Tears of Silver at Hi-Fi House, Oct. 2, 2017.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Going to Hi-Fi House is like going to a music church, a place where people seem to worship music as much as enjoy it. Everyone speaks in whispers for fear of annoying someone who is listening to whatever’s being played on the “big stereo.” In the case of the music being played before last night’s Tears of Silver show, the music was a grating art jazz album that sounded like 30 minutes of noodling. But the folks at Hi-Fi want to build an appreciation for jazz among the rock ’n’ roll masses. Instead, the bonk-bleep noise likely irritated an already frayed audience that had spent the day getting updates on the Las Vegas massacre and the dead/not dead status of Tom Petty.

So we all sat and politely listened to whatever awful jazz record someone had selected, quietly seated in the house’s long couches and ’70s-era padded chairs, no one talking above a hush. Finally, at about a quarter past 8, Tears of Silver came into room, which was set up perfectly for this sort of concert. The band is a four piece — three guitars and keyboards — and no drums. I don’t know how it would have worked with a drum set considering the room’s nearly silent acoustics.

Fronted by Posies’ Ken Stringfellow and Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue, the band played a set that included covers of songs by Neil Young, Flaming Lips and Al Kooper, as well as songs by the members’ respective bands: Posies, Mercury Rev and Midlake, closing the night with a Big Star cover. In fact, everything they sang sounded like a Big Star version of whatever they were covering — slow, soothing, very dreamy. Stringfellow and Donahue  continue to sport strong, gorgeous voices. Local vocalist Molly Welsh joined the band for a few songs, including two Stringfellow tunes from an “opera” he’s penned.

My personal highlight was hearing their cover of Pavement’s “Here,” which took on a mournful, melancholy air, certainly different than the slacker anthem Pavement fans are familiar with.

The room was at full capacity as in every seat was taken and a few members of the mostly older crowd sat on the floor. Hi-Fi House it’s a good venue for this kind of sit-down, focused performance; it was almost like being at a recital… or in a church.

* * *

I’m gonna miss Tom Petty. He’s one of those guys whose music felt like is always existed, and who I thought would always be around. It’ll be strange not having him in this world. Everyone’s talking about their favorite Petty album, mine is the overlooked Southern Accents album, certainly it’s the one I listened to most, having bought it on cassette the day it came out way back in 1985…

* * *

Cincinnati power trio Leggy plays tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s. They’re a self-described “feminist trio who speak openly about consent, self-worth, sexuality and female empowerment.” They also rock like Hole meets L7 meets X.  Opening is dreamy Chicago clap-snap-pop band Varsity (think upbeat early Liz Phair). Our very own No Thanks starts it off at 9 p.m. $5.

Also tonight, Those Far Out Arrows returns to The Sydney in Benson. They’re headlining a show with a couple Kansas City garage bands bands — Arc Flash (actually, they’re from Lawrence but they’re on High Dive Records) and Drugs & Attics (Creep It Real Records). $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight Hi-Fi House hosts Tears of Silver, an indie super group that includes members of Posies and Mercury Rev. I’m told by HFH owner Kate Dussault that seating is limited, so if you want to go, you need to RSVP at this site ASAP.

Speaking of Hi-Fi House, Dussault granted me an interview late last month for The Reader to explain what HFH is trying to do, how it works and where it’s headed. You can read it in the October issue of The Reader

, online at The Reader website, right here, or… you can read it below.

There was tons of additional info that didn’t make it into the story, which I’ll share with you over the next couple days. Until then…

One of the Hi-Fi House sound systems.

Over the Edge: Tuning into Hi-Fi House
The hush-hush private music club finally goes public.

On the surface, it seems difficult to explain the concept behind Hi-Fi House, a private club that charges members anywhere from $75 to $1,000 a year for the privilege of playing its record collection on its stereo systems.

You might naturally say to yourself, “I could buy a whole bunch of records for $1,000 that I could play whenever I want to in the privacy of my own home,” but you’d be missing the point.

The club, located at 3724 Farnam St. in the Blackstone District, has been operating privately for more than a year. I first stepped foot in Hi-Fi House last year during a Record Store Day event where the public was allowed a sneak peek.  The facility is first class all the way — a huge open, carpeted space with comfortable furniture arranged in circles throughout, centered around stereo equipment set-ups, including one I was told cost $80,000.

