NAILNews: All Good Things

July 9th, 2010 – Greetings, all! I wanted to let you know what’s going on in the NAILmusic Universe… The big news is: NAIL will be doing what is perhaps our last show on August 28^th at Benji & Jakes in Kauneonga Lake. After 14+ years, 3 CD’s & countless gigs, I am officially shutting down Neil Alexander & NAIL till further notice. It’s a combination of things: as an artist I have continued to evolve, and I think I’ve outgrown

Neil Alexander & NAIL perform at the BLue Note in NYC

the “keyboards-Bass-Drums” format that has dominated the last 10 years of musical life (it’s certainly served me well). Certainly the lack of an audience is a factor. I’ve also continued to write new material, a lot of it for larger ensembles; plus I’ve been doing a lot of straight up improv gigs (see “Waves Across The Pond” on the blog) as well as solo performances in acoustic, electric & electronic formats. When it comes down to it, it’s simply time to move on for the moment. I’m also working though some ideas about different types of instrumentation and piecing together a new picture of what the group could be should we have another go… Meanwhile, NAIL remains a linchpin in my musical evolution. My sincere thanks to all who have participated.

Some of the great musicians with whom I’ve shared the stage with in NAIL have been:

Drums: Nadav Zelniker, T Xiques, Amit Shamir, Scott Morehouse, Mike Bram, Dean Sharp, Steve Sacco, Gregg Brendian, Peter Obrien, Costa, Rafael Figueroa

Bass: Charlie Kniceley, Steve Rust, Keith Macksoud, Jim Cammack,, Dan Asher, Lew Scott, Dave Hofstra, Joe Pelletier. Robert Kopec, Rene Hart.

Guitar: Dan Johanson, Marshal Woodall; Ryan Ball, Ken McGloin, Burr Johnson, Chad McLoughlin, Matt Finck, Joel Newton.

Horns: Norbert Stachel, Erik Lawrence, Premik Russel Tubbs, Freddie Jacobs, Joe Gil, John Richmond, James Delano, Steve Frieder.

Chris Hanson & DJ Wavy Davy have played turntables with us, and video artist David Resnick has tripped us out. My apologies if I missed anyone – send me an email.

You are all wonderful artists and humans and I thank you for sharing your talent, time and energy with me and with NAIL.

What’s next for me, you might ask? One of the things I’m now focusing energy on is: Solo performances and House Concerts. Read my blog post about that here. Other interesting projects are popping up, like my silent film series “Scene ReSeen”.

And so we go, ever onward, to the next and the next and the next, keeping the creative flame burning…. See you at the shows.  🙂