Here’s an item that’ll appear in Backbeat in tomorrow’s issue of The Reader:

Weeks after its release, the full-length by Midwest Dilemma, Timelines & Tragedies, has landed on the College Music Journal‘s top-200 chart at No. 161. CMJ develops its chart by compiling play lists from college and non-commercial radio stations.

Midwest Dilemma mastermind Justin Lamoureux sent 300 copies of the CD to radio stations with the help of Minneapolis-based promotion and distribution company Tinderbox Music. He said the service “cost less than $2,000” but was worth it to get the music in front of radio station programmers. Those costs are usually covered by an artist’s record label. In Lamoureux’s case, the label is his own wallet.

“What I’ve been told is that it’s a good opportunity, especially if you plan on going on tour,” Lamoureux said. “It helps build relationships with radio stations in cities you hope to play.”

Lamoureux wasn’t sure how the CMJ chart will translate into album sales, which, without traditional distribution, he handles online, through iTunes and through Omaha record stores. “I’m hoping it pays off, but I feel that right now, it’s cool that these radio stations are getting our music heard,” he said. “I’m shocked that so many stations added it to their play lists.”

For the week of May 22, Timelines & Tragedies had been added by more than 100 radio stations, according to Tinderbox, and will chart in 13 stations’ top-20.

Justin said he should have new CMJ numbers sometime today. Here’s hoping he continues climbing the charts.

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This one appears to have snuck in beneath the radar. The last time the Fiery Furnaces came through town, they were determined to put on a metal show, and they did. From the review of the June 22, 2006, Sokol Underground show:

“I was expecting The Fiery Furnaces‘ live set to be different from their albums — no keyboards on this tour, remember? — but I wasn’t expecting the metal-rock-Rush-prog-Talking Head-Zappa-Sabbath explosion that I and about 200 of my closest friends got last night at the Sokol. “Bombastic” doesn’t quite cut it. “Mercurial guitar histrionics”? Not exactly. “Anxiety-inducing tension”? Close, but no cigar. I admit to not being a follower of said band, so I can’t really tell you how differently they sounded from their previous incarnations. I have only one of their CDs — their newest one, which Sister Eleanor said they’d be dipping from extensively. From that disc, I only recognized one song — the surrealistic “I’m in No Mood” and only because there’s no mistaking the Russian pastiche melody-line, which when played on guitar instead of keys, was downright Queen-esque. Forget all the pretty stuff on the record, Eleanor has a perfect rock voice that rests somewhere between Chrissie Hynde and Johnny Rotten. Meanwhile, I am now convinced that Brother Matthew is some type of mad genius wunderkind. It’s one thing to write this Dali-esque music, it’s another thing entirely to play guitar with the virtuosity that he commands. Who needs a synthesizer when you can make your ax create similar (or better) sounds? The bottom line: I like them better as a full-out metal band with punk overtones and a prog jones that comes from listening to too much ’70s arena rock (Did I mention Rush?). Yes, their records are interesting, almost quaint. Their live show belongs on a touring festival sandwiched between roaring sets by Cardiacs and The Who.” Read the rest here.

I have a feeling they’ve got something completely different up their sleeves tonight, but if you get a replay of that show, you’re in for an ear-ringing good time. Opening the show at The Waiting Room is Grand Ole Party. $15. 9 p.m.

Also tonight, MC Chris is back in town, this time at Sokol Underground with The Age of Rockets. $14, 9 p.m.

If you’re wondering, I made it to zero shows this weekend as I spent most of the evenings cowering in the basement waiting for the tornado to strike. Alas, it never did.

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After last night, I’m beginning to change my mind about Capgun Coup. You could tell that these guys have been touring. Very strong. Sounds like they’ve toned down the keyboard and amped up the guitars — always a good decision. I think their secret weapon is whoever that is that leans over and sings harmony vocals with Sam Martin. It made all the difference, and took the edge off Martin’s vocals. If it’s been awhile since you’ve seen these guys, they’re worth another look.

