by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Hear Nebraska’s Lincoln Fund Drive is today.

A couple things to consider as you decide whether to give to HearNebraska.org during the organization’s Lincoln pledge drive…

Yes, the Omaha fund drive isn’t until next week, but for every $10 you give to this one, your name gets dropped into a “virtual hat.” And if your name is drawn from that “virtual hat” you’ll win a custom turntable valued at $2k. For all you lame-o’s that don’t have a turntable, here’s your chance to finally get with it, and for you hipsters who already have a turntable, well, once you win this one, all you’ll need is a microphone to fulfill Beck’s “Where It’s At” dictum.

For you musicians out there who could give a shit about turntables, consider this:

Not only is Hear Nebraska’s mission entirely to support your artistic endeavors, but unlike some local charitable organizations that are always mooching you for free performances, HN does what it can to compensate bands who take part in activities like the upcoming “Hear Nebraska at the 1200 Club” concert and the “Hear Lincoln concert series.”

Look, eventually you’re going to book a show, cut a recording, start a new band, get busted for something you didn’t do, and you’ll want to get your story seen-read-heard by the music-loving world that follows Nebraska music, and it’s Hear Nebraska that’s going to help you do that. What’s it cost to hire a publicist? It’s nice to know you already have Hear Nebraska on your side.

And HN couldn’t have made it any easier. Just go to hearnebraska.org and fill out the “Donate Now” doohickey right on the homepage. Your donation TODAY will help HN get a share of the “Give to Lincoln” matching gift fund. Come on, you cheap-asses, do it.

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In this week’s column, those narcissistic Millennials. Is it me or does it seem like we see and  hear more about the young, hip people creating the companies than the companies themselves? Read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

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Travelling Mercies, Motel (self release, 2013)

Listening to the new Travelling Mercies album, Motel… What would you call this… Country? Country Rock? Alt Country? Outlaw Country?

Despite its inherent twang-and-drawl it leans heavier to the right on the Rock needle. Usually. On the other hand, songs like the acoustic “Holy Mary” bend toward folk. Then there’s the weird-Hawaiian-flavored lap-steel Hank Williams-derivative “Million Dollar Recipe.” But for the most part, it’s foot-on-the-floor tractor-flavored rock like the relentless “Border Run” that rattles and crashes like a waltz in a hailstorm.

Throughout the recording is an overshadowing Christian lilt that’s not so much “preachy” as an acknowledgement by songwriter/frontman Jeremy Mercy that yeah, there’s a higher power and he may or may not pull his ass out of the shit the next time it lands there. Mercy is a storyteller, and without a doubt this is a story-teller album.

I bring this up because Travelling Mercies are headlining tonight’s relief benefit at The Waiting Room for those devastated in the recent explosion in West, Texas. Also on the dance care are Belles & Whistles, 24 Hour Cardlock and Stephen Monroe. Recommended donation is $5 (but you can always give more), with all door proceeds going to the McLennan County Salvation Army.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Poliça plays tonight at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Another late-in-the-day post. Hey whaddayagonnado?

Despite the late hour I’m tossing this one online to remind you that Poliça is playing at The Waiting Room tonight with Night Moves. Poliça is Channy Leaneagh and Ryan Olson, previously of the band Gayngs. Their debut album, Give You the Ghost (Totally Gross National Product) got a massive 7.6 on the Pitchfork meter (Check out four songs from the album from the SoundCloud link, below). It’s gorgeous, and seeing them on an Omaha stage is well worth your $14. Show starts at 9.

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In other (old) news, Hear Nebraska today announced that it’s teaming up with Omaha Performing Arts and NET News to produce a “Austin City Limits-style” concert June 7 at the Holland Performing Arts Center’s 1200 Club. The performers: Saddle Creek Records’ Big Harp, Lincoln’s Kill County and the red hot Digital Leather. The show will be filmed by NET for four separate TV shows to air statewide (and possibly nationwide). It’s quite a coup for Hear Nebraska and helps galvanize it’s ever-growing rep as the state’s central music hub. Tix are $25 Adv/$30 DOS (info here).

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That greedy bastard Matt Whipkey has been riding my ass for two days to remind you that there’s only 24 hours left to get in on his Penny Park Kickstarter deal. Whipkey’s already blown way past his $4k goal (He was at $5,126 as of this writing). He says that initial $4k goal was only designed to cover half his vinyl costs. Vinyl’s expensive, folks. Especially gatefold double-vinyl. He says his Kickstarter is the best way for you to reserve your copy of his loving ode to one of his favorite teenage memories (Who else got loaded on cheap champagne at the Grove on New Year’s Eve? Ah, the memories)….

