Azure Ray circa 2021. The duo has a new album coming out June 11.
This morning Azure Ray’s publicist announced the duo will release its first new full-length album in a decade, Remedy, June 11 on Maria Taylor’s Flower Moon Records.
“Produced by Brandon Walters (Lord Huron, Joshua Radin), the band worked individually through the COVID-19 pandemic across three separate recording locations in southern California,” sayeth the press release. “With Remedy, Taylor and Fink sought to explore new structural arrangements and sonic dynamics, providing Walters with both the creative direction and freedom to expand upon the bands long-established ambient sound. Reoccurring themes of tragedy, chaos and anxiety present from the very first Azure Ray record (as a result of immense personal loss) reveal themselves with new meaning set against a world – not just their own lives – in turmoil.”
Sounds uplifting. But no one goes to an Azure Ray album expecting to dance. Preorder the album here, and check out the first single, the title track, below.
For young readers who may be wondering why I’m writing about Azure Ray since the duo doesn’t live in Omaha — here’s a bit of history. Azure Ray used to be on Saddle Creek Records and were part of the Omaha scene starting way back around 2003 when Hold On Love was released. Can’t believe it’s been nearly 20 years.
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WOWT Channel 6 posted a story that says Blackstone District will be hosting a Farnam Fest in mid-May followed by a barbecue fest of some sort later this summer. No doubt there will be a performance stage. The story also has info about The Orpheum’s upcoming season, which includes full-capacity shows. More signs that COVID is finally leaving (and vaccinations are under way).
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the One Percent Productions website, you know their clubs are getting back in gear, with The Waiting Room and Reverb hosting a couple shows earlier this week. They also announced a Mt. Joy show May 4 at Falconwood Park with Rough Trade hippie-psych band Hello Forever.
Things are still pretty slow, though. I’m still looking for my return-to-the-clubs show, especially since I’ll be fully vaccinated come the first week of April. Right now the only gig on my radar is the May 28 Those Far Out Arrows show at The Sydney with Marcey Yates…
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Just noticed that Omaha World-Herald killed its Go! Section. I assumed they probably did this when music reporter Kevin Coffey left the paper. Turns out they killed it when COVID began last year. No events, no advertising. With COVID waning, with the OWH bring back GO?
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A couple things on my hit list:
This new video for black midi’s single, “John L,” is intense, just like everything the band releases. They’ve got a new album, Cavalcade, coming out May 28 on Rough Trade. Check it.
Dutch band Iceage made a splash on Matador Records back in 2013. They were red hot back then. Not so sure these days, though I dig this new track, “Shelter Song.” They have a new album, Seek Shelter, out May 7 on Mexican Summer.
The Wedding Present at Red Eyed Fly, SXSW, March 14, 2012. While SXSW is happening this year, there’s no live venue shows thanks to COVID-19.
COVID-19 disruption continues. One holiday I look forward to most is St. Patrick’s Day — when I can drink Guinness beer in the stank basement of The Dubliner and watch March Madness while listening to live Irish folk music (or something close to it).
Not this year.
St. Patty’s Day was spent drinking Guinness out of a bottle while watching The Quiet Man at home (“Here’s a good stick to beat the lovely lady.” How has this film not been cancelled yet?). March Madness doesn’t start until tonight (play-in game). Disruption!
Another thing happening this week that happens every year is the South By Southwest Festival in Austin. Last year’s SXSW was one of the first major music festival to get cancelled due to COVID-19. Well, SXSW is on this year, but it’s being held “virtually.” What that means is that the music performances are all being streamed via the SXSW portal, but just like every other year, it requires a pass to view, yours for the low price of $399.
This year’s participants are being marketed as “all opening acts, no headliners” — meaning that top-drawing acts are skipping the virtual experience. That being the case, SXSW could have actually expanded its reach this year by making those streams available free. Certainly would have helped the artists as well, though I guess the SXSW organization probably needs the cash to keep going. The full list of bands participating in SXSW is here.
Hopefully the SXSW — with its long lines, free food and ever-present haze of pot smoke — will be back in full force in 2022.
Dinosaur Jr. announced a North American tour that includes Omaha Sept. 20 at the Waiting Room.
As you can imagine, I get a lot of emails from music promoters, labels and bands. Maybe 100 a day? Something like that. For the past year they’ve all been hyping new videos or releases by acts that, like the rest of us, have been stuck at home due to COVID-19.