Behind the big room is a couple smaller rooms. Inside the first is Hi-Fi House’s massive album collection — more than 10,000 vinyl records. A glance at the titles indicates the music touches all genres, with issue dates ranging from the 1940s to present. Some of albums look unplayed and are still sealed. On display are a number of interesting music-related items, like a Patti Smith edition of a Pono Music Player — something I’d never seen in real life.

On the afternoon of that sneak peek, local bands performed in the space, including an early incarnation of the progressive jazz combo Chemicals. A small crowd watched the performance while enjoying beer and wine served at a bar near the club’s front door.

For reasons I never understood, Hi-Fi House was hush-hush back then. At the time, owner/operator Kate Dussault wouldn’t give me an interview on the record, though the club had been operating for months, including offering special music programming for children.

Well, the cloak of secrecy finally was lifted from Hi-Fi House last month when the organization launched a website — www.hifi.house — and began actively soliciting memberships. Dussault, now on the record, explained why the club operated in secrecy for so long.

“One reason was that we really wanted to experiment with all the programming,” she said, seated at one of the club’s large tables alongside Hi-Fi House General Manager (a title made up on the spot) Jon Ochsner while that $80,000 stereo system quietly played some funky jazz sides.

“The other reason was to really let the music community have the space pretty much to themselves for a period of time. We were able to have a lot of conversations with local artists and people who work in the industry to find out how we could best live in this community and serve it.”

In a nutshell, Dussault said, Hi-Fi House was built “so musicians could have their own private club. We’re offering a place where they can communicate with each other.”

She said musicians often don’t have time to chat when they’re at venues performing, “but when they come over here, they can really sit down, share music and listen to music together, and a lot of them really love that experience.”

Think of it like The Omaha Press Club, but instead of focusing on journalism and public relations, Hi-Fi House focuses on music. Fees start at $75 a year for a “lab membership” that allows access to Hi-Fi House during daytime hours. In the evenings, Hi-Fi House turns into a private club whose membership fees (which cover one person and a significant other) range from $300 a year for musicians to $600 a year for members of “the industry” — a broad category that includes any career that touches music, from journalists to studio employees to club owners to people involved with music-related nonprofits.

Finally, there’s the general public membership at a cost of $1,000 per year. Dussault doesn’t sound like she expects to sell many of those, but with the venue’s capacity rated at only 125, she doesn’t want to oversell memberships, anyway. She said she’s already sold a few hundred memberships, with all the money received channeled back into covering facility costs, which include constantly buying new records for the club’s ever-growing collection.

In addition to access to that collection, members are invited to attend special night-time programming that includes exclusive album listening parties, chats with artists and industry professionals, and intimate performances, such as a private concert last year by The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson.

With its heavy music education focus, you’d assume Hi-Fi House would consider becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity, but Dussault wants to steer clear from that for now. “The truth is most nonprofits have to scrap and re-raise their operating money every year,” she said. “It’s difficult, and they are at the whims of, in some cases, the same very few people who are supporting everything else. It doesn’t give you a chance to break out and invite new people to the party.”

So sure is she of the Hi-Fi House concept, she’s already planning to expand to other cities. After spending the next three months working alongside Ochsner, Dussault will move to New York City where she’ll spend three months with lawyers and other associates to review expansion plans.

“We’ll be solidifying New York, and then I’ll be traveling to Boston and other nearby cities,” she said, adding that there’s already “movement” for clubs in Denver, Des Moines and Chicago. “We’re talking to people in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Portland and Seattle, as well as five different Los Angeles locations.”

Surely Dussault must be a wealthy woman to make all of this happen. She just laughs at the suggestion.

“This is a labor of love,” she said. “I work two full-time jobs while I do this. I have a medical house-call company in New York that I spend a good six hours on a day on and I do some work for a music supervision firm in New York. If I weren’t doing those things, we wouldn’t be alive.

“Everything doesn’t have to be a nonprofit,” she added. “Some people have to take their own money and get out there and gamble it on making changes. I’m willing to live or die based on what I can deliver these people, and whether they’re happy with the experience.”

First published in the October 2017 issue of The Reader. Copyright © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved. Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts.

