# Neal Tiemann

Neal Tiemann (born December 22, 1982) is an American musician, currently the lead guitarist and songwriter of the rock band the Midwest Kings (MWK). He is a former rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band DevilDriver, and served as the lead guitarist for David Cook's band, The Anthemic, from 2008 to 2011. He spent most of 2009 on the Declaration Tour with Cook and served as the tour's music director. Tiemann played guitar on Cook's major label debut album, David Cook (2008), as well as his independently released, Analog Heart (2006). Tiemann also played on Burn Halo's 2009 self-titled album and Bryan Jewett's album A Brief Look at the New You. Tiemann and the rest of The Anthemic worked on Cook's second album, This Loud Morning (2011). In January 2020, he was recruited as a touring lead guitarist for premiere deathcore band, Carnifex, later officially joining in 2022.

## Early career: 2001–2008

* Midwest Kings
* David Cook – Analog Heart
* Bryan Jewett – A Brief Look at the New You

## 2008–present

* Midwest Kings
* To Have Heroes
* Caroline's Spine – Work It Out
* David Cook – David Cook, This Loud Morning
* Burn Halo – Burn Halo
* Uncle Kracker – Happy Hour
* Carnifex – Necromanteum

## Equipment

Tiemann is seen playing Gibson guitars exclusively. He can be seen playing Gibson RD guitars such as an ebony with EMG pickups, a natural, and a silverburst. He also uses Gibson Les Paul guitars such as a sunburst and an ebony with 3 pickups and with gold hardware. He can also be seen with a black Gibson Explorer with EMG pickups and a Gibson Hummingbird in heritage cherry sunburst finish.

## Appearances
### On Tour

From January 18 to 25, 2009, Tiemann traveled with bandmates David Cook (guitar and lead vocals), Andy Skib (rhythm guitar, keyboards, backup vocals), Kyle Peek (drums, backing vocals), and Joey Clement (bass guitar) to the Middle East to complete a USO tour. The band visited seven bases on their trip to Kuwait and Iraq and played songs from David Cook as well as crowd-pleasing covers including Tenacious D's Fuck Her Gently and Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher".
In mid-February 2009, Tiemann embarked on a nationwide tour serving as musical director and lead guitarist for The Declaration Tour to support the platinum-selling, major-label debut David Cook. The tour began at Club Downunder in Tallahassee, Florida, on February 13, 2009, and was originally set to end in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 25, 2009. The tour was extended through the fall and came to a close on December 1, 2009, at The Fillmore in Charlotte, North Carolina after 154 shows.
In mid-May 2009, Tiemann and bandmates took a short break from the North American leg of the Declaration Tour to travel to Manila in the Philippines. Tiemann made numerous appearances on Filipino television with David Cook leading up to a one night concert playing to upwards of 40,000 attendees at the SM Mall of Asia in Manila on May 16, 2009.

### Music videos

| Year | Song | Capacity | Performer | Director |
| 2008 | "Light On" | Lead guitar | David Cook | Wayne Isham |
| 2009 | "Come Back To Me" | Lead guitar | David Cook | Gavin Bowden |
| 2011 | "The Last Goodbye" | Lead guitar | David Cook | Nigel Dick |

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Year | Album details / Artist | Capacity | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
| Year | Album details / Artist | Capacity | US | US Heat | US Rock | CAN | FIN | Certifications (sales threshold) |
| ---- | Winds of Change: The Acoustics (MWK) Released: Unknown Label: self-released | Producer, lead guitar, songwriter | – | – | – | – | – | US Sales: Unknown |
| 2003 | Midwest Kings (MWK) Released: June 6, 2003 Label: self-released | Producer, lead guitar, songwriter | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2004 | The Story Thus Far (Axium) Released: July 16, 2004 Label: self-released | Bass | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2004 | Judging A Bullet (MWK) Released: September 25, 2004 Label: self-released | Producer, lead guitar, songwriter | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2006 | Analog Heart (David Cook) Released: May 6, 2006 Label: self-released | Guitar (Tracks 4, 5, 8) | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: 1,595 |
| 2006 | Incoherent With Desire To Move On (MWK) Released: December 1, 2006 Label: self-released | Producer, lead guitar, songwriter | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2007 | A Brief Look at the New You (Bryan Jewett) Released: April 20, 2007 Label: self-released | Producer, guitar, trombone | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2008 | Luna Despierta EP – Digital Release (MWK) Released: June 18, 2008 Label: self-released | Producer, lead guitar, songwriter | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2008 | Work It Out (Caroline's Spine) Released: September 16, 2008 Label: 7th Kid Entertainment | Co-producer | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2008 | David Cook (David Cook) Released: November 18, 2008 Label: RCA Records/19 | Lead guitar, songwriter | 3 | 2 | – | 11 | 15 | US sales: 1,300,000 RIAA: Platinum CRIA: Gold |
| 2009 | Burn Halo (Burn Halo) Released: March 31, 2009 Label: Rawkhead Rekords | Lead guitar, songwriter | 129 | 2 | 22 | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2009 | Happy Hour (Uncle Kracker) Released: September 15, 2009 Label: Atlantic Records | Guest musician | 38 | – | 13 | – | – | US Sales: Unknown |
| 2010 | Luna Despierta EP (MWK) Released: February 18, 2010 Label: self-released | Lead guitar, producer, songwriter | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2016 | Trust No One (DevilDriver) Released: May 13, 2016 Label: Napalm Records | Rhythm guitar | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: Unknown |
| 2023 | Necromanteum (Carnifex) Released: October 6, 2023 Label: Nuclear Blast | Lead guitar | – | – | – | – | – | US sales: unknown |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart or not released |||||||||

