Less Humor Per Pound
Danny Pound’s brief glance at Vitreous Humor.

You can’t blame Danny Pound for not being eager to talk about his old band, Vitreous Humor.

After all, they haven’t been around for over a decade, and his new band, aptly called The Danny Pound Band, sounds nothing like them. Still, there’s more than a few followers of Omaha’s mid-’90s punk-rock golden age that remembers Vitreous Humor and their grungy, post-punk sound heard on the classic 1993 7-inch, Harbor. The three-song single featured a teen-aged Pound warbling the words to “Bu-Dah,” the single’s catchy B-side that went “In the shithole where we live / Something’s living in the cellar / Keeps us all awake at night / Smells like cooking blood.” Remember it now? Probably not. Still, the song managed to make it onto a lot of mix tapes from that era.

Pound appreciates the memory, but said few people recall his former band around his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. “Some younger kids look up to Vitreous Humor as one of the old-timey, classic Lawrence rock bands,” he said, “but no one ever comes up and asks about it.”

The story of Vitreous Humor is a rather short one. The Harbor single was followed two years later by a 7-song self-titled EP. Posthumous, a collection of unreleased tracks, outtakes and live cuts, was released on Crank! Records in ’98, well after the band already had called it quits and moved onto Pound’s next project, The Regrets.

A decade later and Pound has left Vitreous Humor’s jangle-grunge behind in favor of a more grown-up, sophisticated sound born out of his fondness for mid-20th century folk and blues.

“After The Regrets broke up, I discovered Harry Smith’s Smithsonian Folkways recordings, began listening a lot of blues and pulled out The Basement Tapes,” Pound said.

The result was The Danny Pound Band’s 2005 debut on Lawrence label Remedy Records, Surer Days, a collection of tuneful alt-country rockers that sounded like a cross between Centro-Matic and The Silos.

But even that style was short-lived. Since its release, Pound and his band — bassist Jeremy Sidener (ex-Zoom — another classic ’90s Lawrence band), guitarist David Swenson, and drummer Ken Pingleton (who replaced former drummer Dan Benson, who also was in Vitreous Humor) — have moved in a whole different direction, creating music that recalls ’70s-era So Cal groove rock. The band’s as-yet-unnamed follow-up to Surer Days was recorded at Black Lodge Studios in Eudora, Kansas, and is slated for release on Remedy Records sometime in the near future.

“You couldn’t call our new record rootsy. It’s more of an electric rock record,” Pound said. “I get bored quickly. I’m always trying to find new things to do.”

As for Vitreous Humor, Pound said he doesn’t understand why the memory of that band continues to live on in places like Omaha and Milwaukee — another city with more than its share of that band’s fans. “It must be a Midwest thing,” he said. “We never toured very much. I don’t think we even played in Omaha as Vitreous Humor.”

While he acknowledges that the band could have influenced someone, Pound is hardly proud of those early recordings. “I’m not offended by that era, but it doesn’t give me great pleasure to listen to that music,” he said before immediately correcting himself. “I take that back. Some of it was interesting, if a bit too earnest. I know there are those who liked it, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Column 104: They’re Still The Who
And why they’re still cool after all these years…

This is an actual conversation had, oh, a few months ago down at Sokol Underground while waiting for bands between sets, leaning on the bar, killing time. Use whatever nasal inflection you feel is appropriate to voice me or the “Pretentious Troll.” Perhaps try to act this out with a friend while you wait for your coffee at The Blue Line.

Me: Well I got my tickets to The Who concert Dec. 7. I’m pretty psyched. The Pretenders are opening, too.

Pretentious Troll: Are you fucking stupid? You’re going to The Who? Talk about lame. It’s not even the real Who.

Me: Well, it’s Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey, right? (I fumble for my receipt to make sure I haven’t been duped into buying tickets to a tribute band called The What or The How).

