Angie and Andrew Norman from last night’s Nebraska Stories broadcast.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I couldn’t pull myself away from the new Slowdive video this morning long enough to watch Josh Hoyer’s losing performance on The Voice last night.

I see no reason to go on a lengthy diatribe about how much I dislike performance competition teevee shows like The Voice. If you’re reading this, you’re (probably) someone who already values art over performance, creativity over mimicry, genuine-ness over shtick. The Voice is what the huddled masses mistake for art; pretty faces and their pretty bleetings mired in the muck desperately reaching for fame.

Why did Hoyer bother going on The Voice? As he implied in his audition video, he had nothing else to lose. He’s tired of scraping for tips to support his family while he struggles to get his music career on a sustainable trajectory. A show like The Voice puts him in front of millions of people who otherwise never would have heard him. If even a fraction of a fraction of that audience decided to go to the internet and find out more about Josh, well then, it was worth the effort (right?).

I’ve heard various stories about what the producers of these kinds of talent shows make participants sign away prior to letting them go on stage (and even more the further they go). If those stories are true, then losing last night may have been the best thing to happen to Hoyer. His talent lies as a bandleader, a songwriter, a musician, and yes, as a vocalist, but it’s the combination that sets him apart.

Regardless, now is the time to fan the ember lit by last night’s national exposure, and maybe, just maybe, a flame will arise. So, congratulations on the effort, Josh, now back to work, which won’t be too hard considering he’s playing tonight in Kufstein, Austria, on a European tour that winds down in Brussels April 1 (a tour he presumably booked well before The Voice aired).

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Can you imagine how an undiscovered Bob Dylan or Chrissie Hynde or Neil Young or Conor Oberst would fare on The Voice?

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Speaking of quality television, last night NET public television broadcast a report about Hear Nebraska on “Nebraska Stories” (right after Antique Roadshow). Titled “Hear Nebraska’s Music Man” the 8-minute clip captures a day in the life of last year’s Good Living Tour along with our intrepid hero, Andy Norman (i.e., the Music Man) and Hear Nebraska co-founder Angie Norman while they hustle (along with a sizable crew) to make everything work in remote locales like Imperial and Lyons.

It’s a great piece. Check out the clip below.

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Maha is getting ready for the big reveal Thursday night. The media already has been informed (and told to embargo until the official announcement). It’s an impressive line-up and a bit of a change in direction from last year’s festival…

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Tonight Philly rock band Creepoid (Graveface Records), whose sound has been described as “somewhere between Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth and Asobi Seksu,” headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Psych-rock band Ecstatic Vision (Relapse Records) opens along with our very own David Nance. $7, 9 p.m.

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Here’s that Slowdive video I mentioned… enjoy.

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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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.