By Scott McLennan

The artists on this expansive tribute frequent different genres, but they find ways into these songs that play to their respective strengths while also deftly showcasing the underlying sturdiness of Neal Casal’s material.

Highway Butterfly: The Songs of Neal Casal — Various artists (Neal Casal Music Foundation)

Neal Casal left behind a trove of excellent songs and a diverse array of musical friends when he took his life in 2019 at age 50.

Those friends and songs beautifully come together on the Casal tribute recording, Highway Butterfly. Produced by Jim Scott and Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools, who played in the band Hard Working Americans with Casal, the release contains 41 songs. Proceeds from the purchase of the three-CD and five-LP sets will benefit the Neal Casal Music Foundation, a charitable organization that provides musical instruments to schoolchildren and assists mental health organizations that support musicians.

Casal released more than a dozen records under his own name. None of them really caught the public’s attention. The performer was much better known for his contributions to various bands, including the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun, Ryan Adams’s backing group The Cardinals, and the aforementioned Hard Working Americans.

The quadruple-threat guitar player, singer, songwriter, and producer was in demand for all sorts of projects, especially those that embraced the intersection of Americana and psychedelia. Highway Butterfly perfectly captures that wide-ranging spirit. Schools and Scott have expertly pulled together an impressive range of musical stylists, yet out of this variety they have fashioned cohesive, albeit sprawling, musical statement. J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr’s master of squall guitar, is as perfectly situated here as are Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, who turn in a pretty ballad impeccably picked on acoustic guitars.

It’s the songs, not the performers, that provide the aesthetic unity. Casal was fond of writing in the key of melancholy, and much of this material comes wrapped in wistful sadness, brushed occasionally with hope.

While the artists on the tribute frequent different genres, they typically find ways into these songs that play to their respective strengths while also deftly showcasing the underlying sturdiness of Casal’s material.

Standout cuts come from musicians you expect to soar on a project of this nature. The teaming of guitar virtuoso Billy Strings with Casal’s Circles Around the Sun bandmates produces a shimmering and heartbreaking version of “All the Luck in the World,” for instance.

Guitar mavens Marcus King and Eric Krasno pair for a soaring “No One Above You.” Leslie Mendelson, a singer and songwriter primed for wider recognition, constructs a regal version of “Feel No Pain.”

Phil Lesh and Friends photographed at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA, September 10, 2016. Photo: Jay Blakesberg

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi’s “Day in the Sun” and Mascis’s “Death of a Dream” are (perhaps) strong enough to earn spots in the respective artists’ concert repertoires.

Other well-established musicians that give this project illuminating star power are Warren Haynes, the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and Phil Lesh (playing in separate groups), Shooter Jennings, and the Puss n Boots trio of Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson, and Catherine Popper (weirdly, no sign of Chris Robinson on this project).

The alt-folk underground is likewise well represented by the likes of Fruit Bats, Beachwood Sparks & GospelbeacH, and Hiss Golden Messenger.

Steve Earle and the Dukes handle the title track with rugged grace. Casal’s highway parables are also well served by Jonathan Wilson and Hannah Cohen, who nail “Detroit or Buffalo” via a loping lilt, and Oteil Burbridge, who assembled a supergroup of Steve and John Kimock and Duane Trucks to perform a grooving “Superhighway.”

Casal passed through many musical camps, and this compilation may spark adventurousness among listeners. For some, Highway Butterfly may be the entry point into the jazz-and-jam approach of The Mattson 2, doing “Let It All Begin” on this set, or the hard-country sound of Zephaniah Ohora, who applies a roguish touch to “Best to Bonnie.”

This comprehensive exploration of Casal’s music includes a couple of instrumental cuts. Guitarist Jimmy Herring joins Circles Around the Sun here, and together they do the anthemic “Bird With No Name,” while Jason Crosby goes it alone on the piano for a delicate and soulful “Pray Me Home.”

Tribute albums can easily lack sticking power, largely because those paying homage never really offer compelling variations on the definitive versions of songs made famous by the project’s subject. That isn’t the case, however, with Highway Butterfly. These tunes were most likely underappreciated when they were initially released. Lovingly strung together by Casal’s many talented admirers, their enduring quality is apparent. Highway Butterfly could be seen as Casal’s final act of inspiration: his notable songbook is rescued by a sprawling community of like-minded yet diverse artists.

Scott McLennan covered music for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette from 1993 to 2008. He then contributed music reviews and features to the Boston Globe, Providence Journal, Portland Press Herald, and WGBH, as well as to the Arts Fuse. He also operated the NE Metal blog to provide in-depth coverage of the region’s heavy metal scene.