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Last but not least, tonight is the kick off the Big Al’s Free Music Festival 2013 — five nights of free music at The Hideout Lounge (320 So. 72nd St.). More info here.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lee Meyerpeter and Josh Dunwoody at Take Cover Omaha, Vol. 2, at The Sydney, Jan. 18, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Nearly 300 people paid $5 to attend a Take Cover show this past weekend. Omaha drew the best crowd, with nearly 200 paid at The Sydney Friday night, and if you were there, you could feel it. Crush mob. I showed up about halfway through the evening’s line-up, just in time to catch the Lee Meyerpeter & Josh Dunwoody (of The Filter Kings) and Landon Hedges (of Little Brazil) do their one original/one cover. The Filter Kings’ dudes covered a Killigans’ tune, while Landon took on a Lullaby for the Working Class song. The crowd dug them both and so did I, but by the end of Landon’s song I was feeling pretty claustrophobic…

The final tally was nearly $2,000 raised for Hear Nebraska to help support their mission, which is pretty simple: To make the state a globally recognized cultural destination. Hear Nebraska’s only job is to support Nebraska music. That’s it. If you’re in a local band, or just love local music, get your ass behind the HN cause. If you didn’t get a chance to drop in at either showcase, you can still donate $5 (or more) by going to the Hear Nebraska donation page and making a donation. You can even do it using PayPal — just designate the payment to Hear Nebraska, Inc. How simple is that?

Or if you’d rather get a tchotchke in return for your donation, go to the Hear Nebraska store and buy one of their fancy new T-shirts or a koozy. Do it.

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The only thing else to report on this quiet MLK Day is that everyone’s favorite band of degenerates, Peace of Shit, has decided to change its name to something I guess they think is much less offensive: Dumb Beach.

Dumb Beach frontman Austin Ulmer confirmed that the name change is no joke. He said they may play a few remaining smaller shows under the old Peace of Shit moniker, but after that, look for Dumb Beach on the gig calendars. I’m trying to talk him into playing one final show as Peace of Shit — a heart-rending farewell performance that would rival The Last Waltz. Why not? It worked for Sun Settings…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Brigadiers at The Waiting Room, Dec. 27, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here we are on the verge of yet another weekend.

As mentioned yesterday, tonight is the Take Cover Omaha, Vol. 2 benefit show for Hear Nebraska at The Sydney in Benson. Fourteen performers, 14 covers, one low price of $5, which goes to support Hear Nebraska programs. Show starts at 9 p.m. See you there.

Also tonight, The Brigadiers headlines a show with New Lungs at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Brigadiers is Shane Lamson, guitar, vocals; Mark Weber (ex-Box), lead guitar, vocals; Vic Padios (ex-Calico, ex-Gymnastics), bass, vocals; and Clint Schnase (ex-Cursive) on drums. New Lungs have a self-released EP coming out Feb. 9 called You’re Not Gonna Recognize Me that is red frickin’ hot. The Lungs are Danny Maxwell, vocals, guitar; Craig Fort, bass, and Corey Broman, drums. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at The Brothers, Yuppies headline a show with Lincoln madman Ron Wax and Iowa City’s Solid Attitude. This is the last time you’ll see the Yuppies on stage until next fall. $5, 9 p.m. More info here.

Also tonight, The L. Eugene Band, a jazz trio featuring Methe on keys, Mike Tulis on fuzz + tremelo guitar, and Brian Poloncic on drums, is playing a set at The Side Door lounge with Love Technicians, Guilty Is the Bear and Paris When It Sizzles. SDL Facebook page says it starts at 8 and no word on cover.

And finally, over at The Waiting Room tonight, Skypiper is headlining with Quiet Corral & Mike Schlesinger. $7, 9 p.m.

Not so crowded tomorrow night:

San Francisco electro-dream-pop band Geography plays at The Slowdown with On An On. $10 Adv./$12 DOS.

