Sunflower Bean plays Reverb Monday, June 25.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Few bands have taken indie stardom by storm quite like Brooklyn’s Sunflower Bean. The trio of Nick Kivlen (lead guitar and vocals), Jacob Faber (drums) and Julia Cumming (bass and lead vocals) exploded onto the scene with the critically lauded Human Ceremony (2016, Fat Possum), a compilation of songs the trio wrote while still in their teens.

Their new maturity is apparent on Twentytwo in Blue (2018, Mom + Pop), released this past March. The band takes on a more rock-fueled tone while Cumming, who handles the lion’s share of vocals, comes off like a modern-day Harriet Wheeler but without the acoustic lilt of The Sundays.

I caught up with the band and gave them the Ten Questions treatment. Here’s what they had to say:

1. What is your favorite album?

Julia Cumming: Transformer – Lou Reed

2. What is your least favorite song?

Cumming:

Anything by the Chainsmokers.

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Cumming: It’s a dream come true. I love being on a team with people I trust and care about, and making art with them. We get to travel the world, and no show we play is the same as any other. Each show has improvisation and is kept super live so that we can create these special moments every night. Creating those moments is the best part of being in a band.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

Nick Kivlen: There’s nothing we really hate about being in a band but sometimes when you’re on a 4-week tour you really start missing your own bed.

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Kivlen: Coffee

6. In what city or town do you love to perform?

Jacob Faber: NYC will forever be the best.

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

Faber: Not sure of the worst gig but one that stands out is when we played a frat house and fight broke out and everyone went to watch the fight instead of our show.

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

Faber: We are lucky enough that we can support ourselves through music, nothing is ever guaranteed, but we work really hard and are able to do it full time.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Faber: Would love to be a traveling food critic; would hate to be a car salesman.

10. What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Faber: All I know about Omaha is that Nick’s old dog, Casey, was from Omaha and he was a great guy RIP.

Sunflower Bean plays with Public Access T.V. Monday, June 25, at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Showtime is 8 p.m., tickets are $12 Adv./$14 DOS. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com.

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OK, but what about this weekend?

Tonight Matt Whipkey is playing a free show at Harney Street Tavern. Whipkey has grabbed some national attention lately when his cover of The Beatles’ “Drive My Car,” which appears on his new album Driver, was played on both Little Steven’s Underground Garage and Breakfast with the Beatles, a show hosted by Chris Carter, founding member of Dramarama. Both shows are on Sirius XM satellite radio. Driver also received a positive nod from roots music journal No Depression. See what the buzz is about starting at 9 p.m.

Also tonight (Friday) Denver’s Slow Caves (Old Flame Records) plays at O’Leaver’s with Ojai and Win/Win. $7, 10 p.m.

Saturday night Eric in Outerspace celebrates the release of their new album Later Days at Brothers Lounge. Joining them are Chicago’s The Sueves and The Cassowaries (Andrew Gustafson). $5, 9 p.m.

Also Saturday night Montee Men opens for Jump the Tiger at O’Leaver’s. Living Conditions kicks it off at 10 p.m. $5.

A busy weekend for O’Leaver’s ends with a special Sunday matinee featuring Brooklyn’s Bambara (Wharfcat Records). FiFi NoNo and The Show Is the Rainbow opens at 6 p.m. $5.

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Son, Ambulance at The Sydney, April 6, 2018. They play tonight at The Down Under.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Reception will be hazy for the next few days. I’m headed to D.C., where among other things, I’ll be going to the 9:30 Club to see The Feelies. Full report/review likely next Tuesday.

In the meantime…

Conor Oberst is getting his Mystic Valley Band back together for a short California / Phoenix tour the first week of October. MVB members include Nik Freitas, Taylor Hollingsworth, Macey Taylor, Nate Walcott and Jason Boesel. Their last gig was apparently this past New Year’s Eve. Before that, you have to go back to 2013 for a gig.

Singer/songwriter Phoebe Bridgers opens three of the upcoming dates. Oberst sang on a track on her latest album.

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Tonight (Thursday) you’ve got Clarence Tilton doing the O’Leaver’s Happy Hour Series. It’s an early gig — 6 p.m. Not sure what they do if it rains, but you’ll find out. $5.

Also tonight, Son Ambulance plays at The Down Under as part of the “Evening with Dereck Higgins” series. 3gypt also plays. 9:30, and free.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

An illustration of the proposed La Vista music venue.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This morning while drinking my coffee, shortly after watching a hard-hitting piece about a couple who stole a $25 wading pool (“stealing kids’ summer fun

“), KETV Channel 7 reported that 1% Productions and KC’s Mammoth Productions received approval from the La Vista City Council to build a new indoor/outdoor music venue on South 84th St. This is the project first announced back in January.

