For someone who was born and bred in New Jersey and learned his musical ropes playing along to The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street, 28year-old Neal Casal may seem like an unlikely candidate to be a country music hero, but thanks to some great songwriting and a remarkable voice, that's what he's fast becoming across the Atlantic.

In Dublin for a second time to showcase songs from his albums Fade Away Diamond Time and Rain, Wind And Speed, the strength of Casal's songwriting was immediately apparent. Though described as a proponent of alt.country, a somewhat indistinct sub-genre of American folk, Casal's solo performance ran directly through mainstream.

Shades of rock 'n' roll, a la Tom Petty and Van Morrison, mingled with the occasional rootsy feel, but perhaps the absence of his band's country styling and instrumentation on the night prevented Casal's sound from being genre-bound. Although, in true folk music style, his excellent guitar playing encompassed no more than five chords.

Onstage, it seemed at first that Casal was a little awkward and uncommunicative, but when he confessed his complete exhaustion following a two-day journey from LA, via Atlanta and Manchester, his unusual stage manner was explained. And this twilight-zone exhaustion, as he called it, added an extra dimension to proceedings. It gave his exemplary performance a whispering fragility that was magnified by the low-key intimacy of The Shelter, a venue that seemed custom-built for Casal's show. For the entire night, his performance was so delicate, you could almost have heard a pin drop. None however was dropped, and the spell woven by an intelligent and emotional performance remained unbroken until Casal gave in to his slumping shoulders and headed off for a well-earned rest.

By John Lane