photo courtesy of Broken Jukebox Media

Album Review of Neale Eckstein: Never Too Late

Neale Eckstein has been a part of the metro Boston music scene for as long as I remember. His Fox Run Studio has recorded numerous projects. His Fox Run Concert Series has hosted top artists from all over since the late ’90s. I’ve seen Neale share photos from his Kerrville Folk Festival visits for years. It never dawned on me that he hadn’t ever released a full-length album as a singer-songwriter. Until October 2024, that is, when Never Too Late came out. Digging deeper into Neale’s bio, he’s a retired pediatric dentist (I already knew that), who didn’t take up songwriting until he was nearly 60 (that’s something I didn’t know). Although he released an album with “Neale Eckstein & Friends,” he only performed lead vocal on one song, so that doesn’t count. In 2019, he released a short EP. But finally, at age 75, Neale released his first full-length record. I have one problem with that – there’s no way Neale’s 75! As they always say, I guess – music keeps you young!

Neale’s songwriting is impeccable. And his voice is earnest, honest, and a bit gravelly, well-suited for the observational (or participatory) storytelling music at which he excels. If I were to paint a picture for you, Neale’s vocals are the sort you’d expect from a grizzled old cowboy, singing expansive western-folk music while sitting around a campfire somewhere in the dusty southwest.

Never Too Late contains many memorable lyrical moments, a nod to Neale’s songwriting prowess and to his honest, heartfelt delivery. Vocally, again, Neale’s voice is hoarse, gravelly, forthright, and emotive, helping him attain that folk music storyteller role on pretty much every song.

The first three songs on the album run the gamut of song topics. “Masterpiece” kicks things off reminiscently about parents cherishing the memories and times spent with their young children. “One Month Crazier” is a fun song about being on the road; I mean, it’s sung kind of sadly, but it’s packed with clever wordplay. And “Red Swivel Stool” is a song about growing up in segregated Durham, North Carolina, through the eyes of a child who notes, “Some sat in the front. Some sat in the back. And some couldn’t sit anywhere at all. Some went to the front door. Some went to the back. Didn’t make much sense when I was small. Didn’t make much sense at all.” Of course, since the song is sung as if looking back as an adult, the final line of the song revises the ending to that chorus to “Still don’t make no sense at all.”

photo courtesy of Broken Jukebox Media

A couple songs later is “Devil’s Gate,” a very western-sounding song about the Pony Express, with a rhythm sounding very much like hoofbeats.

“Like a Poem Needs a Rhyme” is a sweet, heartfelt song, sung as a duet with acclaimed, Austin-based folk-Americana singer-songwriter BettySoo. The song is soft, slow, simple, and straightforwardly from the heart. The album notes say it was inspired by Kris Kristofferson, and you can really hear the influence in this track.

“Big Shining Circle” is a steady, soft ode to moon photography with some nifty, occasional guitar twang keeping things interesting. That’s notable for a couple reasons. First, it’s the only song I’ve heard that focuses on this particular subject, so it’s likely to become the all-time favorite song to a small but very devoted following. Also, well, check out the album cover. Neale loves taking pictures of the moon, and his passion shows in both this song and the record’s cover art.

“Stormchaser” is slow and haunting, a storm-themed song about relationships, that includes the particularly cool lyrical turn-of-phrase: “But I know that I will never leave when I am warned. Been running into the wind since the day I was born… a stormchaser.” The music, too, accompanies the feeling of eerie calm right before the storm arrives, a little unsettled and echoey at times.

“Fall From Grace” and “Gonna Get It Right,” back to back, are songs Neale notes are inspired by friends’ breakups, and they carry the appropriate gravitas but with slightly different melodies and vocal/musical approaches, so this is the part of the record to turn to if you want to hear a couple tightly-written and well-performed songs about this particular topic.

The album closes with “Messy Bed,” a slow, powerful song – sung, of course, with a soft, gravelly, truthful-sounding voice – based on the message of the fact that it’s never too late. For Neale’s first full-length release after a lifetime of experiences, it’s such a fitting way to end this record, as the chorus sings: “So don’t be afraid of the messy bed you made. No, don’t be afraid ‘cause it just gets in the way. And sometimes the world makes you wait, but the truth is, it’s never too late.” Words to live your life by in the form of, perhaps, an encouraging song to help you do just that.

In all, this 14-song collection is soft, well-written, and excellently-performed. Folk music fans, in particular, are likely to really enjoy this record, though all of us are likely to latch onto at least a song or two that really touches us, so it’s probably worth at least one listen to everyone; many, many more to core fans of this genre because it’s a great disc.

What’s next? Well, I believe there’s a “Fox Run Five” recording in the works – the “Fox Run five” being Neale’s core set of collaborators – so watch soon for a Fox Run Five double-vinyl release, as Neale discusses in this Facebook video.