There’s some disagreement about the venues’ capacities. KETV reported that the new music hall will hold 2,400 while the adjacent outdoor amphitheater will hold 5,000. The Omaha World-Herald reported the capacities to be 1,800 and 4,000 respectively.

When this project was first announced, the biggest concerns I heard surrounded how it would impact The Waiting Room and Reverb Lounge bookings, arguably the best venues in town for indie music, both of which are booked by One Percent Productions. Marc Leibowitz, who runs One Percent with Jim Johnson, is attributed in the OWH article as saying the new facility is “not aimed at taking down other venues.” I’m not sure if he was talking about his

own venues, but let’s face it, the La Vista project is too big for the kind of bands booked at TWR or Reverb, which have capacities below 700 and 200 respectively. (Unless, of course, they also build a small club inside the new La Vista facility…).

The bigger risk is the financial gamble — One Percent and Mammoth are putting up the money to build the venues. The price hasn’t been reported, though $15 million was mentioned in January as the cost for the indoor club alone. The city is apparently paying $3.2 million in park improvements (where the amphitheater will be located), which it said it was going to do anyway.

Beyond the financial risks to the promoters, who else could feel the impact of this new music venue when it opens in 2020? Stir Cove comes to mind, so does Papillion’s SumTur Amphitheater. And what about Maha? It seems like the Maha Music Festival was invented as a vehicle to bring in the kind of acts that the La Vista project is tailor-made to host. BTW, One Percent has been involved in booking Maha for nearly a decade.

In the end, the La Vista venues will make it more likely acts like Courtney Barnett and Beach House will come to Omaha (though I can’t see how it will help attract small-drawing high-quality acts like Snail Mail, Algiers and Natalie Prass, who also are bypassing our little ‘burb)…
…

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The Pageturners summer music series continues tonight with Those Far Out Arrows and opener The Sunks. This free show starts at 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Dirt House, the project led by singer/songwriter Annie Dilocker, is having a listening party for their new EP Come Over, tonight at Hi-Fi House. The free program starts at 7:30 p.m.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Libera Awards is June 21 in New York. Saddle Creek band Big Thief is up for two.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Most people who I’ve talked to that listen to indie music don’t give a squat about awards. Let’s face it, indie music has never really been represented at The Grammy’s or anywhere else. Whenever I hear the Grammy nominations and see that everything being honored is pop-oriented I simply nod my head, knowingly. The Grammy’s are a marketing tool; they were never an indication of what’s good.

That said, I do follow award shows. I don’t know why, I guess I’m just a geek that way. So imagine my surprise to discover there is an awards program for indie music called The Libera Awards, which have been around since 2012.

Presented by American Association of Independent Music (or A2IM), the Libera Awards “exist to celebrate the successes of the independent music community – the artists that create the music and the labels that invest their heart, soul and money while using our experience and relationships to promote and monetize the music, thus furthering the artists’ careers and rewarding our fans with the diverse music that they love.”

Terrible mission statement, but we get it.

This year’s awards take place somewhere in New York June 21 as part of “Indie Music Week.” Among the nominees for album of the year is Big Thief’s last album, Capacity, which was released by Saddle Creek last year. Capacity also is nominated for Best American Roots and Folk Album. Congrats to Saddle Creek Records and Big Thief for the nominations.

Unfortunately Saddle Creek wasn’t among the nominees for Label of the Year, a category that comes in both “big” and “small” sizes. Saddle Creek falls into the “big” category as they have more then six employees.

Anyway, check out all the Libera Award nominees in this Billboard Magazine story

and read about the role A2IM plays with Saddle Creek Records in my Saddle Creek at 25 story in the current issue of The Reader.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Iceage at Slowdown Jr., Oct. 24, 2014. The band plays tonight at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Iceage plays tonight at The Waiting Room. Here’s an excerpt from my review of their show at Slowdown Jr. back in 2014: “Iceage music is rough, a dry-heave style of punk with shadows of early monsters like Gang of Four and The Fall lying hidden beneath the waves. The rhythm section always is front and center providing a solid bedrock for Rønnenfelt’s low, breathy brays and yells.”

Their latest album, Beyondless (2018, Matador), carries on in a similar style, though with a bit more of a pop sense (there’s even a track with Sky Ferreira). These days their sound more closely resembles The Cure than The Fall.

Opening act Mary Lattimore is a classically trained LA harpist who has performed with, among others, Thurston Moore, Steve Gunn and Kurt Vile. Judging from the track below, which sounds like something I’d hear while having a massage, it should be quite a contrast to Iceage’s abrasive minor-key punk.

