McCarthy Trenching at Reverb Lounge, Jan. 17, 2015. The band plays The band is being live streamed from The Trap Room Sunday at 8 p.m.
There will come a time where Friday’s will be dedicated to previewing the weekend’s shows. That time is still a ways off.
That said, there is a performance that’s being streamed live at The Trap Room (the bar across the sidewalk from The Slowdown) featuring McCarthy Trenching, which at the very least will feature singer/songwriter Dan McCarthy and (I’m guessing) sideman bass player James Maakestad, though there could be more to the band.
Dan and Co. no doubt will be playing songs off the latest McCarthy Trenching album, Perfect Game, which you can buy here on Bandcamp. Sunday night’s streamed performance begins at 8 p.m. and can be watched for free via Facebook Live.
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The Reverb Lounge is hosting an album release show for rock band The Long Awaited tonight. Gallivant and The Party After open at 9 p.m. $10. No doubt masks and social distancing protocols will be firmly enforced. If you haven’t checked out the new Reverb Lounge, this is your chance.
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I leave you with this new video from Omaha indie-punk band Leafblower. The song, “Yes Men,” comes from the 7-inch released right when Covid was getting started early last spring. The band will be making a second push of the record next week for Bandcamp Friday. Until then, check out yet another video interpretation by band member Craig Fort. It’s weird, but I bet the “making of the video” video would have been even weirder.
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Next week is March. It’s warming up. Covid numbers are down. People are getting vaccinated. We’re getting there, people. It’s just going to take a little more time.
Vic Chesnutt in his practice space in 2005. Photo by Tristan Loper.
I woke up this morning with a dozen hits on the ol’ Conor Oberst Google Alert, thanks to Bright Eyes releasing a cover of Vic Chesnutt’s “Flirted with You All My Life,” on YouTube. The track was first released as the B-side of last year’s “Persona Non Grata” 7-inch.
Vic’s version was originally part of his 2009 album At the Cut, one of his last, released the year of his death at the age of 45. It is, indeed, a dark piece of work, with a chorus that goes, “Oh, death / Clearly I’m not ready.”
In the press materials, Oberst talks about seeing Chesnutt perform many times from a young age. I, too, remember seeing him play around town back in the ‘90s, most notably at a show at the old Capitol Bar & Grill with sideman Omahan Alex McManus seated next to his wheelchair. Chesnutt was indeed an original, and it’s good to see his songs live on for another generation to enjoy.
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Which gets me thinking, I never wrote a postscript on the Phoebe Bridgers’ SNL appearance, which I thought would end Oberst’s drought on the late-nite sketch show. I’ve been predicting Conor’d perform on SNL for years, but he wasn’t part of Bridgers’ band that night, so the wait continues. I figure if Bright Eyes didn’t get a slot on SNL last year, it probably will never happen. As for Bridgers and her guitar-smashing histrionics, you have to wonder what she’ll do next. There are no boundaries for her except the limitations of her own songwriting.
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Yesterday One Percent Productions sent out its email newsletter proclaiming “We’re Back.”
“After shutting down completely in March of 2020, we were able to produce some events from late June through early December. And after stopping again over the last few months, we are back at it again! So we just needed to thank all the artists for still performing and the customers for still attending the shows. We look forward to continue producing safe events while patiently waiting for the party to return!!!”
Those events include closing out a run of a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch this month, and Yutan band The Long Awaited playing tomorrow night at Reverb with Gallivant. The first bigger national show is Crash Test Dummies March 20 at The Waiting Room.
A big test will be the April 3 Bennie and the Gents show at The Waiting Room. Always a good draw, this should be a good indicator as to whether people are willing to go to an “inside show.”
Now would be a good time for venues to consider how they’ll host shows outdoors while we wait for the vaccine to get into people’s arms.
I got in touch with about a dozen local artists last weekend for an article that will appear in next month’s issue of The Reader, asking when they’ll return to the stage. Look for that one in the racks next week, as well as online.
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Saddle Creek’s latest signing, Spirit of the Beehive, yesterday released its second single off the upcoming Creek debut, Entertainment, Death, out April 9. Check out “The Server is Immersed,” below.
Here’s what we were doing last year around this time — SUSTO at Slowdown Jr., Feb. 24, 2020.
It seems like forever since I’ve updated ol’ Lazy-i but it’s only been a couple weeks. Work has gotten the better of me lately and I haven’t been able to get around to posting updates. So there’s that and the fact that there’s just not a heckova lot going on music-wise in Omaha.
If you watch the COVID numbers as closely as I do, you’re hopeful that at least some local shows will begin popping up here in there. But even if there had been some shows in this past week, who would have been crazy enough to go out in Ice Station Zebra weather?
I’m told the venues are willing to booking local bands, but that the bands are still skittish about going back on stage. I guess I can’t blame them. But people are getting desperate to get back out and into the clubs. Yeah, maybe we’d be pushing it, but by now we’ve all gotten used to wearing masks and know what to do and not to do in public settings. Here’s hoping something happens soon…
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While we wait for local shows to return, The Trap Room is continuing its livestream series shot from Omaha’s favorite hole-in-the-wall located across from The Slowdown. Your host, Dan Brennan, is one of the best sound guys in Omaha, so the sound quality of these shows is better than anything you’re going to hear on broadcast TV.