* * *

The doors open at Hi-Fi House at 7 p.m. for tonight’s Tears of Silver show. Showtime is 7:45 p.m. Admission is free with RSVP. And if you haven’t already, check out the Ten Questions Q&A with Tears of Silver’s Ken Stringfellow and Grasshopper right here

.

Also tonight, singer/songwriter Todd Grant will be playing tonight at Barley Street Tavern with Michael Treinhail. Showtime is 10:30 p.m.

* * *

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.

Future Island’s Sam Herring in full shimmy mode during SXSW 2014. The band plays Saturday night at Waiting Room Outdoors.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This will go down as the year’s busiest weekends musicwise, at least from an indie music perspective. Yeah, you’ve got Lincoln Calling going on as well as two outdoor shows in Omaha, but you also have a slew of shows at other venues, all of which is going to require making some tough choices.

For those of you who aren’t afraid to drive to Lincoln, Lincoln Calling is very likely on top of the list. The festival continues tonight (no doubt hampered by those pesky Huskers) and Saturday night. The schedule is below and the cost remains $34 for Friday and Saturday (per day). Three-day passes are $59 (plus $8 fees). Get the full skinny at lincolncalling.com.

Friday
The Bourbon
Angel Olsen
Julie Byrne
UMM

Duffy’s Outdoor
Beach Fossils
El Ten Eleven
Closeness
Josh Hoyer
Evan Bartels
Oquoa

Zoo Bar
Universe Contest
Gerardo Meza & Friends
Those Far Out Arrows
Kait Berreckman

Bodega’s Alley
Future Punx
Sego
I Forgot to Love My Father
Once A Pawn
Jacob James Wilton
Number One Hit Kids

The Bay
Kemba
Cakes Da Killa
Jewels and Thalia
Ria Gold

1867 Bar
Eu1ogy
Bogusman
Arc Flash
CBN
Stiff Middle Finger
Screaming Plastic
Edem Soul Music

Night Market
Bazille Mills
Ashley Buck
Histrionic
Pleiades and the Bear
Wagon Blasters

Saturday
The Bourbon
Charli XCX
Flint Eastwood
Plack Blague

Duffy’s Outdoor
(Sandy) Alex G
CupcakKe
Pile
Digital Leather
David Nance
Flowers Forever

Zoo Bar
John Moreland
Brad Hoshaw
AZP
Jagaja
Andrea Von Kampen

Bodega’s Alley
Ghost Foot
Nation of Language
See Through Dresses
Ro Hempel Band
AllSortsOfGood

The Bay
PUP
Yana
The Bad Ideas
Uh Oh
Boner Killerz

1867 Bar
Hovvdy
Crumb
John Freidel
Ojai

Night Market
The Ambulanters
Briner
Bokr Tov
Sleep Sinatra
The In-Betweens

* * *

Meanwhile, back here in Omaha, One Percent Productions is putting on two nights of outdoor shows with acts that make it seem like a mini Maha Festival. The location is at “Waiting Room Outdoors,” which is just outside of Jake’s on Military Ave. between Maple St. & Binney St. The space will have booze tents, concessions and a food truck.

Tonight’s headliner is Fleet Foxes, whose 10 Questions interview you read right here. Opening band is Canadian act Nap Eyes. $36, 7 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) the headliner Future Islands — one of most entertaining live indie acts I’ve seen in recent years thanks to the showmanship of frontman Sam Herring. Yeah, he has some crazy dance moves, but he goes above and beyond all that to capture the audience’s attention. This Future Islands show is loaded. You also get co-headliner Explosions in the Sky and the nasty beats of Holy Fuck. Chapel Hill act Jenny Besetzt opens at 5:30 p.m. $35.

What else is happening this weekend?

Tonight the indie-metal rock of Pro-Magnum returns to fabulous O’Leaver’s. It’s been too long since these guys have played at The Club. Opening is Ghost Foot. $5, 10:30 p.m. (after the Husker game).

Also tonight, Austin indie-noise act Vampyre headlines at Brothers Lounge. Joining them are Church of Gravitron and Lincoln’s Dirty Talker. $5, 9 p.m.

And let’s not forget Porchfest is tonight. Bands include Jack Hotel, Matt Cox, The Bottle Tops, McCarthy Trenching, Midwest Dilemma, Picklegrass, The Shineys, The Bedrock and Scott Severin, among others. The line-up and schedule are here.