You’ve seen the stories I did in The Reader about venues reopening and local bands returning to local stages. Well today I got the first email (that I’ve opened and read, anyway) announcing a full North American tour taking place this year.
Dinosaur Jr. today announced it’s hitting the road in late summer for a tour that includes more than 40 dates throughout the fall and into winter, starting July 27 at Big Indian, NY, and wrapping up Feb. 26 at Denver’s Ogden Theatre.
The tour includes a Sept. 20 gig at The Waiting Room.
The band will be supporting their forthcoming album, Sweep It Into Space, out April 23 on Jagjaguwar Records. “As is typical, Lou Barlow writes and sings two of the album’s dozen tunes (delivering perhaps his finest Dinosaur contribution in “Garden”) and Murph’s pure-Flinstonian drumming drives the record like a go cart from Hell,” says the press release.
Here’s hoping this is the first of many such tour announcements from bands that will be returning to the road later this year as COVID-19 fades away like a bad dream… I, for one, can’t wait.
A screen cap from the new Steady Wells video for the track “Hurts,” shot inside the Dahlia House in Benson.
So what’s that big A-Frame-type building that’s going up behind the Bucky’s in Benson? Well, the new Love Drunk video for the song “Hurts” by Steady Wells solves that mystery while providing some sweet folk rock to ease your troubled mind.
First, Steady Wells is newish project by Jordan Smith of Twinsmith — “newish” because the Smith has put out four singles dating back to July 2020. But with this pandemic, you might as well say it’s a brand new project since none of us have had a chance to see Steady Wells perform live, until now.
Love Drunk is a one-take live performance video series helmed by video mastermind/musician Django Greenblatt-Seay that’s been putting out videos of local and national bands since 2010, all shot in unique locations.
The video for “Hurts” was shot inside Dahlia House, an Airbnb owned and operated by Angie Norman that’s located right behind Bucky’s in Benson. Judging by the video, which was shot last week, they’re getting close to being open for business.
Take a peek inside Dahlia House and enjoy some Steady Wells goodness below:
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Last week’s blog post concerning McCarthy Trenching and OEA Awards got hacked! That’s why it disappeared from the website. I’m not reposting it, but I’m relinking Dan and Co’s live-streamed performance from The Trap Room from last month below.
Last Sunday The Trap Room played host to Andrew Bailie and Matt Arbeiter; this Sunday it’s Blue Moon Ghetto and on March 21 it’s Steady Wells, followed by Hartford/Focht March 28.
The Slowdown announced Tuesday that they’re reopening in April. The plan calls for shows only on the main stage to make more room for social distancing as the pandemic begins to wind down. It’ll be a fun opportunity for smaller bands who are used to playing the small room to try the big stage and its massive sound and lighting system.
Their first show is April 2 featuring Journey cover band Recaptured followed by Two Drag Club April 9.
Slowdown joins The Waiting Room and Reverb, who announced late last month that their stages are reopening.
When will the majority of our favorite local indie acts be returning to stage? That was the subject of my March column in The Reader, which is online right here. I contacted a dozen local musicians to find out when they’re coming back, and their responses underscore their caution as COVID-19 is still very much with us in this community.
The story is in the printed edition of the paper, which should be in the racks around town now or very shortly. Check it out. And heck, you can also read it below:
What Are They Waiting For?
As COVID-19 retreats, the stage has been set. It’s the artists who have cold feet.
Last month I told you where some of the more important local stages for indie music stand in regard to booking shows. A year after the pandemic began, places like The Slowdown, The Waiting Room and Reverb Lounge are reopening their stages. And while it’ll be some time before touring bands hit the road again, local acts are invited to plug in and rock on.
The only thing stopping that from happening are the bands themselves. I reached out to a dozen local musicians to find out when they’d play again on a local stage. Their answers reflected a serious respect for COVID-19.
Jon Taylor, lead guitarist for Lincoln-based seminal punk trio Domestica, is waiting for folks to get vaccinated. “Based on current vaccine shipping schedules, summer appears to be the earliest anyone should consider assembling large groups of humans for any reason,” Taylor said. He’s passed the pandemic time rocking out on his own glittering basement stage where, “I’m able to self-medicate with high volume until gigs happen.”
