Casey Neill & The Norway Rats

Saturday, March 8th, 2025

$15 Advance // $15 Day Of Show
6pm Doors / 7pm Show
All Ages

CASEY NEILL & THE NORWAY RATS

Sending Up Flares, the fourth record from Casey Neill & The Norway Rats, 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. Created amidst chaos and uncertainty, these songs offer a lifeline to a world in need of balance, shot through with stories about resolve, resilience, wonder, and positive human interaction.

“A sense of hope against the odds that recurs and invites repeated listens “ – UNCUT Mag Uk (8 out of 10 stars)

The music of Casey Neill & The Norway Rats combines dreamy ballads and high energy rave-ups built around narrative songwriting. Neill tours with the band and solo throughout the USA, Japan, and Europe having performed at venues such as Town Hall in New York, Bumbershoot, and the Newport Folk Festival. The ensemble of Pacific Northwest heavy hitters includes accordionist/keyboardist Jenny Conlee of the Decemberists, guitarist Chet Lyster of Eels, bassist Jesse Emerson of Amelia, and Neill (who is also a member of The Minus 5). Sending Up Flares follows 2018’s Subterrene which No Depression called “a milestone in Neill and company’s trajectory thus far” while Rolling Stone said “(Neill’s) songs mask their complexities beneath a simple, singalong-worthy surface… these swimming waters have serious depth.”

In 1997 Casey Neill began a run of three songwriter albums for acoustic label Appleseed Recordings and contributed 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. A musical partnership with the late Scottish fiddler/producer Johnny Cunningham led to a far more electric record titled Brooklyn Bridge. To support the new sound, The Norway Rats were formed. At Newport Folk Festival, Casey was part of the all star Speak Out set with Lucius, Margo Price, Nate Rateliff and Jim James that was released on LP as part of Record Store Day 2018. Casey Neill & The Norway Rats recorded three records across the 2010’s: the atmospheric Americana of Goodbye to the Rank and File, the art rock collection All You Pretty Vandals, and the electro-pop explorations of Subterrene. Now on Sending Up Flares the Portland-based supergroup finds room for everything,turning a wealth of musical influences — including folk, art-rock, atmospheric soundscapes, and guitar freak-outs — into something singular. “I love exploring all of the music I love,” says Neill, who even nods to artistic role models like David Bowie, author Ursula K. Le Guin, and filmmaker Wim Wenders in the song “Meteor Shower.” “Sending Up Flares feels like we’ve reached a point where the band has settled into a natural, nuanced place”,he adds. “This is who we are. It’s what we do.”

Critic Marco Rivera described it best for music blog Splendid: ““Reclaiming tradition and social consciousness as weapons of resistance and tools for significant societal change, Neill appeals to our desire for collective experience, spinning touching and uplifting stories of hope, dignity and progressive politics. Be it through raucous rockers, fragile acoustic ballads, passionate bursts of punk fury or soulful touches of Irish folk, Neill’s narrative talent and concern for real people’s struggles stand out.”