MICHAEL ONEAL

“Take note In this hurried world, we have a lot thrown at us and it’s hard for some to filter whats worth paying attention to. Michael Oneal peels back the curtain for a glimpse into his world as he shoulders the burdens and blessings life lends us while we’re here. He has created yet another bridge from bone to soul to heart - truths about Lyin sons - a - bitches, soldiers, heroes, rag tag drunks, friends, and fiends, we can’t help but love… making it a welcome contender to the seemingly over done; over- the- top, over-hyped, instant, rushed, sold but not bought “music” that’s been slathered on us like oil for a 80s suntan for much too long . I adopted this cat as my brother many moons ago. When I met him, he didn’t even have a guitar. It was at a dice game and I was outside playing my guitar singing after losing what I had set out to win, which was anything. Michael sat with me requesting songs, asked if I knew or heard of people I didn’t know about until that night. Guys like Guy Clark, Todd Snider, he turned me on to a Krisstoffersson album I didn’t know about called the Austin Sessions. Now I fancied myself a student of great music and although I had written a few songs, he began playing after that night outside the dice game. And as soon as he started and I heard his first penned tune…Ol’ Waylon written for our Lord and savior, Waylon Jennings. I knew he had arrived and all he was waiting for was to have a way to say it. He always had it, just needed that guitar as a vehicle. There’s a difference in some of us songwriters and how we get to a place to call ourselves that. As finding out you’re good at something goes… he got feverish. New tunes every time I saw him. Solid chops on the axe he was slinging at the time and playing gigs. I’ve chased this music thing for a long time and Michael has too. But he had it all along and let it come when it was going to. He’s fierce with to the point phrases and attention to detail. “Still Tryin”is a peak through the blinds of a life that pays attention, ponders, and carefully pens it to paper with songs that leave enough room to bring you along…. These songs will resonate if you got a heartbeat. Never flashy, never in your face, and it’s not pop or quasi-anything. It’s pure honest, handmade sketches from a heart and mind that puts all his chips on the underdog and sees the strength in people who seem to have none. Shad Blair Manchaca TX”

“Michael O’Neal’s work lives on the border of the everyday and the sublime. It’s real and honest, and gets at the big ideas—love, loss, death, and life—through specific characters and stories and places. Listening to his songs is like looking through a microscope and seeing these interesting little details and then coming away realizing you just saw the universe. Eric Schmitt Baton Rouge, LA”

“Michael O’Neal I love the simple production of these songs. Simple and pure and uncluttered. To let a listener really focus and meditate on the words. Which are everything and so worth pondering. The John Prine influence is unmistakable…in all the right ways. You can feel the grit and the gravel and the grind of the road that only gets grittier as you get more tired and realize you could actually be lonelier. I feel like the smell of leather is still in my clothes as I tag along behind Michael’s mind while it wanders through his old friend’s leather shop. Max Stalling”