Raised on the north side of Chicago, Neil's artistry was foreshadowed by his parentage. His mother holding a doctorate in piano and a father who's an accomplished guitarist and artisan, he began playing the drums in 1978 and pulling double duty between Saint Ita's Elementary School and The Edgewater Center of Dance and Drama where he studied theater and acting from ages nine to fourteen. This lead to his first role in ABC's pilot "An American Dream" while he studied concert piano at Chicago's American Conservatory of Music from 1980 - 82.