what he saw walking around Luxembourg City, hearing the cathedral bells and children playing, but realizing what a difference it makes to share these experiences. “Luxembourg was really nice, but I knew that if my wife was there, it would feel like a holiday, so I wrote a song about it to send to her,” he explains.
Born in 1960 to a musical Californian family, Morse played in many bands during his youth. He learned and mastered several instruments along the way. In 1995, he wrote and recorded The Light with his new band, Spock’s Beard. It was an album grounded strongly in the then-unfashionable progressive rock genre. The album and title song became modern prog classics, and began to bring Morse and the band global recognition. In 2000, he also joined forces with Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Pete Trewavas (Marillion) and Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) to form Transatlantic, a prog supergroup that went on to win the PROG Magazine Award for “Album of the Year.”
Neal Morse’s solo work has focused almost entirely on music with a strong message of redemption, beginning with 2003’s Testimony – a two-disc musical account of his spiritual journey – and most recently with The Neal Morse Band’s PROG Magazine Award nominee, The Similitude Of A Dream, based on John Bunyan’s classic allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress.
In touring news, Morse is hoping to move more people with these songs at some “absolutely solo” shows in cafes and small venues throughout the US and Europe in 2018. Check out Neal Morse at the following tour stops (with more dates to be added in the coming weeks on his official website):
Upcoming Shows:
February
20 – Boston, MA – Club Passim
22 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater
23 – New York, NY – The Cutting Room
March
17 – Denver, CO – The Soiled Dove
22 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic
23 – Charlotte, NC – The Evening Muse
28 – Mesa, AZ – Make Weird Music HQ
30 – Whittier, CA – Whittier Theater
April
3 – San Francisco, CA – Hotel Utah
5 – Portland, OR – The Old Church Concert Hall
6 – Seattle, WA – The Triple Door
12 – Evanston, IL – Space
13 – St. Louis, MO – Blueberry Hill Duck Room
14 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall
18 – Quebec City, QC – TBA
19 – Montreal, QC – TBA
21 – Toronto, ON – The Great Hall
Tracklisting:
Livin’ Lightly
Good Love Is On The Way
JoAnna
Selfie In The Square
He Died At Home
She’s Changed Her Mind
Wave On The Ocean
You + Me + Everything
Manchester
Lay Low
Old Alabama
If I Only Had A Day
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / Website
Video for ‘Livin’ Lightly’
Video for ‘He Died At Home’