Before we get to the news, just a quick reminder that it’s election day, which means you need to get your lazy ass to the polls and vote. I can’t remember the last time an election was more important. Check out the Douglas Co. Election Commission website to find your poling place and to see a sample ballot. Do it, people.

Onward…

Anonymous American frontman Matt Whipkey is on the mend after injuring himself Oct. 20 in a bizarre scissors accident in his bedroom. “It’s hard to explain what happened,” Whipkey said. Apparently he was using a pair of scissors to cut plastic zip ties that were holding together a bundle of guitar cables. “I got to the second to last tie and was holding it with my left hand and cutting with my right hand,” he said. “The scissors slipped and stabbed into my left index finger on the palm side underneath the knuckle. It severed the tendon in that finger.”

As a result of the injury, Whipkey couldn’t bend his finger at the knuckle. “For a professional guitar player, it’s as big a nightmare as it gets, right up there with losing your hand,” he said. Whipkey went under the knife right before Halloween to have the flexor tendon repaired and now has a huge scar on his finger beneath a cast that he’ll wear for the next month. Rehab is ongoing and it will take several months before the finger is easy to move. He has plenty of motivation to get back in playing shape with a 30-day solo tour scheduled to begin Jan. 10 and a CD release show slated for Dec. 30 at Sokol Underground.

Although the prognosis is good, Whipkey’s doctor tells him he’ll never play exactly like he did before. Time will tell. “It’s difficult to watch people play guitar now, especially at shows. It’s maddening,” he said. “I gained massive perspective on life as a result of the injury.”

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The first news about Bright Eyes’ forthcoming LP is finally hitting the interweb. NME reports (from something they read in Spin) that the follow-up to I’m Wide Awake/Digital Ash will be a rather dark and stormy affair. “The apocalypse is a prevalent theme in my new songs,” Oberst said. “There’s a feeling in the world right now like everything is unravelling, but maybe that’s not a bad thing. I’m not convinced that the human race is good for this planet anyway.” Sounds like there will be some tsunami and hurricane-flavored country psychedelic folk rockers in the batch, along with songs about “telepathy” (unless Oberst was pulling Spin‘s chain). Read the full NME item here. Omahans will likely get a sneak preview of the new material at the Dec. 15 Bright Eyes/Simon Joyner/Bruces benefit concert at Sokol Auditorium. Tickets went on sale last Saturday, so if you wanna go, you better click on this here One Percent Productions link and buy some tix before it sells out.

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It’s a busy Tuesday night musicwise, with two very hot shows going on around town. The Saddle Creek Bar will be hosting Starlight Desperation, Virgasound and This Blush ($7, 9 p.m.), while a few blocks away Ontario band Tokyo Police Club and Bombardment Society will be playing a rare Tuesday night show at The 49’r (No idea on the price for this one, though it’ll probably be around $5 and will start around 10).

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