Neil w Young

.. .. ..NEIL w YOUNG.. .. ..
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The dream is not the destination, it is the journey ...
"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"One morning a couple of summers ago," Neil says reflectively, "I found myself at that place characterized by the great New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra: 'If you come to a fork in the road, take it.'
"I did ... and I took it," he says, matter-of-factly.
"It was obviously my lucky day," he adds. "In a round-about way it led me back to my country roots, back to the sweet memories of my teen years, and thankfully, back to my music."
He is now following his heart and living his lifelong dream with the release in August of 2007 of his debut CD album, "No Looking Back", as well as performing in local venues in Southern Ontario.
He attributes this life-changing event to being in the right place at the right time that led to the propitious opportunity in the summer of 2005 to meet Ray Lyell, an accomplished musician, recording artist and vocal instructor in Hamilton Ontario.
"Ray played a major role in making my life-long dream come true," Neil says.
Neil's roots are deep country, proudly reflecting his early years growing up on the family farm in part of the now slowly disappearing tobacco heartland of Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Strengthening his country roots was time spent during his pre and early teen years working on weekends and during summer months in the family owned John Deere Farm Equipment Dealership, Neil Young & Sons, near the town of Simcoe. Years later he operated and managed the business with his father.
"Farming and John Deere's," he says pensively. "You don’t get much more country than that."
After the implement business was sold, Neil continued farming for several more years as well as serving in various management positions with the Ponderosa Steak House Chain of Restaurants while he continued to lay the groundwork for the beginning of his entrepreneurial career in real estate development with projects in Ontario and Las Vegas Nevada. Locally, Neil developed the Royal Highland Estates subdivision just a few miles south of where he now lives in Paris.
This period in his life led to wanderings and ponderings around San Bernardino, Palm Springs and Palm Desert in California, and as far up the Golden State as Mendocino, as well as through the mountains in Colorado and into the desert in Arizona - all part of what he fondly calls 'Paradise Country'.
He reminisces often of the spell, mystery and solitude of his times in the Arizona desert. "It is an inspirational place," he muses fondly. "I know that in a way it silently spurred my return to songwriting after a prolonged absence.
"There is just something about the desert," Neil says wistfully, "that inspires the mind. It has a magical, mystical ambience - a way of reaching into the heart and touching the soul that results in feelings and emotions that become words that become lyrics that become a melody and then a song."
Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, in 1985 Neil founded Rhapsody On Ice, an International Ice Skating Show comprised of Ontario based figure skating stars and world professional championship skaters. He took the show around the world for seven years under the banner of the motto that he trademarked for the troupe: '… hold on tight to your dream ...'
The troupe performed in places such as Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, England, Spain and Denmark, and in Florida, Arizona, California and Hawaii in the U.S., as well as at shows in Ontario and Alberta Canada – with stops along the way in South Korea, China, Macau, France and the Fiji Islands.
The crowning moment for 'Rhapsody On Ice' for Neil came when the troupe received a standing ovation from the audience after a performance at 'Skate Asia' held in the Hong Kong Coliseum in 1989. 'Rhapsody On Ice' was featured in the show along with 'Ice Follies' stars Richard Dwyer (Mr. Debonair) and Gertie Desjardines.
“There is no way to describe the feeling and exhilaration of that one complete and so very special moment,” Neil remarked. "It has a very special place in my box of treasured memories."
While managing and directing 'Rhapsody On Ice', Neil had the opportunity to promote several 'Oldies' concerts in Ontario featuring 1950’s and 1960’s recording stars Jan and Dean and Bobby Vinton.

In addition to his long-standing interest in music and song writing, it was not uncommon for Neil to be balancing several of his various entrepreneurial projects at the same time, such as the art print and poster publishing company, Southwind Editions - 'The Fine Art Of Living', that he formed and managed during the 1990's.
Following the sale of his real estate interests, Neil considers it another stroke of good luck that he was asked to become involved in an administrative capacity in the production of the documentary film, 'Piaf … Her Story, Her Songs', about the life of the fabled wartime French songstress, Edith Piaf.
That involvement took him to the Lucas Film Studio at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in California. Neil was given a credit in the film as Special Consultant. The film is available on DVD at Amazon.com.
Neil considers himself to be one of the 'lucky ones' having lived and loved his teen years through the legendary 1950's Country Rockabilly era and the dawning of Rock 'n Roll when Elvis took the stage and the world by storm with his hit record "Heartbreak Hotel".
It should come as no great surprise then that Neil's music and lyrics are coloured and shaped by those wonderfully free and inspiring times and experiences.
"Perhaps in a way through my music," he reflects longingly, "I’m going back to the Fifties. Then again, maybe I never really left.
"Yes," he reminisces nostalgically after a brief silence. "Those really were the days."
"It was absolutely wonderful to be a part of that time and those days," Neil adds. It is hard not to notice the warm glow of nostalgia in his eyes.
That combination of early rock, gospel, blues and country rockabilly mystique was driven to simmering levels during sultry summer evenings on lake-blown breezes in places like the fondly remembered Summer Gardens dance pavilion in Port Dover on the northern shore of Lake Erie.