Pretentious Troll: Man, I saw The Who when Entwhistle was still alive, and even then it wasn’t the real Who. The real Who died with Keith. I wouldn’t go if it was free. Those guys shouldn’t be allowed to perform — they’re too old! As an indie music fan, I’m surprised you’re even going — The Who are sell outs!

I didn’t have an answer for the little putz. He may have even been right, but it didn’t matter.

I want to see The Who. They’ve been on my list, along with Yo La Tengo (who I saw at Sokol in October), Silkworm (who I’ll never get a chance to see now) and Red House Painters for as long as I could remember.

The Who was my first punk-rock band. They were the ultimate outsiders that were allowed inside simply on the strength of their music. The Beatles might be the good-guy geniuses, the Rolling Stones the bad-boy working men, but the Who, well, they never seemed to fit into any category, even after their music was embraced by the masses.

To me, they were weird and different. Even at their height, when Tommy came out (in the theaters of course, I wasn’t old enough to remember when the record was released) The Who were like some sort of super-intelligent alien wunderkind. They were the smartest kids in class who dressed funny and came up with all the interesting ideas that no one “got,” then everyone copied. Their music told a story beyond the same old girlfriend-boyfriend-car-drugs-booze rock drama. They wrote about rebellion years before the snarky Sex Pistols came along and made fun of them.

And as saccharine-flavored as this sounds, some of my fondest memories are of listening to “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Baba O’Riley” on my Spark-o-matic tape deck while roaring along Fort Calhoun’s dirt roads in my rusty piece o’ shit VW. It was years before those same songs became bastardized in car commercials and TV shows like CSI. Back when The Who were still cool.

They’re still cool today. Their new album, Endless Wire, is a serious head-trip. It’s a stereophonic thrill ride that isn’t afraid to take chances. Some of them work. Some of them don’t (yet). But it’s never boring, and sonically, it’s a quantum leap above the usual low-fi made-it-myself indie jangle-pap that I’ve been listening to for the past 20 years. There’s a sense of real craftsmanship to Endless Wire that demands that you listen to it on a proper stereo or with a decent set of headphones and not — god forbid — on your computer.

I don’t know what else to say. The Troll is right. Half the band is dead. But half the band is alive, too. And judging from what I’ve seen and heard, they still know how to pull off an arena concert. And they’re coming to Omaha — something I never thought I’d see or hear. So excited was I when the show was announced, I threw down some cash and joined The Who Fan Club just to get in on the ticket pre-sale. Now it turns out that I probably wasted my money since, as of this writing, the concert is unlikely to sell out.

Maybe that isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe all those people who usually go to arena shows — the ones who boo when the band plays a new song instead of one of their golden chestnuts, the ones who don’t even like music and are merely trying to relive some unfortunate moment from their youth — will stay home and leave the Qwest Center to the rest of us.

And for all you Pretentious Trolls who are reading this — and laughing — remember that all your cherished indie bands got their ideas somewhere. The more adventurous ones were inspired by bands like The Who, bands that will be here long after the current fads fade away.

Three days after the fact, here are my thoughts on Robot, Creep Closer at The Saddle Creek Bar Friday night: Obviously these guys grew up listening to The Pixies, and conversely to the band famous for ripping off The Pixies, Nirvana (though there weren’t many noticeable Cobain-isms). That means there were a lot of chug-a-lug bass lines ripped to shreds by powerchords, lots of quiet/loud/quiet architecture, and the usual pop-rock touches. Missing was the weirdness that The Pixies brought to everything they did — even listening to their albums, you never knew where they were going next. RCC, on the other hand, is purposely predictable, probably as a product of trying to be a crowd-pleasing punk band. You may win friends that way, but not idiot critics who have heard this sort of thing before. Glancing back, that sentence sounds a bit harsh, and might leave you thinking I didn’t like these guys. I did, they were okay, I just wish they’d go out on the limb a little more, take a few more curious turns, take a few chances. They certainly have the instrumental chops to go wherever they want. They even had a keyboard player, even though you couldn’t tell by listening — she was completely buried in the jangly mix, which is a shame.