The same goes for Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, a band that a year or so ago was just another drone instrumental epic-noise band. They’ve edged their way into my list of favorite local hard/punk rock bands, right up there with Cursive, Ladyfinger, The Stay Awake, Perry H. Matthews, Monroes, Little Brazil, anything Goldberg’s involved in, Criteria and on and on. A brief survey of the crowd brought about comparisons to Unwound and Sonic Youth. They remind me of a late ’70s early ’80s Athens, Georgia band called Pylon, which probably no one remembers. Pylon played a rather stark, narrow but dance-y version of post-punk, much less broad than Noah’s Ark’s grinding-yet-soaring post-wave style. In other words, Noah’s Ark was a bad-ass. And they’re a trio — gotta love that.

Times New Viking is a trio, too. I admit that I compared them to very early Pavement when I reviewed their CD, mainly because of their low-fi tendencies and simple song structures — a ridiculous, idiotic comparison after you’ve see them live, where they in no way resemble Pavement. A trio comprised of a guitarist, drummer and keyboard/vocalist, TNV plays blown-out almost tribalistic post-wave punk that at times borders on anthemic. They certainly got the crowd of 100 or so — especially the 30 folks pressed against the stage — rolling with their orgy of noise. On about half the songs, keyboardist Beth Murphy walked away from the keyboard and just handed vocals backed by shredding guitarist Jared Phillips and drummer Adam Elliott, who imbibed in a quart bottle of Jim Beam between songs. Very rock ‘n’ roll.

* * *

The sweet noise returns tonight to The Waiting Room for the Octopus Garden Art Alliance Benefit featuring Neva Dinova, Ladyfinger, McCarthy Trenching and Roseline. According to a post on the webboard, the organization’s goal is to provide arts opportunities to everyone in the community. That includes offering classes and workshops that focus on a variety of media: painting, sculpture, theatre, writing, culinary arts, pottery, murals, photography, sewing, puppetry, music, dance, recycled art projects, etc. The services are available to everyone, but with a special emphasis on helping those who are developmentally disabled, mentally ill and of low income.

This is an awesome concept and an awesome benefit that continues tomorrow night at TWR with Mal Madrigal, Baby Walrus, Brad Hoshaw, Slave 1, and April Domet. Admission is a mere $7 each night. Shows start at 9.

Also tonight, one-man performer Dosh plays with Anathallo and Omaha’s own Hyannis at Slowdown Jr. $8, 9 p.m.

Other shows tomorrow night include Mates of State at Slowdown — the venue’s ad hoc one-year anniversary celebration (though I doubt they’ll pull out any party favors (though they should)). Opening is Judgement Day. Tickets are $12 today, but will cost you $14 tomorrow.

There also are two shows at O’Leaver’s this weekend consisting mostly of bands I’ve never heard of. Tomorrow night it’s Bazooka Shootout, Roman Numerals (which I have heard of) and Imaginary Johnny. Sunday night it’s It’s True, The Haunted Windchimes, The Mexican and The Vivian Girls. Both shows are $5, and start at 9:30 p.m.

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Continuing a look back at Slowdown’s first year of business with owners Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel…

The duo discussed their relationship with the venue’s primary booking agent, One Percent Productions. When Slowdown first opened, there were questions as to how well the business relationship would work since One Percent owns what arguably is Slowdown’s biggest competition, The Waiting Room. Both venues host a similar style of indie rock music.

But Nansel said competition has never been an issue. “I feel like our relationship with One Percent is better than it’s ever been,” he said. “We just had conversations with them, telling them we want more shows more consistently, and I think they’re trying to figure out how to make that happen.”

It’s rare for One Percent to book a show at TWR that Slowdown wanted, but it’s happened. One example is the recent Night Marchers show. “We had Criteria play with The Cops on the same night,” Nansel said. “At first we wanted the Night Marchers. It was a bummer, but it was more of a bummer for the Night Marchers show.” That’s because the Cops/Criteria show sold out Slowdown’s small room and likely hurt the draw for Night Marchers, which didn’t do nearly as well.