This is an early show — 8 p.m. $15.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Speedy Ortiz at O’Leaver’s, 8/15/15. The band plays Sunday night at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We’ve entered “avoid downtown” season as the College World Series gets under way this weekend. Funny thing about CWS, it does make life around the so-called “No Do” area unbearable, but the rest of downtown — the Old Market, etc. — is usually pretty quiet during CWS as the fans seem to be content congregating around the tents. Let’s keep them there, shall we?

There isn’t a thing going on (that I could find) indie-music wise tonight.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) get ready to get smoked out at fabulous O’Leaver’s when Leafblower returns to the stage. They’re opening for Nashville indie band QuicheNight. Sidewalkers kicks it off at 10 p.m. $5.

Also Saturday night Oklahoma City indie-pop trio Skating Polly headlines at Reverb Lounge. Potty Mouth and Histrionic open. 9 p.m., $12 DOS.

Sunday night Speedy Ortiz returns to Omaha, this time to Reverb Lounge. Their new album, Twerp Verse (2018, Carpark), was originally going to be a collection of love songs by front woman Sadie Dupuis, but with the world the way it is these days, Sadie changed course.

“The songs on the album that were strictly personal or lovey dovey just didn’t mean anything to me anymore–that’s not the kind of music I’ve found healing or motivating in the past few years, and I was surprised I’d written so much of it,” Dupuis said. “Social politics and protest have been a part of our music from day one, and I didn’t want to stop doing that on this album.”

Anna Burch (Polyvinyl Records) and Austin garage giants Xetas (12XU Record) opens this stacked line-up at 9 p.m. $15 DOS.

Finally Mynabirds’ Laura Burhenn opens for Portland indie-folkies Horse Feathers (Kill Rock Stars) at The Waiting Room Sunday night. $17, 8 p.m.

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Those Far Out Arrows at The Brothers Feb. 17, 2018. The band plays tonight at O’Leaver’s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Two quick show notes…

Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s Those Far Out Arrows headlines a show that includes Australian act Michael Beach. For the life of me, the only info I could find on Beach was his Bandcamp page (below). I like what I’m hearing. Nathan Ma also is on the bill. Show starts at 9 p.m. and is $5.

Also tonight, there’s an art/noise show at Project Project, 1818 Vinton St., featuring Big Slur (Dan Scheuerman of Deleted Scenes), Sopor and headlined by jazz/metal/noise trio Giardia. Showtime is listed as 7:30 p.m., no price given. For more info, go here.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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First Aid Kit at The Waiting Room, June 2, 2014. The band plays tonight at Sokol Auditorium.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The June issue of The Reader is on newsstands somewhere (I have yet to find one) and is also online (here

). Included is the annual Top 20 bands list, derived from music staff input (which isn’t reflected in the story, but is how it happened). The list is limited to Omaha bands, which was pretty much the case for years’ past (actually, The Reader forgot to publish the list last year, come to think of it, and you were stuck with just my list).

You can read the 2018 list by flipping to page 32 on the print or the electronic edition. With two exceptions, my personal list matches theirs, though I would have also included Closeness, Jason Steady and Digital Leather, all of whom released new recordings in the past year and have played/toured, etc. Who would I have dropped from The Reader‘s list? I’m not sayin’…

This isn’t a “best of” list as much as list of favorite bands that were active in the past 12 months either through touring, performing and/or recording. What does it mean when a publication says something is the “best” anyway?

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The last time First Aid Kit came through town was at The Waiting Room in 2014 (review of that one here.)(Although First Aid Kit’s Klara Söderberg did make a special guest appearance on an Omaha stage in 2016 as a member of The Standby Club…). The band’s fanbase has continued to grow to the point where tonight they’re playing at Sokol Auditorium. If you like great harmonies, you’ll love this show — no one does it better. Opener JS Ondara is from Minneapolis by way of Nairobi. $30, 8 p.m.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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The Saddle Creek staff circa 2003, from left, Matt Maginn, Jason Kulbel, Jadon Ulrich, Jeff Tafolla and Robb Nansel. Photo by Ryan Fox.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The June 2018 issue of The Reader — The Music Issue.

The June issue of The Reader — The Music Issue — is out. Or at it’s online. The cover story is a lengthy piece written by me about Saddle Creek Records on its 25th anniversary, and includes comments from label chief Robb Nansel, new A&R rep Amber Carew and recent label signee Stef Chura.

Titled Saddle Creek at 25 with a subtitle “The label that defined indie cool over a decade ago is suddenly cool again,” the story focuses not so much on the label’s early years (which you can read about here and here) as much as how they survived though the changes impacting the music industry, and how they’re positioned for the future.

As detailed in the story, I characterized (and Nansel generally agreed) Saddle Creek’s history in three eras — the time up to and including the label’s biggest successes, the awkward middle years right after their heyday when they began booking non-Omaha-connected acts, and the “New Era” they’re currently enjoying hallmarked by the success of roster acts Hop Along and Big Thief and a handful of other up-and-comers.

