Artists you channel for Neil Young, but want someone different...

Who do you channel and what song(s) when you are in a Neil Young state of mind?
...but need some branching out...whether it is for that acoustic or electric Neil feel,
I think it is the aural, mental and vocal vibe that moves me to think of Neil when listening to others that evoke ...

That Neil Young state of mind...




Jason Molina comes immediately to mind:

Songs:Ohia, Didn't It Rain


Please share music and info about artists you love that evoke that Neil vibe for you...I've been naturally attracted to such since 1966.

 

Jo Rose...a favorite with that voice and feel...love Jo.

I'm Yr Kamera



Musician, singer and songwriter from Manchester, UK. He was born in 1988 and started playing in bands already when he was ten. He formed alternative rock band Fear Of Music with Chris Stanley in 2001. After disbanding of the band in 2009 he had continued solo and changed into country and bluegrass influenced style. Jo Rose opened for First Aid Kit in their 2014 Europe tour.Jo Rose | Discography | Discogs

 

This isn't a hard question to answer @lemonade kid. Only Neil Young can ever be Neil Young.

To attempt to answer your question as you intend it to be answered I reckon IMHO only Israel Nash comes close.

 

More Jo Rose

King Of Your Blue Eyes

 

Green On Red. Their GAS FOOD LODGING is the best Neil Young "ditch" album Neil Young didn't make.

 

For sure...I agree, richierichie. And we are the same on that...good to hear from you. But there are times that an aritst touches a chord with me that can only be described as that "Neil Young Vibe" or aura..you know? I agree that Israel Nasg gripka is one for me also.

I guess I would call it a Neil Young state of mind...which might be pretty far reaching. Hope this gets some great hits for us all to share.

How about Gregory Alan Isakov? These two we mentioned would be that acoustic "Comes A Time" Neil...

San Luis

 

Grant Lee Phillips does it for me too...For most Grant needs no introduction

Walking In The Green Corn

 

Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek, has always been there when I need that vibe, whether it be acoustic or electric...

the masterwork Ghosts Of The Great Highway...this one covers it all for me.

 

I think this is probably as close as it gets. Molina is an exponentially better lyricist - I mean, he's just one of the great lyricists in the language, fullstop - but that 70's era NY-synergy of lyricism, melodicism, and joyful wilderness is unique to Neil. Molina is a huge artist for me, and I love every record that he ever made, but - while he is a master of accessing another type of wilderness (a despairing, barren one, see: Didn't It / Ghost Tropic / solo LPs) - he only rarely was able to access the kind of exuberant wildness that NY accomplished (Magnolia). I think about this re: NY's "depressing" albums a lot. Tonight's The Night, for instance, is obviously a record made by somebody that's hurting... but it's about, and sounds like, musicians saved by the ecstatic groove of playing music.

I like Nash a lot, but, to my ears, while he sounds like NY, he doesn't harness any of the wildness.

Hiss Golden Messenger don't sound like Neil Young, but as far as Americana bands that are absolutely locked in step with each other, wrestling with the darkness, using music and performance as a weapon against it, they're as good as it gets.

 

Wow! Nice! New to me...thanks!

 

Yeah, this is a really good one too. And a truly great record, otherwise.

God, I miss pre-Benji Kozelek. I wish he'd stop making the worst music in the world. Ghosts is probably his masterpiece, and definitely the most NY-comparable. Songs For a Blue Guitar hits some similar peaks.

 

Dan Fogelberg in a completely different way immediately channeled Neil when I first heard this in 1972, especially CSNY...much of his reflective long dark deep cuts still evoke such a feeling

Long Way Home

 

there are a dew ryan adams tunes that might qualify for this thread.

also, alison moorer's 'the duel' is quite like the guitar sounds young gets.

 

Elephant Michah often evokes that deeper emotive vibe like Jason Molina does...

Loon's Call

 

surely you jest

also, no one dead can be "exponentially" anything

 

In an alternate universe in which, say, Silver & Gold was Neil Young's debut album and his entire career as we know it had proceeded from there, I would agree that Neil doesn't much rate as a lyricist. But back when he used to try, he penned some of the greatest rock lyrics this side of Zimmy. He just stopped caring at some point. And yet, there are songs on Le Noise and Psychedelic Pill ("Peaceful Valley Boulevard," "Ramada Inn," etc) that prove he can still locate the old magic when he wants to.

 

I agree that Molina is a better lyricist. “Farewell Transmission” alone might win that battle for him.

 

Don't get me wrong: I think Neil Young is a profoundly, ascendantly great lyricist.

But Molina is Molina.

 

Ha. When you're right, you're right

 

How about some Wilco

 

A stunning Neil Young inspired song by Fredrick Reed

 

Dinosaur Jr "Bug"

 

Another cool Neil vibe in this song by Key Drammond:

 

I love Josh Rouse’s homage to Harvest-era Neil from a few years back.

Dreamed about Neil Young last night
Rolled out of bed and rubbed my eyes
I'll never be that good, you know
I'll never be that good, you know