Photo by D. Reid Photography
With pliant and mellow vocals layered on a sound that feels comfortably familiar, Hellertown’s Neil Grover is a welcome presence at open mics around the Lehigh Valley, and releases his first EP this spring.
Music always appealed to Grover, who was fascinated by the catchy construction of pop in the ‘90s and took piano lessons from the age of seven. “It was the first thing I fell in love with completely,” he says, and despite that love, “I was a terrible student.” More interested in winkling out his own compositions than doing homework, Grover nevertheless learned to write and play songs, which he steadfastly kept to himself until his mid-twenties. “Songwriting,” he realized, “is not complete if you don’t share it with others.”
Hard-won confidence on the stage established, Grover punctuates each personable performance with lighthearted intros, though his original lyrics can delve into deeper matter. “Not to be too dark,” he says, “but I write about the things that keep me up at night, that torture me a little bit.”
His upcoming EP, Whoa, manifested as the songs he was recording aligned with a common theme. Many people can relate to a sense of lonely otherness, feeling misunderstood despite the fact that they’re surrounded by people privately sharing their doubts. “Whoa is my definition of what it takes to survive in the world.”
Though he’s gigged far afield in New York and Boston, Grover is often found at local venues like SteelStacks, Bethlehem’s Southside 313 and other incarnations of the open mics to which he owes so much, where you can hear original music as well as throwback covers from Amy Winehouse to Alanis Morissette and Oasis. Check out Whoa on Spotify and find upcoming performances online.
