In middle school, many kids decide they want to be a musician. They get a guitar, dream of being a rock star and eventually give up for one reason or another. But Kyle Michael Neal, a Bakersfield native currently living in Los Angeles, never gave up on those dreams. At 22, Neal has been playing the guitar and singing for about 10 years and is now attending Cal Poly Pomona, studying music and audio engineering. For his first tour, he returned to his hometown of Bakersfield to play a concert at Dagny’s Coffee Company on March 25.
“In seventh grade, my mom bought me a guitar and I took lessons for a year, but then I was self-taught,” said Neal. “It was all about Dave Matthews and John Mayer, they were the guys for acoustic guitar at the time. I’d sit down and learn how to play their whole records. I felt like if I could learn their tunes, I could learn anything.”
Neal played at Valley Baptist Church for six years and has been in a few bands, but found that leaving Bakersfield and moving to L.A. gave him more opportunities. “It’s given me a broader perspective of what I can do,” he said. “L.A. is the belly of the beast. Here in Bakersfield, the scene is different; you’d play small coffee shops for the rest of your life. In L.A., you have more chances. Being around the people there is really inspiring.”
Neal’s latest influences include old blues musicians Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, classic rockers Led Zeppelin and Tom Petty, and contemporary bands like The Black Keys and “anything Jack White touches.”
“When I’m playing acoustic, it’s very folksy. I have to tour as an acoustic act for financial reasons,” Neal said. “When I’m with a full band, we play kick-your-ass rock ‘n’ roll. Bluesy, dirty rock, the kind of stuff you’d expect to hear at a bar. Not super complex, but with some complex undertones.”
As a student and musician, Neal said he doesn’t have much free time to do anything, even visit his family. But when he gets the chance, he said, one of his favorite things to do is meet new people and hear their stories. His interest in real life stories is reflected in the music he writes.
“My philosophy with songwriting is, I want to tell a story. Most of my songs are based on true stories,” Neal said. “By creating something, a work of art, I’m putting myself into this thing. Once it’s created and been played for someone else, it belongs to everyone. I want them to take it and make it their own.”
The hardest part of being a touring musician for Neal so far has been driving “epic four hour drives” alone. This tour took Neal to cities in California including San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Chico and Oakdale, and he said it was hard work.
“The planning was rough. When you’re completely unknown, people don’t want to book you,” Neal said. “I played in a friend’s living room in Chico, an open mic in Oakdale. It’s rough but wildly rewarding. I’ve been running on four hours of sleep and one meal a day.”
One of Neal’s favorite tour stories is when his show in Oakdale was canceled and he was forced to find somewhere else to play.
“I was scheduled to play, and the day of [the concert] I got a call that it was cancelled. I ended up playing at a place called Cow Track Lounge and I didn’t have anything to do before the show,” said Neal. “There were people my age there, so I talked to them and by the time the show started, I knew everyone. I could go back there and play a show or just hang out.”
Neal has a five-song EP called “Worth” and plans to record a full-length album later this year. Another tour is in the works for this summer and he hopes to play bigger venues. When asked where he sees himself in five years, Neal replied without hesitation, “doing the exact same thing, playing and recording music.”
“And hopefully I’ll join The Jonas Brothers,” he added with a laugh.