This Sunday’s Trap Room stream features the country twangin’ of Pony Creek featuring Dan Olson and Ryan Osbahr. The stream starts at 8 p.m. and you can watch it for free via Facebook Live by following The Trap Room Facebook page (right here).
Next week, The Trap Room presents McCarthy Trenching, whose latest album, Perfect Game, is one of my recent faves. That one streams Feb. 28 at 8 p.m.
Here’s the rest of the Trap Room streaming-show line-up:
You should know the drill by now — Bandcamp is waiving fees for download purchases from its platform today only so artists can pocket more revenue. A lot of record labels are joining in on the deal as well, so there’s never been a better time to purchase a download of that album or song that you’ve been listening to on Spotify or Apple Music.
There haven’t been a lot of new local releases since my “Soundtrack to a Pandemic” list from this past December, but here are a few:
— Problems — Darren Keen’s new project — has a new single out called “Dog is Love” that you should check out here (especially if you love dogs).
— McCarthy Trenching’s new one, Perfect Game, is a winner. Check it out here.
— Check out the new Hartford/Focht LP that came out on Christmas right here.
— Shaun the Loud just dropped a new EP called 3, right here.
And here’s that list of favorites from 2020 again. Go out and get some!
Criteria, Years (2020, 15 Passenger) — The band’s first album since 2005’s When We Break (Saddle Creek), it absolutely rocks. Buy/download/listen: https://criteriane.bandcamp.com/album/years
Death Cow, Pioneer (2020, self-release) — The songs’ harmony vocals and power-chord riffs are pure ’90s FM rock territory. Buy/download/listen: https://deathcow.bandcamp.com/album/pioneer
Eddy Mink, Open Container Heart Surgery (2020, self-release) — Pedal-steel fueled indie rock sung with grit, heart and soul by Kerry Eddy. Buy/download/listen: https://eddymink.bandcamp.com/
Digital Leather, New Wave Gold (2020, No Coast) — The 24th full-length album released by Digital Leather (Shawn Foree) over 20 years, and one of his best. Buy/download/listen: https://nocoastrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/new-wave-gold
Benny Leather, Temporary Insanity (2020, FDH Records) — Electro-punk debut LP features Modern Love’s Chandra Moskowitz (yes, the world famous chef!) and Thick Paint’s Sarah Bohling. Buy/download/listen: https://fdhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/temporary-insanity-2
Uh Oh, Joe and Mari Sing the Hits (2020, self-release) — Includes covers of songs by Alex G, Waxahatchee, Better Oblivion Community Center and Joe Frusciante. Buy/download/listen: https://uhoh.bandcamp.com/album/joe-mari-sing-the-hits
No Thanks, Submerger (2020, Black Site Records) – Debut on KC label Black Site by self-proclaimed Omaha “goth punks.” Essential. Buy/download/listen: https://no-thanks.bandcamp.com/album/submerger
James Schroeder, Mesa Buoy (2020, self-release) — David Nance sideman/guitarist extraordinaire cooks his own dinner on this stunning debut. Buy/download/listen: https://jamesschroeder.bandcamp.com/album/mesa-buoy
Ethan Jones, McMcCartney (2020, self-release) — Ladyfinger/Dumb Beach guitarist’s homemade rock anthems seethe and sizzle. Buy/download/listen: https://ethanjones.bandcamp.com/releases
David Nance, Staunch Honey (2020, Trouble In Mind) — Follow-up to 2018 break-out LP Peaced and Slightly Pulverized features a stripped-down, soulful sound. Buy/download/listen: https://davidnance.bandcamp.com/album/staunch-honey
The message on The Slowdown’s east-facing marquee says it all…
In this month’s issue of The Reader, I ask Marc Leibowitz (One Percent Productions, The Waiting Room), Jason Kulbel (The Slowdown) and Eric Dimenstein (Ground Control Touring) when live music will return to our stages — or at least to the stages at venues I frequent.
The good news our most important stages for indie music seem to be weathering the COVID-19 storm. The bad news is we’ve still got a long ways to go before we’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder at a club watching a touring indie band.
This morning our hometown label Saddle Creek Records announced it signed “Philadelphia shape-shifting band” Spirit of the Beehive. The band’s Creek debut LP, Entertainment, Death, is slated for release April 9.
From the press release:
“The newly modified 3-piece (founding members Zack Schwartz and Rivka Ravede are now joined by new member Corey Wichlin), an adjustment that better suits the new record’s musical stylings, engaged in an entirely different writing process than their past records. Where their breakout Hypnic Jerks was recorded in a week, ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH was planned and plotted over the period of four months; a dangerous amount of time for a band whose attention to detail is exceptional, allowing for their most focused and exploratory work to date. ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH is also the first to be entirely self-recorded and produced by the band giving a wider periphery and deeper scope into their intricate pop genius, a view unlike any SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE record that has come before.”
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