Saturday night it’s back to Brothers Lounge for the return of Navy Gangs, with Future Punx and Nathan Ma and the Rosettes. $5, 9 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Phoenix act Pro-Teens headlines at O’Leaver’s with Chaca and Sgt. Leisure. $5, 10 p.m.

Finally Sunday night, the legendary Marshall Crenshaw plays an early evening show at The Slowdown. Bottle Rocks open. This starts at 5 p.m. Tickets are $22 Adv/$27 DOS.

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

* * *

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.

Tears of Silver play at Hi-Fi House Monday, Oct. 2. Photo by Greg Dohler.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tears of Silver is an indie supergroup that truly lives up to that designation. It consists of Posies’ founding member Ken Stringfellow, who’s also played in Big Star and R.E.M., along with three members of Mercury Rev — Sean “Grasshopper,” Jonathan Donahue (Flaming Lips) and Jesse Chandler (Midlake).

The band is touring America playing “unconventional venues,” which are announced 48 hours prior to each gig. Think of it as a “secret show” tour. Omaha’s hidden venue is at the not-so-secret Hi Fi House Monday, Oct. 2.

According to the Tears of Silver website (where you can acquire access) “The evening will be a chance to enjoy the modern classics from each artist’s long history as well as some new music they have created for the occasion (and certainly cover songs beloved to them repurposed and retooled for this tour). This is the first time Mercury Rev’s music has been performed in many parts of America for nearly a decade.”

Below, my Ten Questions with Ken Stringfellow and Sean “Grasshopper”:

1. What is your favorite album?

Ken Stringfellow: I’m too curious to really return to a reliable favorite. I’m always hoping to hear something unexpected and refreshing. Also, at any one moment I have something I’ve recently worked on that I’m proud of and I definitely give a few victory lap listens. This week, it’s the Supercalifragile album by Game Theory I produced. How can I summarize… Game Theory was a wonderful, brainy, exuberant band from the 80s… one of the classic ‘college radio’ bands. I was a fan then, and over the years befriended the band’s mastermind, Scott Miller. He had contacted me about rebooting the band after nearly 20 years, but unfortunately took his own life before this album could be completed. It was up to me to see it through; some songs were partially completed that I was able to finish up and mix; other songs were just fragments of ideas on various hard drives/phones and needed to be finished from the composition to the final mix… to this end I gathered some of his close friends and colleagues that he’d already hoped would have been involved in the album — Aimee Mann, Will Sheff, etc… and we delivered what I think is a stunning album, very true to Scott’s intentions as best as we could know them. It’s out now: https://gametheory1.bandcamp.com/

2. What is your least favorite song?

I woke up today thinking about “Holding Out for A Hero.” It makes zero sense. It’s so typical that this song was written by men, and humiliating that a woman had to sing these preposterous words, that bear no resemblance to anything that I can see in the reality of human relationships.

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

Time away from them! If it’s my long time band. I mean, it’s also lovely what a band and its music can mean to people over time. Being that we are celebrating the Posies’ 30th anniversary next year… it’s lovely to have a community that shares the appreciation for the years of work and the results of the music.

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

I don’t think I hate anything about being in a band, temporary (like this assembly for this tour)  or long term (like the Posies). The Posies has been, for example a motivating factor in making me work out issues with my bandmates. If we didn’t have a legacy to uphold, I might have ended these friendships. So, in the short term, I hated being stuck with someone with whom I was having a conflict, but ultimately, it made me work to resolve it rather than abandon the relationship.

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

I basically have beatlemania for fresh figs. I’m quite passionate about wine, too, and have a pretty decent cellar in Seattle, and another one in Paris, another in… etc.

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

Well, Seattle is always special, it’s ‘home’ in many ways, still. I have to say, tho, that there are places that have adopted me, too … I feel very ‘home’ when I play in Helsinki, or Barcelona… my shows in and around Barcelona are pretty amazing, in terms of the audience’s openness and love. And then all the stuff around it — the sunshine, the wonderful food and wine, the Mediterranean… and these relationships just keep growing with the years… the more good experiences I have with an audience, the better the *next* show is likely to be… it’s about building trust and good experiences.