### Singles

| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Artist | Album | Capacity |
| Year | Single | US | US Pop | US AC | US Adult | US Rock | CAN | UK | NZ | Artist | Album | Capacity |
| 2008 | Light On | 17 | 20 | 10 | 4 | — | 27 | 184 | 8 | David Cook | David Cook | Lead guitarist |
| 2009 | "Bar-ba-sol" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | David Cook | David Cook | Lead guitarist |
| 2009 | "Come Back to Me" | 63 | 49 | 15 | 9 | — | — | — | — | David Cook | David Cook | Lead guitarist |
| 2009 | "Dirty Little Girl" | — | — | — | — | 19 | — | — | — | Burn Halo | Burn Halo | Lead guitarist |
| 2009 | "Permanent" (charity single) | 24 | 34 | — | — | — | 26 | — | — | David Cook | Live | Lead guitarist |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart, not released, or not certified |||||||||||||

### Songwriting

| Year | Song | Album | Performer | Extra notes |
| 2003 | "Godspeed" | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2003 | "Room for Two" | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2003 | "Fairweather Friend" | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2003 | "Lemmings" | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2003 | "Undertow"* | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2003 | "Waterside"** | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2003 | "Thrill of It All" | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2003 | "Forever Fall" | Midwest Kings | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2005 | "Waiting Room" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2005 | "Call To Arms" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2005 | "Railway Reality" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2005 | "Judging A Bullet"*** | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings | — |
| 2005 | "'Til I'm Blue" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings |
| 2005 | "Passenger" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings |
| 2005 | "Roses & Cyanide" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings |
| 2005 | "8 Ways to Decay" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings |
| 2005 | "Drone" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings |
| 2005 | "By Accident" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings |
| 2005 | "Splinter" | Judging A Bullet | Midwest Kings |
| 2006 | "Circle's Anthem" | Incoherent With Desire to Move On | Midwest Kings |
| 2006 | "Killing More Than Time" | Incoherent With Desire to Move On | Midwest Kings |
| 2006 | "Make Me" | Incoherent With Desire to Move On | Midwest Kings |
| 2006 | "One True Thing" | Incoherent With Desire to Move On | Midwest Kings |
| 2006 | "Rearview" | Incoherent With Desire to Move On | Midwest Kings |
| 2006 | "Song To Me" | Incoherent With Desire to Move On | Midwest Kings |
| 2008 | "Anodyne"^ | Luna Despierta EP | Midwest Kings |
| 2008 | "A Scarlet Letters" | Luna Despierta EP | Midwest Kings |
| 2008 | "Stuck Under Wheels" | Luna Despierta EP | Midwest Kings |
| 2008 | "Vera" | Luna Despierta EP | Midwest Kings |
| 2008 | "Fairweather Friend"*** | To Have Heroes EP | To Have Heroes |
| 2008 | "Reasons"* *** | To Have Heroes EP | To Have Heroes |
| 2008 | "Kiss on the Neck"^ | David Cook | David Cook | Hidden Track |
| 2009 | "Dirty Little Girl"*** ^^ | Burn Halo | Burn Halo | Peak: #19 Mainstream Rock Tracks |
| 2009 | "Save Me"*** ^^ | Burn Halo | Burn Halo | Featured in the video game WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 |
| 2009 | "Dead End Roads and Lost Highways"*** ^^ | Burn Halo | Burn Halo |
| — | "All You Could Not See" | – | Midwest Kings |
| — | "Dear Heaven" | – | David Cook |
| — | "Not Me" | – | David Cook |
| — | "Shades of Red" | – | Midwest Kings |
| — | "Until Dawn" | – | Midwest Kings |
* *Co-Written with Andy Skib
* **Co-Written with Justin Briggs
* ***Co-Written with Zac Maloy
* ^ Co-Written with David Cook
* ^^ Co-Written with James Hart