Nansel said that TWR continues to be more open than Slowdown to host different bands from different genres. “They’ll book anything,” Nansel said. “I think Marc (Leibowitz) thinks of this as more of an indie rock venue.” Something tells me that perception will have to change if Slowdown wants to book considerably more big-room shows than they did last year.

Before the club opened, Slowdown wrestled with the idea of being smoke-free. The club even polled people who came to its website. In the end, they followed their gut instinct and kept the smoke out of the club, a decision that they’ve never regretted.

“If this had been a smoking bar for the last year, it would be in this facility forever and you wouldn’t be able to get it out,” Nansel said. “I never used to mind going to bars that allow smoking, but after spending more time here in the last year, I notice it a lot more. My eyes hurt.”

“I’ve had a few people tell us — from both the customer and bar-owner side of things — that we would have had more business on off nights if we had allowed smoking,” Kulbel said. “But I know people who won’t go to shows at The Waiting Room because they allow smoking. Had we built Slowdown in 2000, or even in 2005, that choice wouldn’t have been there for us. Now enough people know that a nonsmoking environment is where things are headed.”

And speaking of where things are headed, what’s going on with Blue Line Coffee and American Apparel? Blue Line’s addition to the complex was announced before Slowdown opened, with a target opening date of last fall.

“Blue Line is going to open any day now,” Nansel said, adding that the owner is just waiting for some “permits and approvals.” Nansel pointed out that construction materials — i.e., drywall — had just arrived inside the American Apparel space — a space that was originally slated for a restaurant.

Both Nansel and Kulbel voiced frustration over their inability to find a restaurant suitable for the location, and by “suitable” they mean locally owned and operated — i.e., not a national chain. “All the restaurant owners we talked to, said ‘I’m busy enough trying to keep this one place going. I don’t have resources and time to open another location,'” Nansel said. “I think it’s a hard business. Anyone in that business on their own is putting all their time and effort into their existing space. We had a couple people approach us who were not previous restaurant owners, but could never get the financing.”

“Any frustration you might have is multiplied by 1,000 for me,” Kulbel said when I told him how disappointed I was that the restaurant idea fell through. “We went through so many different options and people. It took months and months of time. At the frustrations’ peak, American Apparel came to us and said, ‘We want that space.’ It seemed pretty crazy right off the bat, but the more we thought about it the more it made sense. We had gotten to the point where we were somewhat bleeding money on that space. We have a gargantuan mortgage payment to make every month, too big to have 3,800 square feet of retail space sitting there empty. I can’t imagine what would have happened if Famous Dave’s had walked up at the same time. I hoped I wouldn’t have said ‘yes’ to that at any point.”

So what’s the difference between a chain restaurant and a chain clothing store? Kulbel said he eats at chain restaurants all the time. “We just like the idea of a local restaurant, much in the same way we like the idea of a local clothing store,” he said. “Slowly we figured out that a local clothing store wasn’t a viable thing. The chance of a local clothing store going out of business was way greater than a local restaurant going out of business. You could have the hippest, coolest clothing store in your development and there’s a good chance it won’t (attract customers). But people will frequent the hippest, coolest restaurant.”

Nansel said part of American Apparel’s business model is looking at where Urban Outfitters are opening stores and then opening next to them. “Urban Outfitters was happy about (American Apparel),” he said. “From their perspective, it created a whole mindset. People will now think about this area as a place to go to shop for clothes. The more retailers in the area, the better. When they were on their own, people had to come down here just for Urban Outfitters.”

So how has Urban Outfitters been doing business-wise? “They’re doing good as far as what they tell us,” Nansel said. “They’re stoked.”

There’s another recently announced piece of development that also will affect UO and Slowdown — a new ballpark to be located just east of the Slowdown complex. As you might expect, both Nansel and Kulbel are pleased about it… sort of.

