Andrew Neil is becoming a rising yet reclusive star in the outsider music world, known for his authenticity, unique sound and exceptional homegrown musicianship. This reclusive artist has written over 400 songs and released six albums since his journey began in 2009. What many fans may not know is that Andrew’s musical journey parallels Texas songwriting legends Roky Erickson and Daniel Johnston, where all three struggled with serious mental illness issues and spent a considerable amount of time in State psychiatric hospitals, which influenced their songwriting craft.
Andrew Neil’s journey as a music artist is one of resilience and determination. It all started on a beautiful April day in 2009. Neil was returning to his parent’s home in Fairfax, Virginia and crashed into an illegally stopped vehicle. His head had hit the windshield hard. Once the EMTs were able to extract him from the vehicle, Neil was flown directly to the hospital via helicopter. Ten days after the accident, while recovering at home, Neil had his first of many psychotic episodes. His life had changed forever.
Shortly after the car crash, Neil became a recluse living in his parent’s basement and began writing songs out of nowhere. He declared himself a songwriter. Despite the challenges he faced with mental illness, he found solace in songwriting, channeling his innermost feelings into melodic and lyrically beautiful pieces and painting surreal abstracts on anything he could find. His reclusiveness and lack of conventional training never held him back artistically. However, his battle with mental illness, frequent short-term hospitalizations and failed attempts to get the help he needed would culminate in yet another life-changing event.
In July 2013, Neil had a horrific psychotic episode and stabbed his younger brother through his arm. He spent seven months in a Central Virginia Regional jail cell until he was found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity (NGRI) and was committed to the Virginia State Hospital system. For a period of three long years between 2014 and 2017, Neil was a patient at a Virginia State Psychiatric Hospital. During that time, he wrote and recorded nearly 80 songs in his hospital room.
Upon his conditional release in May 2017, Neil selected 11 of the songs and released a lofi album, “Code Purple.” He did not know at the time that this raw, unmixed, lofi collection of heartfelt songs would be recognized as one of the only complete albums ever released in which all the songs were written and recorded in a state psychiatric hospital.
One can hear and almost feel the loneliness, sorrow, and remorse Andrew Neil was going through as he sang in his room behind the steel doors of the hospital. The hauntingly poetic lyrics and melodies of the songs in “Code Purple” tell the story of a life in turmoil and how Andrew Neil managed to find solace within himself. His songs of pain and regret are unabashedly honest as he recounts his experiences in an effort to make sense of them.
The lyrics of his song “Lonely Road” are reflective of his intense feeling of loneliness. “Faithfully like autumn’s leaves. Label me, do as you please. I shut my eyes, see all the colors. I say goodbyes to all my lovers. Cause it’s a lonely road. Is there an Oasis? It’s a lonely road. I don’t know where this place is.”
At the end of the song, you hear a faint broadcast over the hospital speaker system in the background, “Code Purple.” At Western State Hospital, a “Code Purple” meant an event occurred that required an emergency security response.
Foreshadowing Andrew Neil’s experience was that of the late great Texas songwriter Roky Erickson, who was committed to the Texas State Hospital system for almost three years between 1969 and 1972. Although he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, he was committed to the state hospital system after pleading with NGRI to a marijuana drug charge. While a patient, Erikson wrote 80 plus songs, six of which were eventually published in his 1999 release “Never Say Goodbye.” The songs like “Unforced Peace” have the same similarly haunting acoustic quality as those on Neil’s “Code Purple.”
The great Austin, Texas artist Daniel Johnston, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also spent extended periods in psychiatric institutions. In 1990, while returning from a music festival in a two-seater plane piloted by his father, Johnston had a psychotic break and pulled the keys out of the ignition, throwing them outside the plane. His father managed to successfully crash-land the plane, and both escaped unscathed. As a result of this episode, Johnston was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.
Andrew Neil’s songwriting has been frequently compared to Daniel Johnston’s for its pure, simple and authentic qualities. Austin songwriter Kathy McCarty, who was a collaborator and close friend of Daniel Johnston, had this to say about Andrew Neil’s 2021 “Sunny Side” release: “Andrew Neil’s SUNNY SIDE is a revelation. The outpouring of melody and counterpoint is deeply affecting, seeming to come directly from a heart so genuine that it is almost too pure for this world. His simple, direct lyrics can seem almost too plain; but then you find them reverberating in your mind for days afterward. This is a songwriter who will find his audience, as Daniel Johnston did. There is nothing that can stop someone so focused on the songs that seem to find expression through him alone.”
Even in his darkest moments, Andrew Neil found strength in music and created something truly special that still resonates with listeners to this day. His positive spirit and relatable music are a testament to the power of the human spirit, even in the face of adversity. It serves as an example for all of us that no matter how hard things may seem, we can still find moments of beauty and hope.
To learn more about Andrew and his music, click here.
