Join us for a WERU benefit concert on Saturday, June 14 with critically acclaimed indie folk singer-songwriter Casey Neill, at Barncastle in Blue Hill!
Doors open at 6:30pm to access the bar and seating, and the show begins at 7:00pm. Space is limited, so get your tickets now by clicking here!
Casey Neill is a songwriter from Portland, Oregon performing high energy indie folk, infused with haunting melodies and weather beaten narratives. A prolific road warrior since the late 90s, Neill tours throughout the USA, Japan, and Europe, performing at venues such as Town Hall in New York, San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, and the Newport Folk Festival. Two new albums of his songs are out in 2023 – one by his band Casey Neill & The Norway Rats (Sending Up Flares) and a solo CD of acoustic songs titled time zero land. A self-produced collection of bedroom recordings, time zero land leans into the American folk and traditional Scots/Irish influences that have often underscored his songwriting craft and guitar work. The songs on Sending Up Flares and time zero land offer a lifeline to a world in need of balance, shot through with stories about resolve, resilience, and wonder.
Critic Marco Rivera described it best for music blog Splendid: “Be it through raucous rockers, fragile acoustic ballads, soulful touches of Irish folk, Neill’s narrative talent and concern for real people’s struggles stand out. The results are so evocative, you’ll be tempted to steep further in these memories, the better to share Casey Neill’s particular blend of personal and historical experience.”
In 1997 Casey Neill began a run of three songwriter albums for acoustic label Appleseed Recordings as well as contributing tracks to their Pete Seeger Tribute along with Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, and Bonnie Raitt. A compilation of his material entitled Memory Against Forgetting was released by Indigo Girl Amy Ray’s Daemon imprint in 2005. Following a few years treading the boards in New York City, Neill moved back to the thriving music community in Portland, Oregon. In 2007, a far more electric record Brooklyn Bridge was released and The Norway Rats were formed to support it with members of The Decemberists and Eels. Neill is a frequent member of power pop band The Minus 5 along with Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck of R.E.M. Casey Neill & The Norway Rats recorded three records across the 2010’s – the dreamy Americana of Goodbye to the Rank and File the art rock collection All You Pretty Vandals and the electro-folk and pop explorations of Subterrene. It’s been five years since their last album and Sending Up Flares is the sound of a band rallying together, turning the genre-bending range of its influences into the group’s most cohesive, cathartic album yet.
“[Neill’s] songs mask their complexities beneath a simple, singalong-worthy surface… these swimming waters have serious depth.” – Rolling Stone
“These are songs with stories well told” – Steve Earle
Learn more at www.caseyneill.com.