And speaking of the sound, the owner of the SCB tells me that he and his sound man continue to tweak the bar’s sound system, doing various tests, making adjustments, etc., etc. I couldn’t really tell, but these bands weren’t exactly a good test, either. A better test will be this Saturday when The Danny Pound Band and 4th of July take the stage.

Tonight’s big show is The Lemonheads with Vietnam and Hymns down at Sokol Underground. This show has yet to sell out, which is something of a surprise considering how big The Lemonheads were in the ’90s. Tickets are $15, show starts at 9.

And finally, here’s an updated pic of the Slowdown construction project (click on the thumbnail to see it big). I know I was supposed to update this weekly, but the weather has been gnarly over the past few weeks. Amazing how much they’ve gotten done. This “pano” shows that they’ve apparently started on the condos on the property’s north side while they slowly begin closing in the theater on the south side. Can they get it buttoned up before the first snow?

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Gad, I hope it warms up. It was too cold and I was too tired to make it out to Black Keys last night. Anyone go?

The cold and fatigue won’t stop me this weekend, though. Here’s the run-down as I see it:

Tonight at The Saddle Creek Bar, Cory Kibler and his band, Robot, Creep Closer, take the stage along with Humland and Gypt. Cory sent a copy of their latest CD, She Beeps, which I’m listening to as I write this. It sounds sorta grungy, sorta Pixies-ish, lots of power chords, very indie. In a nice, handwritten letter, Cory tells me that the band “consider The Pixies, Spoon, Cursive, Modest Mouse and AC/DC as influences.” His letter says the openers tonight are actually Her Flyaway Manner, though that’s counter to the SCB website, unless HFM is really Gypt. Humland, he says, is “Matt Mortinosky & ex-Marianas & ex-Keller Hamilton” — I’m not sure what the last part means. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, tonight down at Sokol Underground, it’s Bear Country with Cap Gun Coup and The Skull Krushers. An all-local line-up? I don’t know. $7, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night it’s The Monroes with The Diplomats of Solid Sound at The 49’r — it’s always a fun night when Speed! Nebraska is in the house. $5? Around 10 p.m.

Meanwhile, tomorrow night down at Sokol Underground, the return of Ladyfinger with Back When and Mal Madrigal. If the show follows the One Percent online listing, Back When is the headliner. An all-local lineup? You bet. $7, 9 p.m. Parking warning: There’s a River metal show upstairs that starts at 7.

See you at the show.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

With a violinist/accordionist that looks like a Bolshevik, a bass player who switches between a stand-up and a Christmas-tree-light adorned tuba, and a Theremin-playing frontman who yodels more than sings, Devotchka is as eccentric as you want them to be, right down to their cover of “Venus in Furs” that makes you think the Velvets could have been from an Eastern Block country.

There is an ethnic, Russian flair to most everything they do, a flair that the crowd of around 220 obviously came to see and hear. Sprinkled throughout the room, girls jumped and kicked in a sad, Americanized version of a Barynya folk dance, complete with obligatory squatting and foot stomps (Most of the guys did the usual immobile slouching, hands in pockets). When the accordion came out and the sousaphone was at full sail, the place turned into a Ukranian dance hall powered by the band’s polka-flavored bounce. On the other hand, when the band took a more-modern less-ethnic approach, they turned into a Hungarian (by way of Denver) version of The Arcade Fire, thanks to the frontman Nick Urata’s yodel croon and the music’s soaring, layered sound, reminiscent of the better moments off Funeral.

I was told that these guys weren’t an indie band. And I might have believed that if it weren’t for drummer Shawn King – who, though surrounded by music played in a foreign language, still cracked the set like a first-rate (indie) rocker. King was astounding, even when he put down the sticks, picked up a trumpet and followed the rest of the band into the crowd for a pseudo-mariachi number. Great fun. I left after an hour, just as the band closed their set with the Morricone-flavored whistler theme from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack.

