The Suffolk presents its annual holiday tradition, Rockabilly Christmas, featuring Jason D. Williams, Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks, and The Vendettas on Friday, December 15, at 8 p.m. Always the show of the year, the annual event makes for a night jam-packed with all the best in Rockabilly along with holiday favorites.
Jason D. Williams, pianist, singer and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee, has spent a lifetime behind the piano connecting with country and rock ’n’ roll greats while creating a persona that’s 100 percent original. The rock ’n’ roll history of Memphis looms large in Williams’s world having recorded for RCA and Sun Records in the 1980s and 1990s before returning to the recording fold in 2010. Williams is also no stranger to large motion pictures — he was the hands playing along to Jerry Lee Lewis’s music in Jim McBride and Jack Baran’s “Great Balls of Fire.” A wild man onstage, Williams accredits influences like Jerry Lee Lewis, Moon Mullican, Memphis Slim and Al Jolson for helping to develop his vast repertoire and seemingly endless energy.
“I’ve always welcomed the comparisons,” says Williams. “My influences were some of the greatest entertainers ever to be seen.”
Gene Casey — the prodigal rockabilly king of the East End — returns with The Lone Sharks and his 20-plus years of experience in the beloved genre. Casey’s original music has been met with great acclaim, being used on the soundtracks to television shows and feature films as well as playing on both local and international radio stations. Casey and the Lone Sharks are a welcomed staple of the East End and were awarded the Long Island Sound Award by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame “for contributions to the Island’s musical landscape.”
Opening for the party once again this year will be The Vendettas. For the last six years, the group has been performing the great 1950s jukebox hits whose rebellious energy defined that era, rockabilly rarities and modern songs from the likes of Bruce Springsteen. The group feels that although separated by decades, these songs share a common ancestry and merge perfectly to offer a sense of the familiar even while discovering something brand new.
Tickets are $49 to $55 at thesuffolk.org. Suffolk Theater is at 118 East Main Street, Riverhead.
Staff Writer on Dec 2, 2023