Nansel and Co. touch on the label’s history but also talk about adjusting to technology’s negative impacts, how the philosophy behind who they sign hasn’t changed and the future.

You can read the story online right here.

The interview with Nansel took two hours and was around 20,000 words of transcribed copy, so yeah, there’s out-takes, which I’ll likely post in the coming days, along with the full text of the story (for posterity’s sake, and to ensure that if The Reader ever goes belly-up there will be another copy online). Among those out-takes are Nansel’s self-proclaimed biggest success and biggest disappointment. You’ll have to wait to read the answers.

Anyway, give it it read, and pick up a copy of the printed version at your favorite news stand. Also included is The Reader‘s controversial list of Omaha’s Top 20 bands. More on that here in the very near future (including my own list)…

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Pageturner’s summer concert series continues tonight with Oquoa and Ojai. The fun starts at 9 p.m.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Caroline Rose at Reverb Lounge, June 7, 2018.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The whole time I was watching Caroline Rose last night at Reverb Lounge I’m thinking, “Man, she looks just like Buddy from the ‘70s TV show Family.” I mentioned this to someone after the show who had no idea who I was talking about, hadn’t heard of Buddy or the show. When I said the star’s name was Kristy McNichol, the guy asked, “Wasn’t she one of Charlie’s Angels?” Right decade, wrong show.

It doesn’t matter I guess as long as you catch the ‘70s reference, because Caroline Rose’s music sounds like something from that era. Not “Rock 100 FM ‘70s Classic Rock,” but sort of bubble-gum rock with some punk/new wave overhang sung in a voice that’s as cute as it is fetching in a Courtney Barnett sort of way.

The set was dominated by songs off her current album, Loner (2018, New West) that are fun, sarcastic and witty with dark overtones peeping through the edges. It’s an infectious album, and she performed the tunes with the goofy energy that they deserve, backed by keyboardist/guitarist and a tight rhythm section who looked like they were having as much fun as the audience.

Rose’s between-song patter was almost as entertaining as her music, cracking wise and telling stories and introducing each number by saying, “This is my favorite song. No, this really is my favorite song.” I guess they all were. And to tell the truth, each song was its own little high point (though I especially loved hearing “Bikini” and “Money” and “Jeannie Becomes a Mom”).

Cardioid at Reverb Lounge, June 7, 2018.

Opener, Portland band Cardioid, was a surprise. They started out sounding like your typical indie band in an Angel Olson sort of way, with a lead singer whose voice I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I was thinking Rosanne Cash, but another person pointed to Roy Orbison, which was much more on target. As the set progressed their style became almost proggy with unique, unorthodox arrangements, chord changes and great harmonies, you never knew where they were going next. Sublime.

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Let’s get to the weekend…

O’Leaver’s is hosting its a two-day Mid by Midwest mini festival that combines comedy and music. Tonight’s music, which starts at 10 p.m., features a rare performance by Jason Steady (Talking Mountain, Wolf Dealer). Joining him is Dorsia. Your $10 ticket gets you in for the two hours of comedy leading up to music, starting at 8 p.m.

On day 2 of Mid by Midwest (Saturday) Nik Freitas headlines the music with Miwi La Lupa kicking off the jams at 10 p.m. As I mentioned yesterday, Freitas’ new album, Day & Dark, is stunningly good. Like the prior night, your $10 cover gets you into the two-hour comedy show that leads up to the music. More info here.

Let’s back up… Also happening Friday night is a rock show at Brothers Lounge featuring The Ramparts, Narco States and Bad Bad Men (Wolf/Siebken/Hug). $5, 9 p.m.

And Scott Severin (who’s celebrating a birthday today) opens for Jack Hotel tonight at The Harney Street Tavern. 9  p.m. and free.

And lest I forget, City Councilman Pete Festersen and a band that includes guitarists Vic Padios and Mark Weber plays a show tonight at the Benson B-Side (next to the Benson Theater). The show is $5 and starts at 8. Come see how a politician plays the drums.

Saturday night Okkervil River returns to Omaha, this time to The Waiting Room. Here’s a band that’s played just about every performance space in the city, from The Junction to O’Leaver’s to Slowdown. This was the last time I interviewed Will Sheff way back in 2005 when Black Sheep Boy was released, wherein he had this golden quote: “The fact is, it’s hard to spend seven months a year on the road making less money than a 7-11 clerk and still have a satisfying life.” That doesn’t seem to have stopped him.

The band has a new record out called In the Rainbow Rain (2018, ATO). Sheff’s voice still has that same pretty, sad lilt heard on all their music. Star Rover opens at 8 p.m. $18 DOS.

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.