“I prefer it over nothing,” Kulbel said. “I am happy for what it will do for the area and the development in the area. I’m glad a decision was finally made on it. It could have been anything as far as we’re concerned. There needed to be that anchor piece of the puzzle. Over the next few years everything around here will change, and that will be good. That empty lot across the street (west of Slowdown) will be retail and residential and will add more bars and restaurants, and that’s good, too.”

“It’s always been on the radar screen,” Kulbel said of the ballpark. “It originally was going to be on the west side; now it’s on the east. We knew that it was a possibility and almost a certainty. The only thing I don’t like about it was that it took so long to get going.”

They might have foreseen the ball diamond, but they didn’t foresee the all-ages ordinance fight that they went through earlier this year that now requires that anyone under the age of 18 have written, notarized permission before being allowed into Slowdown on show nights. Nansel and Kulbel both say they’re fine with how the controversy ended.

“I don’t think it’s been that much of a pain in our ass,” Nansel said of the ordinance. “If it wouldn’t have concluded the way it did and we weren’t able to do all-ages shows it would have been disastrous. I don’t know if it would have been disastrous from a financial perspective, but from the fundamentals of why we built this place. I would have been very saddened.”

“I’m not sure how viable a 21-plus Slowdown would be in this town,” Kulbel said. “It would have forced us to do more Goo-like things and really stretched wide open who we booked. (The ordinance) is worth whatever headaches it causes as long as we can continue to do all-ages shows.”

We didn’t talk at all about the record label, other than Kulbel and Nansel both confirming that it’s still their No. 1 interest. “Yeah, it’s where I spend most of my time and attention,” Nansel said.

“It has to be (No. 1),” Kulbel said. “It’s still the day job; it’s still what I do with my nine to five.”

That said, Kulbel is “completely totally 100 percent happy with Slowdown. I love how it turned out. I love how people seem to like it. It’s more work than I ever thought it would be, but it’s fun work, too. It’s work that I certainly enjoy. I feel like we’re building something we’re proud of.”

* * *

Jesus, this is a long blog entry…

Anyway, there’s a couple cool things going on tonight if we don’t get blown away by another tornado. Did anyone go to Modest Mouse last night? How’d that turn out?

Down at the ultra-chic dance club called The Nomad Lounge, 1013 Jones Street, local photographer Tony Bonacci is holding his first exhibit, which opens tonight and runs through the rest of the month. Bonacci’s niche is rock-star photos, and his portfolio includes shots of Tilly and the Wall, Orenda Fink, Mayday, Azure Ray, Baby Walrus, Coyote Bones and more. The reception is 6 to 10 p.m., with hor d’oeuvres by The Chatty Squirrel. And it’s freakin’ free.

So go to the art show, then head on over to The Waiting Room for Times New Viking. These krazy kids are the kings of neu-low-fi indie, the successors to a thrown built by Pavement. Opening is Capgun Coup and Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. 9 p.m., $8.

Keep your eye to the sky…

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

So, why no birthday celebration at Slowdown on Sunday, the one-year anniversary of its public grand opening? Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel said the date sort of snuck up on them. Actually, Kulbel said they had talked about doing something for the occasion, but nothing fell into place. So, Saturday night’s Mates of State show will have to do, as there’s no show scheduled for Sunday night.

In my mind, Slowdown is and will always be a music venue. Why would you build such a gorgeous performance space and not use it? Robb and Jason had other ideas, however. During the interviews for this column, both mentioned the problems that are keeping people from thinking of Slowdown as a place where you could just hang out and drink. Its location topped the list. But just as prominent is the problem with any duo-purpose lounge. Nansel used The 49’r as an example. He said there were times when he’d show up there with friends to kick back and have a few drinks only to find out that they were hosting a show that night, causing them to turn around and look elsewhere. The same problem plagues Slowdown. With shows three nights a week (and now probably more) people are not apt to drive down there for drinks and quiet conversation only to discover that there’s a show and a $7+ cover charge. The perfect set-up: the old Howard St. Tavern, which sported a stage lounge and a non-performance lounge. If you didn’t want to go to the show, you could always go upstairs to the White Rabbit. Alas, there’s no way to set up anything like that at Slowdown…is there?