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

Hmmm. Have to  be careful here! I had a pretty weird show in Hamburg, years ago, before I really perfected the art of managing being onstage alone. The club was scuzzy, the audience small, and I was insecure, and let that take over. I couldn’t really complete the show, I started to think nobody there cared etc…  it was awful. No fault of Hamburg, had plenty of great shows there since. It was just where I was at at that point in my life and in my learning curve about being a solo artist.

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?

I like to say I have been unemployed since 1989. I am loathe to think of what I do as a ‘job.’ It’s really more a continuing flow of miracles, and there’s always enough money to get what I need in life. I basically took a leap of faith at that moment in 1989, when I was 20, to not have a job per se. I starved, until I didn’t. What was important was that I retooled my focus on making my music and my communication the best it could be. It’s still how I think.

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

Well, I was very interested in natural sciences; I could have been a biologist, perhaps. I am quite squeamish about human blood and tendons so pretty sure orthopedic surgeon would be hell on earth.

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

Well, there’s that whole menage-a-trois thing that Warren Buffet had going, right? it’s pretty fascinating, and I’m sure there are many more tales that all locals know, but… I had to hand it to them for being so open about it. I know, I know, billionaire, so people will say yes to whatever, but … it *sounds* like there was much respect and openness to let that situation be what it was. You tell me!

From Grasshopper:

What is your favorite album?

Grasshopper: Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain

2. What is your least favorite song?

“The Farmer In The Dell”

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

The smell of gasoline exhaust in the morning.

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

The smell of gasoline exhaust in the evening.

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

Emeralds.

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

Poughkeepsie

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

In Las Vegas, Nevada, because I’ve never played a gig there.

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?

I’ve generally been able to support myself through music for 20 years. When times are good I’ve fed the ponies, during tough times, they have given back…

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

I would love to be a jockey. I have the height, but I don’t think I could make the weight. I’d hate to be a proctologist.

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

Tom Waits – “A Christmas Card From A Hooker in Minneapolis.” The song’s protagonist mentions, in regard to Omaha:  “Everyone I used to know is either dead or in prison”

Tears of Silver are playing Monday, Oct. 2, at Hi-Fi House, 3724 Farnam St. To attend, go to https://tearsofsilveromaha.eventbrite.com. Show starts at 7 p.m. For more information, go to www.tearsofsilver.space.

* * *

It’s night one of Lincoln Calling. Day passes are $29 for Thursday and $34 for Friday and Saturday (per day). Three-day passes are $59 (plus $8 fees). Here’s tonight’s line-up:

Bourbon Theater
Best Coast
Cayetana
Twinsmith

Duffy’s Outdoor
Palehound
Wand
Post Animal
Acid Dad
Matt Stansberry & the Romance
Salt Creek

Zoo Bar
Mount Moriah
Ian Sweet
McCarthy Trenching
The Artichoke Hearts

Bodega’s Alley
Malcolm London
R.O.E.
M Shah
HAKIM
Maddog & the 20/20’s
Stathi

The Bay
Frankie Cosmos
Navy Gangs
Thick Paint
Sean Pratt

1867
Street Sects
Cult Play
Crease
Darren Keen
Low Long Signal
Verse and the Vices
Bomb Earth

Night Market
Jens Lehman
Karmen Delancey
Indigenous AK
Bach Mai
Orion Walsh

Also tonight, The Melvins return to The Waiting Room. Spotlights opens. $20, 9 p.m.

* * *

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.

Fleet Foxes plays Friday night, Sept. 28, at The Waiting Room Outdoors.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Led by singer/songwriter Robin Pecknold, Seattle’s Fleet Foxes has been heralded as one of the country’s best new bands since their self-titled Sub Pop debut topped all the “year’s best” lists in 2008. The band’s warm, ambient sound has been compared to Pet Sounds Beach Boys and modern acts like Grizzly Bear and Father John Misty (Josh Tillman used to be in the Foxes), but on their new album, Crack-Up (2017, Nonesuch), the rich harmonies and echoing production recall Bookends-era Simon and Garfunkel (to me, anyway). The record is a dense, sweeping, elegant piece of modern folk rock, a challenge on first listen that gets better with every spin.

I caught up with Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold and asked him to take my Ten Questions survey. Here’s what he had to say:

What is your favorite album?

Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold: Sibylle Baier, Colour Green

What is your least favorite song?

The National Anthem of Nazi Germany

What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

The sense of being on a team, the mental stimulation of recording, and the rising to the occasion of the athletic-ish challenge of touring.

What do you hate about being in a band?

Sleeping in a moving vehicle

What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Sand

In what city or town do you love to perform?

Nashville, Tennessee

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

Our set at a music festival in Europe was called off after a freak storm tore some stages down.

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?

I am lucky to be able to play music professionally for the time being, and I haven’t had another job since around the time our first album came out.  We all live pretty frugally, which helps.

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

Filmmaker, and in old age, teacher.  I wouldn’t want to be a hitman or an Influencer.

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

That you’re the jewel of the Midwest and there’s a statue of Conor Oberst on Main Street.

Fleet Foxes play with Nap Eyes Friday, Sept. 29, at Waiting Room Outdoors, located on Military Avenue between Maple St. & Binney St. Tickets are $36. Showtime is 7 p.m. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com.

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

No updates since last week because there ain’t a whole helluva lot happening. No indie shows last night or tonight and not much on the horizon until the weekend (which is very crowded indeed).

A few things from today’s inbox…

Robert Plant announced his U.S. tour dates. His closest pass to Omaha is Chicago Feb. 20 and Minneapolis Feb. 22. I’d definitely go see him if he played Omaha. Plant has a new album out Oct. 13 on Nonesuch called Carry Fire

.

Protomartyr today shared a new track off their Relatives in Descent album, upcoming on their new label, Domino, a song called “Don’t Go to Anacita.”

Ty Segall dropped a new single today called “Alta,” recorded at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini during a break on tour this past spring.

And Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile today released a new single, “Continental Breakfast,” off their upcoming joint album Lotta Sea Lice, which drops Oct. 13 on Matador.

* * *

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.

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Relax, It’s Science at Lookout Lounge, April 30, 2016. The band plays at Blackstone Meatball Saturday night.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we get started, Luna has two new albums out today, both are worth searching out in your local record store and/or Spotify. LP A Sentimental Education is a covers compilation and includes songs by The Cure, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, VU and more. The 6-song EP A Place of Greater Safety is all instrumentals, and is good, too, though I prefer tracks featuring vocalist Dean Wareham. Now will someone please get these folks to Omaha…

* * *

Now onto the weekend…

The big show is Wilco at Pinewood Bowl Theater in Lincoln. Philip Creamer opens at 7:30. The 1%’s website says tickets range from $40 to $60, though Ticketmaster is showing a range of $37 to $47.

If you’re stuck in Omaha tonight, Satchel Grande is playing at The Waiting Room. CJ Mills opens at 9 p.m. $8.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) Olympia punk trio Naomi Punk (Captured Tracks Records) headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s. No Thanks and FiFi NoNo open. $7, 10 p.m.

This is the first I’ve heard of The Regulation, who are playing Saturday night at Blackstone Meatball. I’m told by Sam Parker, who booked this show, that the band includes local fave Mitch Jordan. Listen to the track below and you’ll discover they’ve no doubt been influenced by Weezer. Good stuff. Good ol’ Relax, It’s Science opens. And it’s free! Starts at 10.

Also Saturday night, The Nadas return to The Waiting Room with Stonebelly. $15, 9 p.m.

Sunday art rock band Secret Chiefs 3, led by Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More, plays at The Waiting Room. The illustrious Dereck Higgins opens at 8 p.m. $15.

And finally, The Reverend Horton Heat returns to The Slowdown’s big stage Sunday night. This four band-bill also includes Fishbone, Strung Out and Los Kung Fu Monkeys. It’s an early show — 7:30. $24Adv/$27DOS.

And 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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

#TBT: Stars play The Slowdown Nov. 5, 2007.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I posted the above photo as a Throwback Thursday thing because I tripped into it while going through some old photos and was mesmerized by the sculpture that used to be wound among the rafters of The Slowdown. That sculpture was made out of buckets, if I remember correctly, and stayed up in the ceiling for a few months. They should have just kept it up there.

