About Me
Neil's country music roots were nurtured growing up on the family farm near Burford Ontario Canada. He began writing songs and playing guitar as a teenager going to high school during the legendary 1950’s Country Rockabilly era and the dawning of Rock ’n Roll when Elvis took the world stage by storm with his hit, “Heartbreak Hotel”. Living now in Paris, known as the prettiest little town in Ontario only a few short miles from where he grew up, Neil found it the perfect place to embark on his life-long dream to record an album of his original material and to begin writing his long-awaited novel. As well as being a 2008 Hamilton Music Awards Nominee, Neil's debut album, “No Looking Back” was the number one album in the U.K. for three weeks at LoneBoy Music and was in the Top 10 on the album chart for three months. “The Cowboy Song” and “The Restless Wind” both went to # I on the IAC Music Country Chart and to # 1 on the Cashbox Country Chart. “All Through The Night” and "There's Just The One And Only You" went to # 1 on the IAC Music Easy Listening/Soft Rock Chart and to # 3 on the Cashbox Easy Listening/Soft Pop Chart. Neil received the Golden Kayak Award for Best Country Song 2007 - "The Cowboy Song" at the 2008 IAIA (International Academy of Independent Artists) Golden Kayak Awards. Neil received Honor Awards in Lyric Writing for two of the songs on the album from The Great American Song Contest in Portland Oregon: "I Got My Ragtop Down" and "Hello, I’m Johnny Cash". Neil's lyrics to "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash" also reached the Finalist category in the American Songwriter Magazine Lyric Contest in Nashville Tennessee. "Hello, I’m Johnny Cash" reached # 2 on both the IAC Music and Cashbox Country Charts. Neil was honored to be named as one of the “awesome Indies” artists on the front cover of the July 1, 2007 Cashbox Magazine. The multi-talented line-up of musicians on his debut album include international recording artist Ray Lyell on acoustic and bass guitar, keyboard, harmonica and backing vocals; Gary Borden on lead guitar; Steve Petrie on pedal steel guitar and fiddle; and Ken Baird on piano. Drummer Roger Banks joins the Legendary Bear Creek Band on Neil's Christmas song - "That's What Christmas Means To Me". Vocalist Paula Tessaro shares lead vocals with him on “You Just Turned My Life Around”. From tumbleweeds drifting along old Route 66 and flashy 1950’s convertibles, to rusted out flatbed trucks and walking down train tracks, it is hard not to picture Johnny Cash here. Even more so with Neil's self-effacing western lilt and a soft southern drawl influenced in part during his teens while toiling in summer sun-baked Southern Ontario tobacco fields alongside his co-workers from the Carolina’s and Georgia. The album was produced, arranged, engineered and mixed by Ray Lyell. It was recorded at Rayne Records, Hamilton Ontario and mastered at Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton. A Western Ontario Secondary School Honour Athlete and graduate of Burford District High School and of Waterloo Lutheran University (now known as Wilfred Laurier University), Neil also claims to hold a hard earned PhD and Masters Degree from the University of Life!!! He purposely spells his name, “Neil w Young”, with his middle initial “w” always appearing in the lower case with no period following it. He began singing as a young boy in the choir in the small rural church that he attended with his family. Neil is very happy now to let his debut CD "No Looking Back" begin to carve out his own niche and place in the world of music and to have others receive enjoyment from it while his life-long dream continues to unfold day by day. "Music is for the soul," he reflects wistfully, then adds hopefully, "My wish is that mine touches others."