Column 176: Slowdown at One
Bar or music venue?

Only weeks before Slowdown celebrated its one-year anniversary (the public opening was June 8, 2007), the club that is the dream of Saddle Creek Records’ entrepreneurs Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel enjoyed one of its biggest weeks ever.

From May 18 through 24, Slowdown clocked in with two sold-out Rilo Kiley concerts in its “big room,” along with two more big-room near-sell outs (Tokyo Police Club and DeVotchKa) and two well-attended small-stage shows.

The guys should be happy. But they want more. And they know the only way they’re going to get it is by hosting more big-room shows. Lots of them. More than they ever intended to host at Slowdown.

“We need to have weeks like last week more often to be really comfortable,” said Nansel from the Saddle Creek Records’ Euro-modern conference room. “When we have shows, the bar does well. When we don’t, the bar doesn’t do well. When we set out to open this place, our desire was to have two or three shows a week, and we hoped that we would have a nightly clientele. But the reality is that we’re pretty far off the beaten path, and people only come here when they have a reason to. It’s going to be that way until the neighborhood develops a little more.”

Kulbel, who spoke via cell phone while driving across town on Sunday morning, agreed. “The highs are higher and the lows are lower,” he said of the first year. “The highs are when the big room sells out and it’s packed and crazy. The lows are Sunday nights when no one comes in after 10:30.”

You see, Slowdown had the same idea that the other important music venue — The Waiting Room — had when it opened a little more than a year ago. Music wasn’t supposed to be the main thing. The bar was supposed to be filled with customers even when the stage was dark, which they hoped would be at least four nights a week. “We don’t want people to think of it as a music venue, but as a bar that hosts shows,” Kulbel said a year earlier.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Blame the location. Step outside of Slowdown, and you’re facing an empty city block covered in weeds and litter. And while there’s a handful of condos a few blocks away in every direction, the streets aren’t exactly bustling with foot traffic.

“No one lives around here,” Nansel said. “In a few years, the development will come and the foot traffic will increase.”

But until then, the new business plan is to make Slowdown the music venue that Nansel and Kulbel never wanted. The duo recently met with the venue’s primary booker — One Percent Productions — asking for as many big-room shows as possible. “But at the same time, there’s only a certain number of shows that are going to come through town, unless we really start to branch out in terms of genres. We’re not at that point yet.”

One example of “branching out” beyond their bread-and-butter indie rock programming was the Feb. 21 concert featuring Slightly Stoopid — a band known for its legion of backwards-baseball cap wearing meatheads. The sold-out show was the biggest bar night the club has ever had. It’s also the show that both Nansel and Kulbel said was their worst concert experience since they opened.

“It drew somewhat of an aggressive crowd,” Nansel said. “There was a fight, and that never happens. People who come to shows here are generally passive. Although it was our biggest bar night, if we had shows of that ilk every night, none of the people who work here would work here.”

“That was a rough night,” Kulbel said. “If we got another hold for them, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. But we wouldn’t want shows like that once a week or even once a month. It’s not what we do.”

Another thing they don’t do, at least not anymore, is a brand of DJ-driven theme nights hosted by members of The Faint and Tilly and the Wall called “Goo.” In Slowdown’s first months, Goo garnered a reputation for being an all-ages dip into debauchery set to strobe lights and a hot club mix. Goo was wildly successful. It also was an enormous pain in the club’s ass.

“Goo is challenging,” Nansel said. “It’s mostly kids. You have to staff it really well and constantly make sure that no one’s getting into trouble.”

“The real problem (with Goo) was that these people were trying to cram a night’s worth of drinking into two hours,” Kulbel said. “They drank really fast, got drunk really fast and then everything went crazy. Afterward, the staff would ask, ‘Can we not do this any more?'”

Goo is probably gone for good. Like Seinfeld, the DJs wanted to end it on a high note, and the club won’t consider hosting another Goo night unless it’s 21-and-over, which is a deal-breaker for the organizers.

