Photo Credit: Matthew Mendenhall

Chris Robinson Brotherhood

You're apt to be familiar with at least one project Neal Casal has been involved with over the past decade or so: Ryan Adams and The Cardinals and Hard Working Americans are two of the guitarist's most high-profile gigs. At the moment, he’s taken up lead guitar duties for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, who play the Georgia Theatre Thursday, Oct. 23. Flagpole caught up with Casal to discuss what it’s like to be asked to play in high-profile bands and the similarities of working in different media.

Flagpole: You’ve been spending a lot of time with Hard Working Americans, and now you’re preparing for a tour with the CRB. Do you have to change gears much when you’re moving from one project to another?

Neal Casal: No. Of course there’s a shift, but that’s because [they] are two different operations. It’s not that big of a shift. The same guitar, the same amp, the same aesthetic works with both bands. Both bands are good friends with each other. Both bands play the same circuit. Both bands play the same festivals. Both bands have the same general set of aesthetics. There’s a slight shift just because there are different songs, but I would say that both bands are pretty simpatico. 

There’s been some talk about a Black Crowes reunion, but that doesn’t seem so likely. Does that impact the how the Chris Robinson Brotherhood operates in any way?

It doesn’t affect our band one single iota… The only thing that is important within the CRB is that Chris is okay and happy and living the life he wants to and making the music that he wants to. If anything is affecting him negatively, then we just have his back. We’re just looking out for him whatever he wants to do. 

The Black Crowes existed for well over 20 years before the CRB even started. We’re not a bunch of kids here. We’ve all been around. We’re all grown up enough to know that the Black Crowes came well before the CRB. There’s bound to be some crossover. There are plenty of fans. We understand there are fans that would love to see the CRB disappear [so] they could have their Black Crowes to themselves again. We know that some people like Rich [Robinson’s] band more than ours. We have heard all of the talk. We’ve heard all of the back and forth. We’ve heard all of the banter. For me, I just laugh at it. It means nothing.

If we make good records and we play good shows, that will win the day. Come and see me 20 years from now, and we can talk about who did good work. For me, personally, I hear some of that chatter, but I don’t really follow it. I’m one of the biggest Crowes fans on the planet. I saw them in 1990 when their record had been out for two weeks and they were opening for Junkyard… Nobody would support the Black Crowes being a happy, healthy working band more than me. I’m into it. But, at the same time, I know where Chris is at these days, and where he’s putting the majority of his creativity, and that’s with the CRB. I support whatever he wants to do.

You seem to associate with high-quality talent wherever you go.

That’s where I want to be. That’s a certain attainment of the dream right there. It ain’t about chatter. It’s about quality. That’s all I’m after. I only care about recognition insofar as it helps the band I’m with survive. There’s not a lot of self-aggrandizement here. I just want to do quality work, really. Hopefully, it stands up to the rigors of time. That’s what’s important to me.

I’ve always been fortunate that I’ve gotten to work with high-quality people playing high-quality music. Over the past few years, the bar has been set even higher for me. I’ve been very fortunate and I’ve been really lucky. The CRB is the highest example of that for me. To get to play with a singer and writer like Chris is just incredible. To stand behind that voice every night, you really can’t get much better. To have this band: Adam [MacDougall] and George [Sluppick] and Mark Dutton—these high quality musicians to interact with, I’m in a good place right now. Hopefully, more of the same will be coming down the pike. We all feel that way.

Fans of your music may not know that you’re also an avid photographer. The medium is certainly different, but would it be out of line to say that there’s a consistent aesthetic between your photography and your music? 

I think you’re exactly right… My photographs look like my music sounds and vice versa. I can’t really explain it very well. I don’t know why, but it’s the mark that I leave. It’s just like a footprint. It winds up looking or sounding a certain way. That’s my mark. I’m guessing that’s a good thing. It’s like having a voice. I have my own voice as on guitar. I have my own voice as a singer. And I have my own eye or voice as a photographer, too.

There’s some similar aesthetic running through whatever I do, whether that be with a camera or a guitar or piano. It’s really coming through. There’s some center that I’m always moving to. It appears in the guitar playing and it shows right up in the photographs. There’s nothing I can do about it. I could try all day to change it and it won’t go away.