Tonight at Sokol Underground, The Black Keys with Brimstone Howl and Dr. Dog. This show was originally scheduled for Sokol Auditorium, but poor ticket sales drove it downstairs. Needless to say, the show is nearly sold out, so if you don’t already have tickets, go to the One Percent Productions site and click on the Purchase Tickets link. They’ll run you $17. If you plan on walking up, I suggest you get in line early (and bundle up, it’s cold outside).

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Column 103 — Two Years (and counting)
A look back on the second anniversary

The end of the year for music fans means endless retrospectives of the past 12 months written with great pomposity, and lists upon lists upon lists upon lists of “the best blah-blah-blah of ’06.” We complain, but we love looking back if only to say “I told you so,” conveniently forgetting the blind missteps, and hoping you forgot them, too. That said, let this be the first of those retrospectives for ’06, as we celebrate the second year of Lazy-i in The Reader and look back with great aplomb to update the past year’s columns.

Presto! Change-o! (2/1/06) — A description of the new Presto! Studios in Omaha, gleaned from an issue of Tape Op Magazine. Saddle Creek Records executive Jason Kulbel tells me that the building that housed the Lincoln Presto! Studios now sits empty following tracking last fall for the upcoming Bright Eyes record. The new studios, located near 69th and Dodge Sts., are coming to life. As I type this, the facility’s “B Room” is being used for the final mixing of said Bright Eyes CD. By the way, the name Presto! apparently will die along with the Lincoln studio.

Scars for All to Hear (2/16/06) — A profile of Outlaw Con Bandana’s Brendan Hagberg. The band currently is recording its fifth release, Faeries and Rewards, with producer Ted Stevens between Cursive world tours. “We are also attempting an EP by hook or crook during the down time,” Hagberg says on his myspace page. Look for both records in early ’07.

Band of Brothers (2/23/06) — A profile of them thar Thornton boys — Bob and Will — and their band Past Punchy and the Present. Since the column, Past Punchy has become rather dormant. Instead, Bob’s new band, Now Archimedes!, has established itself as the hottest new punk band in town.

Not for The Faint of Heart (3/22/06) — Wherein your fearless columnist reported about the possibility of The Faint leaving Saddle Creek Records for American Recordings, a rumor that Creek label chief Robb Nansel confirmed. Since then, The Faint has begun working on the long-awaited follow-up to 2004’s Wet from Birth in their new studio. Asked if the record will come out on Saddle Creek, Kulbel gave a two-word answer: “No comment.”

Living in Fun City (6/22/06) — The Omaha World-Herald took umbrage to my attack on their declaration — made after this summer’s Bright Eyes concert in Memorial Park — that Omaha is “Fun City.” An OWH editorial, cleverly titled “The Quest for Coolness,” referred to “a local blogger” who is “beside himself that anyone could possibly consider Omaha a Fun City.” Pity they didn’t have the stones to either mention The Reader (where the column also appeared) or my website’s address. But like I said last week, The OWH doesn’t acknowledge non-OWH-controlled local media sources in print. As for their editorial: If the paper and the Chamber of Commerce think the answer to Omaha’s “quest for coolness” is to bring in more national-chain retail outlets like Cheesecake Factory and Williams-Sonoma instead of supporting home-grown businesses, then they clearly have no idea what “cool” is.

Unlikely Underdog (6/29/06) — Amid a cloud of negative buzz, the column was an early defense of Cursive’s new release, Happy Hollow. The record, which I still consider to be the band’s best effort in their storied career — continues to split fans down the middle between those who love it and those who don’t. Regardless, the album sold 9,700 copies in its first week of release, enough to place it at No. 96 in the Billboard top 100. To date, Happy Hollow has sold more than 27,000 copies, according to Kulbel.

Urban Legend (7/6/06) — A profile of local rock band An Iris Pattern’s quirky, mysterious frontman, Greg Loftis. Since the column, Loftis reports that An Iris Pattern has been asked by world-renowned fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger to be the first band on his new record label. Stay tuned.