But Slowdown doesn’t need Goo or Slightly Stoopid to succeed. It just needs good shows and good service. Over the past year, Nansel and Kulbel learned how to run a bar. It used to take 20 minutes to get a drink on busy nights. Now it takes less than five. The rest will work itself out, as ballparks and condos rise around them. The foot traffic will come, eventually, and Slowdown will become the bar — not the music venue — that they always wanted it to be.

There’s tons more with Robb and Jason that didn’t make the cut, which I’ll put online tomorrow.

* * *

Tonight at the Westfair Amphitheater, it’s Modest Mouse with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Westfair is about 16 minutes from downtown Omaha in Council Bluffs. $35. Gates open at 6, show starts at 8 according to the Westfair website, where you can find details about the show (parking, what you can bring, etc). If accuweather is to be believed, the weather should cooperate, as thunderstorms shouldn’t be rolling into our area until well after 1 a.m., long after the concert should be over.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

My take on PHM after last night at The Waiting Room is the same as it was before last night — there’s an throw-back quality to their sound that’s unquestionable; a throwback to the Omaha/Lincoln scene of the mid-’90s that reminds me of bands like Mousetrap, Sideshow and Opium Taylor, bands that were popular around here when members of PHM were about four years old. It’s a punky, dissonant sound, angry and chaotic. The difference last night: It was less messy, more controlled, more refined, but just as brutal. Most young bands these days are playing a brighter-sounding almost tinty cacophonous punk. New Times Viking, who plays at TWR Thursday night, comes to mind. PHM is darker, deeper, more rhythmic (the drums never sounded better). Frontman Paul Hansen’s vein-necked screaming continues to remind me of Pat Buchanan but with less flailing and spitting (but just as disturbing). PHM hits the road tomorrow for a two-week tour of the upper Midwest down through Arkansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Here’s hoping they find their crowd, and that their crowd finds them.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown its heritage alt-country band Old 97’s with Hayes Carll and I Love Math. $17, 9 p.m.

And speaking of Slowdown, in tomorrow’s column the club’s frontmen talk about the venue as it celebrates its first year of operation. See you then.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

It was a hot, crowded night at O’Leaver’s Saturday for Box Elders and Iowa City’s Bent Scepters. I missed BE, but squeezed in just in time for the Scepters. The five-piece takes the garage rock stuff to a cleaner, more professional level. Translated: They sound like they practice, whether they do or not. Or maybe it’s because they’ve been around the block longer than most local garage bands and they know these songs like the back of their hands. Some might call them “slick.” I call it catchy and clean and right-on from the moment they launched into their set. There’s no “warming up,” just spot-on Zombies’-style punk-and-roll that gets the girls dancing from the first song forward (guys too). And you rarely see dancing at O’Leaver’s.

It’s been a few weeks since I stepped into Omaha’s favorite stink-hole. Construction is most certainly under way. I didn’t get any specifics, but it looks like they’re creating a door that will connect to Mach’s new sandwich shop next door. Part of the wall that divides the “stage” area from the bathrooms looked like it was gone, too. Outside, the concrete has been poured for the new beer garden and is waiting for fencing — not just cyclone fencing, but apparently something a bit more… artistic. O’Leaver’s must have foreseen the upcoming change in Omaha’s public smoking laws announced last week, and should be ready to react when the (anticipated) hammer drops on smoking later this month. Can you imagine O’Leaver’s smoke-free? I can’t, either, though I talked to one person who said the ban will mark his return to the venue.

We’ll now find out sooner rather than later if there’s any truth to the old saw that a smoking ban will hurt — if not kill — tavern business. I’m skeptical that it will have any impact at all on music venues, as long as those venues have created an option that considers smoking — such as an outdoor smoking area or a way for people to leave their drinks somewhere so they can smoke on the sidewalk outside (TWR comes to mind, as I don’t know how they’ll be able to create an outdoor beer garden). The only taverns who will be crippled by the ban are the so-called “regulars bars” that cater to those folks who come in every night for smokes and booze. With no place to go, they’ll be staying home with a bottle and an ashtray heaped with dead butts — now isn’t that a lovely image?