The Arkansas rockabilly sounds of the then newly relocated Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, richly flavored and seasoned almost overnight by the unique musical style and sound brought to his band by new members from the nearby area in and around the tobacco fields of southern Ontario, still echo fondly in the memories of many who recall those electric charged performances by 'Mr. Dynamo' and his band, The Hawks at the now long gone Summer Gardens.
The fusion of those unique musical sounds greatly influenced Neil's own musical tastes and appetite.
They were shaped even further by his years working in sun-baked tobacco fields mingling with the traditions of Dixie and sounds of the deep South that were brought into his life by fellow workers from the Carolina's and Georgia.
The confluence of those early experiences eventually gave life to Neil's own hybrid sound and musical genre described by his many fans as Country Rockabilly with the "Country" the way Country music should be - pure and honest and from the heart.
From tumbleweeds drifting along old Route 66 and flashy 1950's convertibles, to rusted out flatbed trucks and walking down railroad tracks, it is hard not to picture Johnny Cash here. Even more so with Neil's self-effacing western lilt and a soft southern drawl influenced in part during his teens while toiling in summer sun-baked Southern Ontario tobacco fields alongside his co-workers from the Carolina’s and Georgia.
How, or why, he kept it all buried and tucked away neatly in the background of his life for so long remains a mystery, even to him, although it may be partly symptomatic of his somewhat private and complex nature and character.
Ask him now where the words and feelings for his music comes from and Neil will tell you quite philosophically:
"Many of the words and feelings for the lyrics that I wrote in my late teens and early twenties came from a combination of the music I was listening to at that time and from some of my own experiences during those impressionable years.
"In later years and now, they come mostly from what I call my well of life - my inner self - from memories of those young emotions of romance, love, hopes and dreams, and from other times and roads that I have traveled along the way.
"Those memories and roads weave an endless tapestry of images and melody of sounds through the quiet, deep corners of my mind. I've had lots of time to reminisce over the depth and contents of that well, and have drawn words and feelings from it for my debut album, "No Looking Back".
One of Neil's most treasured memorabilia items is the hand written letter that he received in 1986 from Harriet Nelson, Rick Nelson's mother and one of the stars of the 1950's TV show, "The Ozzie & Harriet Show", thanking him for the lyrics to the song that he had written in tribute and memory of Rick on the New Year's Eve that Rick was killed in the plane crash in Texas. The letter is framed and hanging in a place of honor in Neil's music room.
In addition to writing the lyrics and music for the songs on his debut CD album, Neil is currently writing the songs for his next album as well as trying to complete his long delayed novel. A friend had planted the seed for the novel in Neil's mind during his graduation year at university. She had read some of his writings at the time and asked him to promise that one day he would write a novel. It sat waiting patiently on one of the many shelves in his mind for the right time to arrive to begin to put its words to paper.
Neil attributes the trigger that resulted in him finally putting pen to paper so to speak, to the special friendship that he developed with Rosie Hamlin of 'Rosie And The Originals'. Rosie and her group topped the charts in 1961 with the hit single, "Angel Baby".
"Rosie's encouragement and confidence that I had a book in me just waiting to be written was the spark that finally set the novel in motion," Neil says appreciatively.
One can tell from the sound of fulfillment in Neil's voice as he speaks about the enjoyment that flows from the creative process of both writing the novel and songwriting that he loves what he is doing now.
"Having the opportunity to perform my music and songs on stage and to have so many people enjoy my songs and music is truly the icing on the cake for me," Neil says with an obvious glow of satisfaction and appreciation for the many fans that have discovered him and his music over the past year.
He is extremely happy with the way his debut CD album has turned out, with special thanks, he is quick to add, to the talented musicians who worked and performed on it with him - Ray Lyell on acoustic, electric and bass guitar, keyboard and harmonica, Gary Borden on lead guitar, Ken Baird on piano and Steve Petrie on pedal steel guitar and fiddle.
"These guys are some of the finest musicians in Canada," Neil says proudly. "I am so lucky to have had them working with me on the album."
Sharing vocals with Neil on one of the tracks on his debut album is Paula Tessaro.
"Paula brings that special touch and charm that I was hoping for right from the very first session in the recording studio," Neil adds. "I am fortunate to have Paula's talent and professional experience grace my album with her beautiful voice."
Also known as 'Skip' to his family and close friends, Neil is a Western Ontario Secondary School Honour Athlete and graduate of Burford District High School, Burford Ontario, and of Waterloo Lutheran University - now known as Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo Ontario. He also holds what he considers to be a hard earned Masters Degree from the University of Life!!!
Neil's professional affiliations include the Canadian Country Music Association, Nashville Songwriters Association International, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Independent Artist Company, SOCAN and ASCAP.
He began singing as a young boy in the choir in the small rural church that he attended with his family. Neil is very happy now to let his debut CD "No Looking Back" begin to finally carve out his own niche and place in the world of music and to have others receive enjoyment from it while his lifelong dream continues to unfold day by day.
"What more could I ask or hope for," he reflects wistfully, "than to have others enjoy my music. Music is for the soul … my wish is that mine touches others."