Flyover Country (6/1/06) — The premise: Top-drawer national indie bands are beginning to pass by Omaha because cheapskate concert-goers won’t pay more than $10 for tickets. In fact, ’06 will be remembered as one of the better years for stellar acts hitting our stages, including such bands as Yo La Tengo, Joanna Newsom, M Ward and Gillian Welch. Lately, however the crowds are staying home. One Percent Productions’ Marc Leibowitz, who along with partner Jim Johnson is responsible for most of Omaha’s indie shows, says ticket prices alone aren’t to blame. “It’s more likely the combination of higher ticket prices and over-saturation of shows,” he said. “There are a ton of shows that are all slightly overpriced. But when we talked about ticket prices (in June) it was just for Omaha, and this downturn in attendance is happening in a lot of other cities as well.”

The Kids Aren’t All Right (8/3/06) — Wherein I ask the question: Where have all the new indie bands gone? Leibowitz says they’re right here, you just have to look for them. Among them: Coyote Bones, Bear Country, Spring Gun, Domestica, Art Bell and Hyannis.

And so on… Thanks to everyone who provided their insight, inspiration, information — and most of all, ideas. These are the things that keep Lazy-I going. Now onto year three…

Here’s an early head’s up about Wednesday night’s Devotchka show at Sokol Underground. A little bird close to the show tells me that opening band McCarthy Trenching will, in fact, be the all-star line-up featuring Maria Taylor, Steph Drootin and Conor Oberst. We saw this lineup open for M Ward Sept. 6. Fact is, Dan McCarthy is just as good when he’s playing with his non-all-star lineup His music is lilting, folky waltzes with a hint of Neil Young in the guitars. Oberst might throw in some harmonies, but he’ll mostly just concentrate on being a faceless accomplice. Devotchka has become a hot property after contributing music to the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack. Last time they came through they drew a few hundred — this time it could be a sell-out, especially with the added star power.

Moving on… Here’s a well-written review from The Dallas Morning News of Cursive’s Nov. 25 gig at The Gypsy Tea Room. I generally don’t agree with the writer, who can’t help but pigeon-hole Cursive as an emo band. His comparisons to Fall Out Boy betray him — Cursive doesn’t have much in common with that band, so if he went to the show expecting that sort of performance he was destined for disappointment. Says he: “But with little exception (the raucous, whippy solo break on “Martyr” being one), its activity level didn’t measure up to a normal emo act, almost as if it chose not to expend the energy lest it lost its rep as the Emo Band With Indie Clout.” Right. I can’t imagine anyone wanting a rep like that.

Tonight, Minneapolis trio The Slats, sounding like a cross between The Cars and Guided By Voices, takes the stage at O’Leaver’s with Des Moines’ Beati Paoli. $5, 9:30 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

The site has been in a state of disarray over the last week because of ongoing technical issues which I hope to have resolved this week. I woke up this morning to discover that every link on the homepage (including in this blog) was broken and had to be reset. Not fun. Thanks for your continued patience.

I only went to one show this holiday weekend, but it was a doozy — Art Bell at Saddle Creek Bar Friday night. It was (surprise, surprise) packed. After three different shows at the Saddle Creek over the past few weeks — Virgasound, Eagle*Seagull and now Art Bell, I’m convinced that the club could become a player in the local music scene (for what that’s worth). The caveat is that they must get someone to take a serious look at their PA. Over the past three shows, the sound has been hit and miss. Ultimately, there are limits to what they’ll be able to do with such old equipment. Those two huge arrays of speakers on either side of the stage are ancient, and though I’m no sound engineer, even I can hear that something’s wrong with them.