And if you’re in Lincoln Saturday night, check out Take Cover Lincoln, Vol. 2 at The Zoo Bar. Same deal as the Omaha version but with 16 bands. $5, 9 p.m. More info here.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Take Cover poster

We haven’t had a show worth a shit all week and then tomorrow there’s an avalanche. Needless to say, I already have commitments for tomorrow night in the form of Take Cover Omaha, Vol. 2 at The Sydney in Benson. Just like last year, each performer will play one original song and cover one song by another Nebraska-based band and/or performer they admire. The line-up as of this writing:

Dan McCarthy (McCarthy Trenching) covering Bill Hoover (Dark Town House Band)
Landon Hedges (Desaparacidos, Little Brazil) covering Lullaby for the Working Class
Luke Pettipole (Envy Corps) covering Great American Desert
John Larsen covering John Klemmensen
John Klemmensen (… and the Party; Landing on the Moon) covering Ladyfinger
Ted Stevens (Cursive)
Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds)
Heather Berney (The Betties) covering Matt Cox
Django Greenblatt-Seay covering The Good Life
Rebecca Lowry (All Young Girls Are Machine Guns) covering Paul Williams
Rachel Tomlinson Dick (HERS) and Teal Gardner (UUVVWWZ) covering Outlaw Con Bandana
Aaron Parker (Gordon)
Max Holmquist (The Great American Desert) covering Neva Dinova
Lee Meyerpeter and Josh Dunwoody (Filter Kings)

Your $5 cover will go to support Hear Nebraska, a little ol’ music-lovin’ organization in which I’m a board member. So, you know, you should go. Show starts at 9.

There are at least three more shows going on tomorrow night (which I’ll talk about in tomorrow’s blog). Why can’t you people figure out a way to spread the love over a few more days?

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This week’s column is about gun laws and the bluster about changing them, which will result in nothing happening because people got to have their toys, no matter how dangerous they are. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here. Lock and load.

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Uh, I swear that tonight’s show wasn’t on the One Percent website earlier this week, but there it is now. Tonight at the new, improved Waiting Room, it’s Bear Stories with Millions of Boys, Thirteenth Year and Fumescrew. It’s a chance to check out the club’s improvements to the sound, lights and stage, which Kevin Coffey writes about today’s OWH (right here).

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

With all these lists coming out, here’s one more: Pitchfork today announced its Top 50 of 2012. The list is relevant (I guess) because Pitchfork continues to be the more revered music criticism website in the country for indie music, whether you like it or not. No. 1 went to Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city (Interscope) of which I’ve heard nary a track, more damning evidence of just how out of touch I am with today’s music. No. 2 was Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, which I have listened to a few times, though it didn’t make my list (which you’ll have to wait until next week to read). No. 3 was Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel…, which I reconsidered (and relistened to) after the very public death of her dog, and must say it was better the second time around.

I was surprised at the number of artists on the list who were making follow-ups to breakthroughs, such as Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors and Beach House. We continue to regurgitate ourselves. As a whole, it’s not a bad list, but it’s hard to argue against the fact that this was another (in a series) off year(s) in music…

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The STNNNG are back with a new album, Empire Inward, slated for February. Check out the first track, “Brain-Dumb,” below. They just got back from playing the UK’s All Tomorrows Parties (curated by Shellac). Something tells me we’ll be seeing them on an Omaha stage soon…

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The Hear Nebraska T

Hear Nebraska is hocking new T-shirts for 2012/13. Do yourself a flavor and order one right here. Your $25 not only gets you a colorful fashion statement but also helps support Nebraska music’s No. 1 mouthpiece. And HN major domo Andy Norman says if you get your order in today, you should get it delivered by Christmas. Good luck.

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The other day Desaparecidos announced that it’s headed to Europe in February as part of a tour that will focus mainly on the Eastern Seaboard of these United States of America, ending with a couple dates at Webster Hall in NYC (one of which already sold out). How long will this Desa stretch continue, or is this going to do it? We’ll just have to wait and see…

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Speaking of Conor Oberst, his concert at Joslyn’s Witherspoon Hall is officially sold out. Opening band Whispertown hits the stage at 8 p.m. followed by the boy wonder himself playing a collection of tunes that will likely stretch back to the early Bright Eyes years.

Don’t have tix? Well, you’re not completely out of luck. There’ still plenty of tickets available to tonight’s Ladyfinger show at  Slowdown Jr. with Everyday/Everynight and Maps for Travelers (Back When, who had been scheduled to perform, have cancelled due to illness). $8, 9 p.m.

That brings us to Saturday, when Kite Pilot is slated to play at fabulous (and recently repainted) O’Leaver’s with Gordon (acoustic set) and Video Ranger. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Finally, the most bizarre event of the weekend is the Musico reunion show The Barley Street with Cat Island. Musico was a three-piece power-pop band from around the turn of the century that included among its members Darren Keen of The Show Is the Rainbow and Touch People fame, Brad Underwood and Mark Hinrichs. Expect crazy. $5, 9 p.m.