As for Stars, as I said in the review: “Nearly 400 diehard Stars fans got more than their money’s worth last night at Slowdown — a set that lasted nearly two hours. The whole time, you could tell that Torquil Campbell and the rest of the band were thrilled to be there. In fact, they told the crowd so, over and over throughout their set, saying such glowing things like Slowdown was a gem ‘built on music.’ All night, band members would make their way to the microphones and say how proud they were to be there. It was kind of sweet and charming.”

Whatever happened to Stars? They’re still going strong…

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Tonight The Brothers Lounge, Brooklyn NY duo Crushed Out rolls into town. “The husband-wife duo of Moselle Spiller and Frankie Sunswept (born and raised in Los Angeles) draw deep from their shared love of ‘atomic’ 50’s rock ‘n’ roll, slide guitar blues, and SoCal surf creating a sound that delivers on all those things rock ‘n’ roll promised us so long ago.” Hussies are the actual headliners. Idlefox opens. $5, 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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A couple weeks ago when it was announced that Charles Bradley had canceled his upcoming tour dates — including the Sept. 29 Lincoln Calling appearance — I figured the show would go on without a second headliner that day (Angel Olsen already is slated). But just like that Lincoln Calling lined up a replacement in the form of Beach Fossils.

The Brooklyn band that records on hot label Captured Tracks is part of a family of cool indie bands that includes DIIV, Wild Nothing and Heavenly Beat. You might remember them for their role in the ill-fated HBO series Vinyl (They were The Nasty Bits, fronted by “Kip Stevens” a.k.a. James Jagger (as in Mick’s son)). Not a bad get for a last-minute addition. And I do mean last minute — Lincoln Calling is the weekend after next weekend. Find out more at lincolncalling.com

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Two shows tonight.

At Reverb it’s hot new indie act Vagabon. Pitchfork calls the Brooklyn act fronted by Lætitia Tamko “an Indie Rock Game Changer.” I wouldn’t go that far. Instead, she carries on a tradition of great songwriting that starts way back with Liz Phair and stands side by side with today’s best, such as Speedy Ortiz and Hop Along (who I’m most reminded of). Our very own game changer, See Through Dresses, opens along with Nnamdi Ogbonnaya. $12, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Simon Joyner is hosting a show at his house featuring singer/songwriter Ralph White. White was a member of well-loved punk bluegrass outfit Bad Livers. He plays a wooden six-string banjo, violin, button accordion and kalimba. Simon says his music is “in the spirit of appalachian avant garde country bluegrass music.” Screaming Plastic (cello/guitar improv) and L. Eugene Methe (solo singer-songwriter pop) are opening. Doors at 7:30 and show starting at 8 sharp. Cost is a donation of $5-$10. Simon and Sara’s house is located at 4216 S. 22nd St.

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Omaha music legend Dereck Higgins plays in at least a half-dozen bands (my favorite among them being the prog-jazz outfit Chemicals), so how does he have time to also put out solo material?

Yesterday, Higgins released his latest, the soundtrack to filmmaker Jim Fields’ yet-to-be-released movie, Life After Ex, the follow-up to his previous film, 2013’s Flyover Country, which Higgins also created a soundtrack for.

“Jim had some specific ideas for each film and although I wrote and submitted a fair amount of new material for Life After Ex, Jim ended up using several older pieces from my catalog,” Higgins said. “On Flyover, it is all electronic. This time around there is a nice mix of my electronic tracks and me playing all of the instruments.”

Higgins said the songs were written for the film this past spring. “I have yet to see the final cut with my music and am looking forward to the premier Oct. 11 at Ak Sar Ben Cinema,” he said.

Check out the new tracks and order your copy at Higgins’ Bandcamp page.

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Sheer Mag plays tonight at Reverb Lounge.

I’ve been listening to this new Sheer Mag album, Need to Feel Your Love (2017, Wilsuns RC), for a couple months (man, I need to do more album reviews). It kind of reminds me of an old band from 2005 called The Ark combined with Butch Walker along with modern garage rock but fronted by a firecracker of a lead singer in Tina Halladay, whose pouty growl is unforgettable. The music is indie, but on a certain level, their sound is commercial, and very appealing. I was surprised when Rolling Stone did a big feature on them in July. As such, I wouldn’t be surprised if their gig tonight at Reverb sells out. Especially considering BIB is opening, along with Laffing Gas. $12, 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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.