Every musician and music pro that I’ve talked to about the bar’s sound has said the same thing — the PA needs to be replaced. Friday night’s show might have been a breaking point. A few minutes into Art Bell’s set, every bass note was met with a loud rattle from the left set of speakers, as if one of the units was blown. After about 20 seconds, the sound guy smoothed it out. At all three of the past shows, however, the vocals sounded hollow and tinty, like a PA you’d hear on the floor of a convention hall. I’m told the microphones are top-notch, that the problem, again, is the PA.

Another musician who’s played at The Saddle Creek on and off over the past decade told me that the room has never sounded good, partially because the stage is like playing inside a box. Club owner Mike Coldeway said the stage design prevents him from booking hugely loud metal bands because of noise issues. I doubt anything can be done about that.

That said — as has happened at every show I’ve attended there — a couple rather prominent musicians from the scene (one from the Saddle Creek stable) asked me what I thought of the place, and I told them what I’ve told everyone — I love its size and the overall vibe of the room. It reminds me of The Bottleneck in Lawrence. And the location couldn’t be any better — about a mile away from my front door. Add to that $2.25 Rolling Rocks (the lowest price I’ve paid for the beer anywhere in Omaha) and a $5 cover ($6 Friday night, for some reason) and I’m in heaven. Those musicians I talked to said the same thing. They also agreed that there’s something wrong with the PA. One of them wondered if the tables could be cleared out — that they created a natural barrier between the bands and the crowd. That can easily be done — and should be done for the upcoming Good Life show. Indie and punk bands don’t like people sitting around — they want them standing, preferably right in front of the stage — and to be honest, there’s nothing stopping them from standing in front right now, other than concern that they might be blocking the view of those seated (We are a courteous bunch here in Omaha, aren’t we?).

So that’s the executive summary on The Saddle Creek Bar. Check it out for yourself when the Danny Pound Band comes through on Dec. 9. Drakes Hotel sounded like Omaha’s version of Jesus and Mary Chain, complete with droning feedback and doom-laden mid-tempo beats brought to you in care of a drum machine. The thump-thump-thump was more than adequate to move this luxurious show-gazer fare in a right, moody direction, while the female lead singer provided the counterpoint to the droning bass. I liked it, especially when the band stepped it up a notch, wrestling itself out of its mid-tempo rut. The set, however, was too much of a good thing, and seemed to go on forever, especially considering that Jake Bellows didn’t start the night until well past 10 o’clock (but only played for about 15 minutes).

As mentioned before, Art Bell is a natural evolution for an Orenda Fink, an artist who has been defined by the warm, heart-throbbing style heard in Azure Ray. With a veritable supergroup of musicians backing her, Fink reinvents herself as a rock musician, taking her natural ear for melodies and galvanizing them with solid guitar and a rhythm section anchored by one of the city’s best drummers — Corey Broman, who’s played with Little Brazil, Statistics and Kite Pilot, among others. If the band’s recordings are anything like the live show, someone is going to have a hit on their hands — will it be Saddle Creek Records?

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Art Bell is Orenda Fink’s new band with Adrianne Verhoeven of The Anniversary and 4th of July. The last time I saw the band (back in July) it also featured Dan McCarthy on keyboards, Ryan Fox on bass, Steve Bartolomei on guitar and drummer Corey Broman (Little Brazil, ex-Kite Pilot, ex-Son, Ambulance). The One Percent Productions site says Fink and Co. are currently recording a new album with Joel Petersen of The Faint. Wonder what label will be putting that out… Also on the SCB bill is Drakes Hotel & Jake Bellows — a steal for just $5. Starts at 9.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Column 102 — For ‘Biggest Oversight’ by an awards show…
The nominees are…

Before I get into this, I must tell you that I’m one of those hallowed few who have been asked to be a member of “The Academy” for the Live Music portion of the Omaha Entertainment Awards. And I also must explain that The Reader is one of OEAs’ media partners, if not one of its chief organizers. So one could yell “Bias!” at these words, but one would be incorrect, as I hold no allegiance to the organization and have just as many gripes as you about the Nominees list published last week. Instead of griping for gripe’s sake, however, I wanted explanations.

