Evan Neal

Evan Neal’s ~musical journey began long before he ever picked up an upright bass. Growing up in the Midwest, he was immersed early in the energy of live music through his family’s legendary venue, Fat Jack’s, where national touring acts, hard rock bands, and larger-than-life personalities rolled through during the late ’80s and early ’90s. From arena rock and metal shows to the improvisational spirit of the Grateful Dead, live music became less entertainment and more a way of life. After Jerry Garcia’s passing in 1995 sparked a deeper sense of urgency around music and community. Evan set out to see as many of the greats as possible, spent years traveling the country immersed in the jam-band scene, touring in an old 70’s motorhome and eventually upgrading to a converted school bus while following music and life wherever they led. Along the way he became deeply involved in music, festival culture, drum circles, and the handmade artistry surrounding those traveling communities, eventually learning the craft of glassblowing while building a life centered around creativity, movement, and connection. After relocating to Fort Collins in the early 2000s, Evan found his musical home in the region’s thriving bluegrass and roots scene. Though he experimented with guitar and mandolin, it was the upright bass that finally felt like the “sound he had always heard in music.” 🎶 He quickly became a dedicated student of the instrument and an active presence in Colorado’s acoustic music community, playing professionally performing with numerous groups before helping form the long-running, award winning Colorado bluegrass band Lonesome Traveler. Over the next decade, Lonesome Traveler wrote and performed original/classic music, toured extensively across the country, releasing multiple recordings, charting on radio, and traveling more than 100,000 miles in a custom-built tour bus that was powered by waste vegetable oil. Beyond the stage, the band regularly partnered with festivals, schools, and youth programs, teaching students about bluegrass music, live performance, traditional instruments, and sustainable touring through hands-on educational outreach across the country. Evan carried that passion for music and community back to Fort Collins, teaching upright bass and helping support the next generation of musicians both independently and through the Lineage Music Project — an after-school program dedicated to preserving and passing on roots music traditions to young players throughout the community. Together we enabled kids into music, performing, and the culture where many thrived and went on to great things. Today, Evan continues to perform, collaborate, and explore original music through projects including SideYard Sanctuary, a group of Front Range legends, which has released two full-length albums, along with the broader Fort Collins and Cowbell Collective music community. Across decades of performance, touring, teaching, and improvising, one thread has remained constant: a belief that music is a living form of communication — built from rhythm, frequency, story, and is a shared experience that connect us all.