Ranker.com voted him the number one ‘outsider artist’, even above figures like Wesley Willies, Frank Zappa, and Daniel Johnston, but what is behind such an artist?

The term “Outsider music” can mean different things to different people, from the visionary and misunderstood to the technically inept and strange, this “genreless genre” undoubtedly does come to fully embody the voices of the unheard, speaking to select and openminded, many of whom often happen melomaniacs or even ‘outsiders’ themselves.

I still remember hearing Wesley Willis’ “You’re Going In The Graveyard” and “Rock N Roll McDonalds” for the very first time and unironically falling in love with his music right then and there. I don’t remember having so much fun listening to music ever before and I realized that this was something very special that not everyone was able to fully enjoy the same way.

The term can sadly be maligned or disregarded, but time has proven that Outsider artists of all walks are just as valuable -if not more so- than any mainstream or “normal” underground artists are. These bold and sincere souls come from places where very few of us dare, can, or would even want to come from. They speak their side of the truth through their craft, and the world is better for it because you can always count on these voices to give you something truly unique.

One of today’s chief performers in the loosely-defined halls of the aforementioned ‘Outsider Music’ is Andrew Neil, who is perhaps one of the most prolific singers-songwriters you’re likely to encounter, since 2009 he has written nearly 450 songs, including a full-length album written and recorded entirely in a State Psychiatric Hospital… more on that later.

Sound-wise, most of Andrew’s stuff is rather stripped and personal when it’s not grungy and moody. When at his calmest and most intimate, Andrew is a true salt-of-the-earth guitar picker with orthogonal melodies that don’t seem like they’re going to work but somehow always do -kind of like a Thelonius Monk Jam on the guitar.

His harder rock edge such as the one heard in “Merry Go Round” shines through in a nice grunge and post-something way, all emotive and jagged, a lot like a pre-nevermind Nirvana mixed with Elliot Smith, The Gun Club, and perhaps a lingering shade of The Cure somewhere in the background.

But all of that is when at his most conventional. Andrew Neil lacks any real sort of “formal” musical education, and this is most evident in his guitar-only songs where he somehow manages to summon the strangest and most unique melodies out of his guitar, somehow weaving them with the nearly structureless melody inherent in deeply personal lyrics.

As Andrew Neil sings about the existential angst of his condition and the loneliness within and without, he somehow makes the seemingly random playing starts demonstrating pattern and purpose around his voice, it’s truly unlike anything you’ve ever felt, and the very definition of what a “Natural” sounds like.

Andrew Neil Maternick was born in Colorado Springs on August 9, 1988. On April 29, 2009, Andrew had a car accident and suffered a serious head injury which would lead him to experience psychotic episodes over time, forcing him to spend extended periods of his life in psychiatric institutions. Andrew was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Stimulated by or perhaps seeking to cope with the stress of his new conditions, Andrew Neil turned to the arts. In 2010, he -quite suddenly- developed a strong interest in music and began composing and playing songs while living as a recluse in his parent’s basement.
Proving that when it rains it pours, a little under a year after his album debut, Andrew was diagnosed in June 2019 with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Cancer, something that didn’t stop him from making music. Since then he’s, fortunately, overcome this obstacle to his health and continues to bless us with his unique work.

Neither cancer nor serious mental health struggles can keep a truly great musician down, This past March 17 Andrew and his newly-formed Band “The Code Purple Band” recently opened for the Raelyn Nelson Band at the Glen Campbell Museum, Rhinestone Stage in Downtown Nashville. This, I think, makes me resent the “Outsider” label a bit. Is his music truly only for the Melomaniacs and the weird? When a more “standard” artist eschews musical conventions he is called bold and creative, and when the turmoil around their lives informs their songwriting and stage performances, they’re praised as tortured souls expressing their pain… Perhaps we ought to look past ourselves and some of the labels we use. Each of us gives the world what we have and what we can, and for people like Andrew Neil that happens to be amazing and original music that doesn’t often conform to many of our preconceived notions of what music usually is.

His songs reveal a tender personality that in many ways yearns to be seen and understood even as a recluse, and one can’t help but sympathize deeply with the plight of his music. I urge you to open your mind and your heart in order to fully appreciate and support him now.

 

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