Neil Cavanagh profile picture

Neil Cavanagh

War is not the answer.

About Me


Short Flight to a Distant Star
the full-length album now available.
B&N | iTunes | eMusic | Amazon
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Neil Cavanagh was raised in Queens and Long Island, and his first radio airplay came with a local rock band at age 13. Later, he went to NYU to study classical music composition, then to Boston to learn film scoring at Berklee College of Music. While in college, he took bass lessons from session legend Jerry Jemmott (Aretha Franklin, B.B. King), studying the tabla with Pandit Ramsamooj, and sat in with bands on piano or drums.

Following college, Neil returned to New York where his chops and diverse musical vocabulary led him into a variety of situations, including sessions at The Hit Factory with pop legend Michael Jackson.

Neil quickly developed a reputation for wildly eclectic shows that blended beautiful acoustic songs with offbeat arrangements and hypnotic improvisations. He often appeared solo with a bass drum at his right foot and a guitar loop pedal with which he’d create devastating, virtuosic textures and punctuate the deep, funky rhythms of his live act.

Neil Cavanagh’s new album Short Flight To A Distant Star was released on September 11, 2007 through the Kindred Rhythm Music Group (KRMG), an eclectic Manhattan based label group that released vocalist Roberta Gambarini’s Grammy Nominated debut album, and jazz legend Jack DeJohnette’s first new age project (which was also Grammy Nominated). KRMG is distributing the project to all of the major digital retailers, and to traditional retail through its agreement with Koch Entertainment Distribution.


For full press release, please click here.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/29/2004
Band Website: neilcavanagh.com
Influences: The Beatles, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Jaco Pastorius, Joni Mitchell, Michael Hedges, Jack Bruce, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Yes, King Crimson, John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Django Reinhardt, The Smiths, Morrissey, Sufjan Stevens, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Marvin Gaye, Jon Anderson, Ravi Shankar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Nina Simone, Richie Havens, ELO, Tommy Shaw, Styx, Frank Zappa, The Zombies, Badfinger, Jerry Jemmott, Elton John, Cocteau Twins, Jellyfish, U2, Wilco, Sly Stone, Bad Brains, Ella Fitzgerald, Earth Wind & Fire, Parliament, Fishbone, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, Cream, Stravinsky, Bartok, Bach, Tchaikowsky, Ravel, Debussy, Satie, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Wonders, Donny Hathaway, David Bowie, Bjork, Judee Sill, Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens, George Michael, Kate Bush, Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel, Edie Brickell, The Sugarcubes, Sinead O'Connor, Split Enz, Talking Heads, Traffic, My Bloody Valentine, Keith Jarrett, Glenn Gould, Herbie Hancock, Jane's Addiction, This Mortal Coil, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, Seal, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Bill Hicks, Chuck Klosterman, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Rene Magritte, Carlos Castaneda, Gurdjieff, Walt Whitman, Rumi, Hafiz, ee cummings, Tolkien, William Blake, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Chuang Tzu, Lao Tze, Yogananda, Dalai Lama, Christ, Gandhi, MLK, and Mom & Dad
Record Label: Pines Brook/Kindred Rhythm
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

iTunes / Last.fm / iLike / Eventful links

I am featured in this week's iTunes compilation, INDIE SPOTLIGHT: SINGER/SONGWRITER. Very humbling to be in good company with a diverse set of talented artists. If you have iTunes, you can check out t...
Posted by Neil Cavanagh on Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:57:00 PST

Neil Cavanagh @ Hotel Café 9/20

Hosted By: Neil CavanaghWhen: Thursday Sep 20, 2007at 7:00 PMWhere: Hotel Café1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90028United StatesDescription:West Coast CD Release Party/PerformanceClick Here T...
Posted by Neil Cavanagh on Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:46:00 PST

official press release

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES - A new pop genius is unveiled on Short Flight to a Distant Star, the new album by singer/songwriter Neil Cavanagh.  Fourteen cuts of pure sonic bliss that recall th...
Posted by Neil Cavanagh on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 03:05:00 PST

Everything is healing nicely

Hi everybody.Consider this a non-threatening and unofficial start to the hype: I will be releasing my new record Short Flight to a Distant Star this summer. You've been hearing a preview of the album ...
Posted by Neil Cavanagh on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:12:00 PST

Yesterday

Yesterday, Wednesday December 22nd 2004, was the greatest, happiest day of my life. So far. That's all for now. Merry Christmas. ~ Neil
Posted by Neil Cavanagh on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST