Neal Morse
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Neal Morse (born August 2, 1960 in Van Nuys, California) grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. His father was a choral director. Morse started to play the piano at the age of 5 and started to learn to play the guitar soon after that. During his twenties he wrote 2 musicals, did some session jobs and tried to get a deal as a singer/songwriter in Los Angeles.
After about 10 years, Morse grew tired of the Los Angeles music scene and travelled through Europe for several years, busking and playing in small clubs. On his return to the US he founded the band Spock's Beard together with his brother Alan. Spock's Beard became one of the most successful progressive rock bands of the last decade.
Besides his work with Spock's Beard, Morse released several solo albums which contain mostly semi-acoustic straight-forward rock music. In 2000, Neal joined Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy to form the supergroup TransAtlantic, with which he released another two studio albums. During the same year, he appeared on The Dream Sequencer, the first half of Ayreon's twin album The Universal Migrator.
In 2002 (just after the release of Spock's Beard's album Snow) Morse quit both bands, because he felt that God had other plans with his life. The period leading to this decision is described on the solo album Testimony (2003), which features Kerry Livgren of Kansas, and once again Mike Portnoy. Morse also took part in Portnoy's Yellow Matter Custard, a two-gig-only Beatles cover band.
In 2004, Morse wrote and recorded a new concept album featuring Portnoy and Randy George (on bass guitar). Guitar virtuoso Phil Keaggy makes a guest appearance on guitar and vocals. The album, titled One is about man's relationship with God from his Christian perspective and was released on November 2, 2004.
Discography
Studio Albums
- Neal Morse (1999)
- Merry Christmas From The Morse Family (2000)
- It's Not Too Late (2001)
- Testimony (2003)
- One (2004)
Live Albums
External links
- Neal Morse official website (http://www.nealmorse.com)
- Radiant Records (http://www.radiantrecords.com)
- Spock's Beard official website (http://www.spocksbeard.com)
- Transatlantic official website (http://www.transatlanticweb.com)