Domestica has been known to share a stage with Wagon Blasters, the tractor-punk powerhouse fronted by the inimitable Gary Dean Davis. Those with a sense of history will remember how these folks’ previous bands — Mercy Rule and Frontier Trust — were integral to Nebraska’s first wave of indie punk almost 30 years ago.
Davis has spent his downtime focusing on his record label — SPEED! Nebraska — which reissued Frontier Trust’s debut CD in June and released a new Mezcal Bros. album, Shakin’ Dog, in September.
“As Joe Strummer famously said, ‘The future is unwritten,’” Davis said. “Hopefully things can calm down over the summer, (and) we are able to return to playing shows. Maybe we’ll need to start off outside to keep everyone safe?”
Wagon Blasters bandmate, bassist Kate Williams, said while she would be comfortable on stage once vaccinations have reached the majority, “It will be strange to return to the small, intimate venues that I love, where the audience is right on top of the band.”
Williams hasn’t seen Davis or her other bandmates in person in a year. “Many of us are high-risk (or high-risk-adjacent) and aren’t comfortable practicing in an enclosed basement yet with each other, let alone playing in a room full of friends that we also haven’t seen in the last year,” she said. “It will happen though — I miss all of it so much!”
Caution also was the theme for legendary bassist/musician Dereck Higgins. “I’ll be 66 in July, and that is why I am being cautious and in no hurry to get out in the public gigging,” he said, pointing to fall for a possible return. In the meantime, he’s been recording new music and working on an art project with local choreographer Lauren Simpson.
Craig Fort of punk band Leafblower created an entirely new, outlaw-country-infused musical persona called Lightning Stills during the pandemic. “Obviously COVID is keeping us from booking anything, as well as neither project has been in the same room together in a year,” Fort said. “We all take this very seriously. Not being able to play shows is what’s keeping me from releasing anything physical. Without shows, I don’t have a booth to peddle my goods.”
Indie rockers See Through Dresses frontwoman Sara Bertuldo said her band is still together, “but we’re just focusing on different things at the moment. Some of us are back in school, focusing on work, and/or learning some new skills.” And she added, “We’ve also been working on our third album!”
One of my favorite songs released during the pandemic is “Snake in my Basement,” an infectious (in a good way) garage rocker by Those Far Out Arrows. Guitarist/vocalist Ben Keelan-White thinks his band will be back on stage possibly in early- to mid-summer.
“Outdoor shows seem more likely, but maybe some indoor venues might be willing to make some moves,” he said. “I feel like there is an optimism with more vaccine administration on the horizon. Nobody wants to be a part of a spreader event, but I think the type of individuals who want shows back would be absolutely willing to take the utmost precaution needed to go forward.”
“We’re all dying for shows, but nobody should die for shows,” said Aaron Gumm, half of the red hot electronic rock duo Glow in the Dark. “My parents in Iowa get their second shot next week, and my sister in Austin got her first today. Things are moving in the right direction.”
Some aren’t waiting to return to the stage. Josh Hoyer, one of the area’s best blues and soul voices, played a Sunday residency Feb. 21 at The Jewell in downtown Omaha.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but it came down to me needing to get back to work and the venues needing to start getting people in or shutting down for good.” Hoyer said. “At this point, I am trusting people to do what is best for their health and the health of the community. So far, everything has been good, but the moment I feel that there is too much risk in any given venue, I will have to reassess my involvement with them. I think if people are intelligent about it, we can slowly get back to live entertainment.”
Darren Keen, the mastermind behind The Show Is the Rainbow and now a new electronic act, Problems, has a gig booked on St. Patrick’s Day at Boombox Social Club in Lincoln.
“As long as people are masked up and distanced, I’m OK with it at this point,” Keen said. “I’m still hesitant to book my own shows because I can’t honestly say, ‘You gotta come to this gig’ right now. I respect that people want to stay home and safe, and so if I can’t promote things 100% I’m not comfortable booking them.”
I saved the final word for Landon Hedges of one of my all-time favorite indie rock bands, Little Brazil. Hedges doesn’t know when he’ll be back on stage.
“It’s a matter of responsibility and feeling comfortable in the sort of environment that I’m used to playing a show or going to a show,” he said. “I want to do both. But this virus isn’t about me or what I want to do. I just want to try to do the right thing. It fucking sucks. You can quote me on that one.”
Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com.First published in The Reader, March 2021.
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