So I picked up the phone and called Tony Lange, the guy responsible for how the OEAs are being conducted. Lange comes to Omaha from Cincinnati, where the CEAs are in their 8th year. He said they were the boilerplate for the OEAs, right down to how bands were nominated. Anyone (as in you) could have submitted a nominating ballot, and Lange said around 2,000 of you did — not bad for the first year. A five-person committee (of which Lange is a member) developed the categories with the help of a few others who were brought in to “broaden the knowledge base.”

That brings us to the nominees and my list of gripes, first and foremost being the inclusion of South Dakota blues act Indigenous under the category of “Traditional / Indigenous” music. Anyone who’s ever heard a lick of the band’s Stevie Ray Vaughan blues-hammer aping knows that they don’t belong in this category, and that South Dakota ain’t Omaha (or Nebraska).

Clarification No. 1: Any performer from a 75-mile radius of The Holland Center was eligible for nomination, which explains why all those Lincoln bands are on the list (but doesn’t explain why the awards aren’t called the NEAs (N as in Nebraska instead of O as in Omaha)).

Lange admitted that, yes, Indigenous isn’t from Nebraska, and no, they don’t play indigenous music, and yes, the whole thing was a mistake. “That’s one that slipped by us,” he said. “We’ll take the blame. It’s a result of me not growing up here. It should have been caught.”

Some of the categories, however, were tougher to explain. Why, for example, group “hard rock” and “metal” together? Everyone knows they’re different genres. Apparently not everyone. “I know there’s death metal and speed metal and hate metal,” Lange said. “Next year we may consider separating the categories.”

“Next year” also applies to including a “Singer/Songwriter” category, an omission that is the awards’ biggest oversight, as Omaha is known nationally as a singer/songwriter town. Lange had no real explanation for this, other than to say he wanted to include the category but that other committee members preferred naming it “Adult Contemporary.” This, of course, makes no sense, but “that’s what you get when you deal with a committee.”

Lange is not apologetic about the “Cover Band” category. “Cover bands are the core meat of the local entertainment business,” he said. “Their art is just the same as anyone else’s. Remember, this award is based on entertainment.”

Complaints about who got nominated falls squarely on you, the voter, and your favorite bands’ inability to “get out the vote.” Lange admits that there always will be acts that simply aren’t comfortable lobbying for themselves. That may explain why local jazz legend Luigi Waites was overlooked under the “Jazz” category or why Breathless wasn’t nominated under “Hip-Hop/Rap.” It also explains why there are no punk bands under the “Punk” category. Would a real punk band lobby for votes? Go ask Johnny Rotten.

For the first go-’round, the list of nominees isn’t horrible, especially under categories “Alternative Indie” (rightfully dominated by Saddle Creek Records acts), “Folk Americana Roots,” “Hard Rock” (I’m leaving metal out of it) and “Live Music Event.” The full list is available online at oeawards.net. Yes, there are omissions, but hey, give them a break, it’s the first year.

The most glaring omission is in how the local media have covered the event. Yes, The Reader is a sponsor, right along with NRG Media on the radio side. That shouldn’t preclude the great, gray Omaha World-Herald from covering an event that has the full support of the Chamber of Commerce and a plethora of important local arts organizations.

The fact is, the OWH has historically put its own needs in front of its readers when it comes to covering anything that’s sponsored by rival media, whether it be an alt-weekly newspaper, radio or local TV station. They need to let the paranoia go and realize what everyone else already knows: They don’t have any competition. No one’s going to steal away any of their potential advertisers and/or readers, certainly not The Reader. Acknowledgement of the OEAs by the OWH and other media is critical if this thing is ever really going to get off the ground. But I’m afraid that the polarizing, Citizen Kane mentality of local media will never let that happen, even for an event that’s designed not to make money (OEA is a 501c3, nonprofit organization) but to celebrate this city’s talent. Let’s do this, before all that talent finds a more grateful place to play.