CASEY NEILL with Billy Allen and Shamim Allen opening. $25 at the door, $20 advance. To reserve Venmo @PayPeterSeward or email lakeflowerlanding@gmail.com
American roots and Scots/Irish-folk influences underscore Casey Neill’s songwriting and solo material. His Pogues-styled rocker, “Hurray for the Riff Raff,” is a favorite bar band cover. He attests to randomly hearing it played at clubs with no awareness that the author is in the audience. A band even claimed his title for their name. Casey tours the US, Japan, and Europe, and has performed at Town Hall (NYC), Bumbershoot (Washington state), and the Newport Folk Festival. His latest release as a bandleader of the Norway Rats, Sending Up Flares, features songs that evoke the cinematic sweep of golden-era U2 and the dark, complex alt-rock of PJ Harvey. Casey’s collaborators include Jenny Conlee (The Decemberists), Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney), and Peter Buck (R.E.M.).
Saranac Lake’s own Billy Allen, founder of the Waterhole Bar & Tavern, opens the evening with songs he’s crafted with humility, wisdom and introspection. Supported by Shamim Allen (The Dustbunnies), Billy premiered his recent songs at LFL to an overflow crowd in 2024, and he hasn’t stopped writing and performing new ones ever since.