About Me
On June 2nd 2006, as a result of a fight, Justin Neal, lead singer & guitarist of Vinyl Haze, was rushed to the Emergency Room with a skull fracture - leaving him brain dead for 24 hours. Doctors performed emergency surgery on his skull and gave him a 3 inch metal plate that saved his life & mind. Armed with a new perspective on life, Neal & Vinyl Haze played a scheduled gig to a packed house just 5 days later.For the next year (07-08) they gigged regularly as an opening act, spreading their name throughout the local scene in Omaha, NE along w/ recording their self-titled debut album. By the summer of '08, Vinyl Haze earned their spot as headliners at such prestigious venues as the Waiting Room, the Slowdown, and the Sokol Underground in Omaha. By 2009, Vinyl Haze has opened for several national touring acts such as The Parlor Mob, Apollo Sunshine, the Effects, Little Brazil, Jah Roots, along with playing the Mid-American Music Festival, Frostival, Thanksgrooving, and the 2008 Peace Rally @ Elmwood Park. Now with a reputation as an indie rock/ jam band that brings in a party crowd, Vinyl Haze established a solid relationship with Marc Leibowitz, owner of 1% Productions and the Waiting Room. All Omaha bookings are now through 1% Productions.The original founding members of Vinyl Haze are brothers Justin and Josh Neal and the punk/ funk duo of Ryan Haas and Jake Wilson. The original sound of Vinyl Haze started off as acoustic blues with funky bass lines and punk rock influenced drums. Due to unexpected events founding member/ bassist Jake Wilson departed Feb of '08. Temporary bassists quickly filled the position for the next year until Feb of '09, when Ryan Redding of the Blue Martian Tribe joined Vinyl Haze as their new permanent bassist - bringing funk, jam, and melodic styles to the table. Vinyl Haze has transformed into a constant growing, and ever-evolving solid, all-original rock band that band that writes, records, produces, promotes, manages, and tours regionally on there own steam. Their compiled influences range from vintage rock to funk, punk to reggae, & country to blues. Their sound is raw, gritty, melodic, yet composed with a soulful attack. Vinyl Haze sounds like oil on canvas. If a viking, a cowboy, a magician, and a painter started a band it would be called Vinyl Haze.
