NEIL w YOUNG

Born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Neil's country music roots were nurtured growing up on the family farm near Burford, Ontario. Neil began singing as a young boy in the choir in the small rural church in Mount Vernon, Ontario that he attended with his family. Neil began writing songs and playing guitar as a teenager going to Burford District 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, Ontario within a stone's throw of where his country roots were nurtured growing up on the family farm, Neil found it the perfect place to embark on his life-long dream to record his original material and to begin writing his long-postponed novel. Neil's debut album "No Looking Back" released in August 2007 resulted in eight songs on the album reaching #1 on the IACMusic.com charts and two songs - "The Cowboy Song" and "The Restless Wind" reaching #1 on the CASHBOX Magazine Country Chart. Glen Streimer, President of MusicCanada.org calls Neil "Canada's cross between Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson". 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. Neil was honoured to be named as one of the "awesome Indies" artists on the front cover of the July 1, 2007 Cashbox Magazine. A nominee at the 2008 Hamilton Music Awards for New Country Recording of the Year for his debut album "No Looking Back", Neil was also a recipient of the IAIA (International Academy of Independent Artists) Golden Kayak award for Best Country Song 2007, "The Cowboy Song". The multi-talented line-up of studio musicians in "The Legendary Bear Creek Band" on Neil's debut CD album included Juno Nominee and international recording artist Ray Lyell - acoustic and bass guitar, keyboard, harmonica and backing vocals, Gary Borden - lead guitar, Steve Petrie - pedal steel guitar and fiddle, Ken Baird - piano and Paula Tessaro joining Neil on lead vocals on the track "You Just Turned My Life Around". The album was produced, arranged, engineered and mixed by Ray Lyell. It was recorded at Rayne Records in Hamilton Ontario and mastered at Grant Avenue Studio also in Hamilton. Joining "The Legendary Bear Creek Band" in the studio on Neil's forthcoming second album are Roger Banks - drums, Mike DeBenedictis - bass guitar, Gary Ashthorpe - piano, Anne Lindsay - fiddle, Randal Hill - banjo and mandolin, Glenn Higgins - Tenor sax and David Rodenburg - Tenor sax. Joining Neil in the studio for the recording session of his song "We Will Rise Again" were Sakoieta Widrick (Mohawk Wolf Clan, Six Nations) - native flute and voicings and Tewentahawitha Dawn Antone - native vocables. Sakoieta and Tewentahawitha Dawn are recording artists and performers of the Native North American Wood Cedar Flute and Haudenosaunne Songs and Dances. Neil was a Western Ontario Secondary School Honour Athlete and graduate of Burford District High School and Waterloo Lutheran University (now known as Wilfred Laurier University) He purposely spells his name, Neil w Young, with his middle initial "w" always appearing in the lower case with no period following it. Neil maintains an active internet presence on various web sites including: http://neilwyoung.com, http://iacmusic.com/neilwyoung, http://myspace.com/neilwyoung, http://reverbnation.com/neilwyoung,http://facebook.com/neilwyoung, http://http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Neil-w-Young His debut CD album "No Looking Back" can be purchased at CDBaby.com.