by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Not a whole heckuva lot going on indie-music wise since last weekend’s Outlandia Festival. I didn’t attend again this year, but from all reports, it was another smashing success. The  Omaha World-Herald filed a story that says attendance rose by 25%, and I’ve got a request out with one of the organizers for attendance numbers, which I’ll pass along when/if I get them. 

In the wake of Outlandia, things have been pretty quiet in indie music land. Two festivals down and one more to go this weekend. I’ll post a preview of Petfest tomorrow. 

Over the weekend, my penultimate (i.e., my second to last) column for the soon-to-be-sunsetted The Reader went online. It looks back at the glory days of Omaha indie music with a head-scratch at the current state – we’ve got more mega-venues than ever, none of which are booking up-and-coming indie bands, nor, I suppose, are they designed to. Thank god for Outlandia, Maha and Petfest. You can read the story in the printed version of The Reader (pick one up at Hy-Vee or La Casa) or online right here. I’ll be posting the column in this space eventually (for posterity’s sake – who knows how long The Reader servers will stay online?). One more issue to go…

A few new releases to pass along:

Local indie project Uh Oh released their second single off their upcoming August Cicada Songs LP, “Firefly” b/w “”When the River Runs Low.” They’re releasing two new songs per month for the next few months. 

Sufjan Stevens released the first song off his first solo singer/songwriter album since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell. It’s called Javelin and comes out Oct. 6 on Asthmatic Kitty Records. No doubt a tour will follow. Will Omaha be on his tour schedule? Hope so.

Australian indie band Middle Kids are currently on tour opening for Manchester Orchestra and Jimmy Eat World. For whatever reason the kids weren’t included in this year’s Outlandia festival, which featured both those bands. Sometimes that’s just how it works. Their new single, “Highlands,” dropped a couple weeks ago. Let’s hope they come through Omaha again (maybe even at The Sydney, like last time).

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.