Have a good weekend…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Following up on yesterday’s post: Hear Nebraska ended up with 310 donors in yesterday’s giving bonanza called Give to Lincoln Day. I don’t know the actual breakdown of donations to matching funds and prizes, but the grand total they’ll receive was $9,622 in cash, $1,000 of which came as a result of being the organization with the third-highest number of “new donors” during the promotion (300), nosing out 4th place finisher Cat House by a paw (but don’t feel sorry for them, Cat House raised more than $18k, which will buy a lot of Meow Mix). You can see the stat here. Congratulations to HN and thanks to all who gave money and spread the word via social media.

That 300 number… interesting.

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The folks at the Maha Music Festival will make their final lineup announcement Sunday night, including a list of local stage acts. I think you’ll be pleased by what you’ll hear.

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The weekend lineup is looking pretty light, especially in Omaha. The only show on my radar is the return of Deer Tick Sunday night at The Waiting Room. Opening is Turbo Fruits (Fat Possum, Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace Records) along with York PA band Teenage Mysticism. $13 Adv./$15 DOS. 9 p.m. start time.

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Hear Nebraska's Andy Norman showing off where he got the idea for his organization's logo.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before I get to the pitch, the usual disclaimer: I’m on the Board of Directors of Hear Nebraska and have been since the organization launched over a year ago. I’m proud of my association with HN and proud of the work Andy and Angie and Michael and the entire Hear Nebraska team have done in such a short amount of time to promote the state’s music scene, and with very limited resources.

One of the things that sucks about running a non-profit organization like HN is always having to ask people for money. It’s a chore that comes with the territory. I doubt Andy realized when he started Hear Nebraska that he was going to have to spend so much time walking around with hat in hand fund raising. It’s an endless task, but it’s necessary if HN is going to continue to grow into something more than just a web-based music information hub.

But here’s an interesting stat: Andy reported yesterday that of the more than 6,000 unique visitors to hearnebraska.org last week an amazing 46 percent were from outside of Nebraska and 7 percent were from outside the U.S., which ties directly to the organization’s mission to make the state a globally recognized destination. It’s happening, people.

OK, so here’s the deal, and it’s very simple:

If you’ve ever thought about helping Hear Nebraska, which btw is a dyed-in-the-wool 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the time to do it is today, May 17. Because today is Give to Lincoln Day. And that means over the course of this one day, every dollar you donate to Hear Nebraska via the givetolincoln.com website (right here), will eligible for a proportional matching share of a $200k fund, contributed in part by the Lincoln Community Foundation. There’s even bonus cash for the top-3 fund raisers. Track HN’s progresss here.

If that wasn’t motivation enough: For every $10 you donate, you’ll also be purchasing a raffle ticket to win a custom electric guitar created by Lincoln guitar maker Andy Essink. It’s a spalted-maple topped, mahogany-bodied instrument with a cocobolo fretboard, ebony headstock laminate and electronics cover plate, Gotoh tuners, a Wilkinson wraparound bridge and Seymour Duncan Vintage Blues humbuckers. It’s valued at more than $1,300. Give $30 to HN (for example) and get three tickets in the drawing, and so on. I’d love to show you a photo of said guitar, but the only picture available also has a naked Andy Norman in it, and no one but Angie needs to see that. Trust me, the guitar is very nice.

Where does the money go? Well, in addition to covering basic operating expenses (including paying their one employee/editor), money raised would go toward pressing a vinyl compilation of local music, buying promotional banners to hang at events, and eventually building a live, streaming radio station featuring music and interviews by and with Nebraska musicians and touring bands passing through our borders.

All you have to do is slide that little ol’ mouse over to this little ol’ link and head on over to the donation website, read the “Make a Donation” box on the right side of the page, select the donation level that you can afford, then click the donate button. It’s easy, and fun! And for all you deadbeat musicians that HN promotes, it’s the least you can do. Plus you could win a guitar. Just do it before midnight tonight when the matching gifts promotion ends.

End of spiel. On behalf of the hippies at Hear Nebraska, I thank you.

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Two fun shows going on tonight:

Over at The Sandbox, Lawrence band Cowboy Indian Bear headlines with Adult Films, Cheap Furs and Raptor Visions. 8 p.m., $8. More info here.

Also tonight, LA’s Grouplove (Canvasback Records), whose song “Tongue Tied” currently is being used to sell iPods, headlines a show at The Waiting Room with Athens band Reptar (Vagrant). $15, early 8 p.m. start time.

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by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Not a lot of time for a hardcore critique, so I thought I’d share some brief comments and photos taken at last Saturday night’s Hear Nebraska Vol. 1 CD release show at The Sydney. The event had a pretty decent turn-out despite the shitty weather, and the music couldn’t have been better (or louder).

Digital Leather at The Sydney, Dec. 3, 2011.

Digital Leather had the biggest stand-up crowd of the evening, which is a dumb way of saying that more people stood near the edge of the Sydney’s so-called “stage” for their set than any other Saturday night. This continues to be my favorite local band.

Domestica at The Sydney, Dec. 3, 2011.

Domestica brought it like the “old days,” and took every opportunity to let the crowd know that they were, in fact, from the “old days.” Lighten up on the old-age stuff folks. Your brand of punk rock is timeless and eviscerates 95 percent of the competition that’s young enough to be your kids.

Masses at The Sydney, Dec. 3, 2011.

This was a different Masses than I heard in July 2010 at TWR. Their sound has evolved from sludge noise to intricate, orchestrated, voice-of doom-rock that borders on metal but isn’t metal. Of the three or four all-instrumental rock bands that I’ve seen from Omaha and Lincoln (and you know who I’m talking about) these guys are now on top of the list.

Not pictured but worth mentioning is Dim Light, who played an amazing set. Is it me or is their sound constantly evolving to something that is thoroughly unique and brutal? Amazing stuff.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Tie These Hands at Slowdown Jr., Oct. 20, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I walked into Slowdown Jr. last night for the Take Cover benefit (for Hear Nebraska) just in time to see Tie These Hands cover a song by Her Flyaway Manner (a member of HFM working behind the bar gave it a thumb’s up) and a tune by Mr. 1986 (fantastic, intricate instrumental, hat’s off for tackling such a complex number, guys).

Who doesn’t love the cover show concept — a local band covering another local band’s song? Unfortunately, I didn’t know who the next two solo-acoustic performers were, or what they were covering (strike that — one did a cover of a Neva Dinova song). I asked the guy next to me, who’s been around the scene for years, if he knew who the guy was on stage. “Never heard of him.” So, in essence, we were hearing a cover performed by someone we didn’t know of a band we never heard of, which kind of defeats the purpose of a covers night. Regardless, later Mitch Gettman pulled off a fine solo acoustic version of Bright Eyes’ “Road to Joy” along with an Elliott Smith song (Smith was born in Omaha).

While most of the seats in Slowdown Jr. were filled, I don’t know how many were paying customers and how many were performers waiting their turn. I’ve written about the Take Cover production before (right here) so I won’t belabor the point. I’d love to see someone put one of these together but instead of inviting a dozen or more performers, pick only five or six (or three or four, if that’s all you can get) well-known local acts and in addition to letting them pick the songs, assign them a song or two that most of the crowd is probably familiar with. And then publicize the combinations. You’ll get a crowd there to see both the performers and the songs to be performed.

I’m sure the organizers feel humble, fortunate and thankful to have anyone willing to perform at their benefit for free. However, Hear Nebraska exists for one reason only: To promote Nebraska music. And that includes the big-name touring acts with record deals that call Nebraska home. HN is their PR staff, their marketing agent, their promotional arm. And the folks behind it don’t make a penny from their efforts. Everything HN does comes from the heart. Surely the organizers could get at least one or two of the area’s bigger-drawing acts to participate. Maybe not. Regardless, the show was a success, people had a good time, and who knows how big it will get next time…

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And so, the weekend…

It kicks off tonight with Icky Blossoms headlining a gig at The Waiting Room that also features Somasphere and Lawrence band Cowboy Indian Bear. I can’t remember Icky headlining a show before, so this could be special, especially if Derek Pressnall and Co. roll out some new material. IB reminds me of an early version of The Faint, not necessarily musically, but from the band’s dance-party energy. People become intoxicated with fun at Icky Blossoms shows, and that’s a rarity in these days of endlessly droll vibe bands that are more about setting a scene than having a good time. $7, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Lincoln legends Domestica (Jon & Heidi from Mercy Rule with the amazing Boz Hicks) plays tonight at O’Leaver’s with Ketchup & Mustard Gas and headliners The Answer Team. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night it’s back to The Waiting Room for The So-So Sailors, with Con Dios and The Matt Cox Band. $7, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.