* * *

What better way to kick off the week than with an evening of brain-frying punk by a handful of Omaha’s best post-core rock bands? Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s a last-minute show featuring the mind-fuck stylings of Perry H. Matthews, the intricate prog-math genius of Fromanhole and hot new act The Yuppies. 9 p.m., $7.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Maybe it’s the lull before the storm, but there aren’t a lot of shows going on this weekend.

Tonight’s highlight is undoubtedly Boston’s Bang Camaro, a neu-pseudo hair metal band emulating a style made famous by KISS, Quiet Riot, Stryper, you get the deal, the usual bunch of ’80s stomp rockers. I’m reminded of Rye Coalition, though Rye did it first and did it better. It’s when BC gets away from the hair-metal clichés that things at least become interesting, but those are rare moments. Tonight at Slowdown Jr., $12, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night’s top show is Box Elders and Bent Scepters at O’Leaver’s. $5, 9:30 p.m. Also, Saturday night, Satchel Grande is playing way out west, at Bar Fly. $5, 9 p.m.

What am I missing? Let me know here.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

There’s even more to the interview with Simon Joyner than made it into these columns, but most of it is below and in last week’s installment. One detail that didn’t make it in concerned the “Peel Incident.” I asked Joyner what the other album was that Peel had played in its entirety. He said he heard that it was a Fall record, but that someone also told him it was a Bob Dylan record. I guess we’ll never know for sure. One thing’s for certain, with the advent of technology, no one will ever have the power Peel had to discover and focus attention to new talent.

Column 175: The Traveller Returns, Pt. 2
The second in a two-part look at Simon Joyner’s just-reissued seminal recording.

Continuing last week’s look at Simon Joyner’s The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll, which has just been reissued on Team Love Records…

By 2003, Joyner already had made a name for himself as a journalistic lyricist who painted acoustic snapshots on his first two tape-only recordings, Umbilical Chords and Room Temperature. For his next — and what he thought would be his last — recording, Joyner dipped his toe into something more autobiographical.

“I had moved away from the sort of journalistic confessional songwriting,” he said. “I was finding that the best approach to deal with things in my own life was by turning them into fictional stories, just like any other writer.”

And just like any good literature, where the reality ends and the fiction begins is never known by the casual listener. Joyner’s lyrics reflected the crossroads where he stood both professionally and personally. Born in New Orleans with parents from Alabama, Joyner was yanked from his southern roots as a child after his father was stationed at Offfutt Air Force Base. “I only saw my relatives once a year,” he said. “I felt a little bit rootless in my early 20s, and I wanted to make sense of the history of my family, where I came from and what it meant to me.”

As a result, a southern-gothic pall hangs over the album, along with plenty of death. The song “Montgomery” focuses on a military funeral, with lines “The mourning is for everyone / But the hole is for your papa / He’s lying in his old uniform / His pockets full of mothballs.“

“I wrote that song for my father about my grandfather, who had also been in the Air Force. It’s about going to his funeral with my dad,” Joyner said. Around that same time, Joyner’s grandmother also passed away; her death was reflected in the song “Cole Porter”: “And I should have known she wouldn’t last / And I should have been there by her bed / Tonight I caught myself considering heaven/ ’cause today I realized she is dead.”

Taken as a whole, Cowardly Traveller was sort of a concept album about coping with life in the face of uncertainty, consequence and inevitability. “In my mind, the theme of the record — the title — can be interpreted as a story about a cowardly traveler who pays his toll for being cowardly; or as a warning, like an Aesop fable,” Joyner said. “Here you are and these are the things you’re dealing with. If you’re not courageous, life is going to be bleak. Dealing with it makes you a stronger person.”

In that context, what many consider to be depressing actually is a message of hope. If there’s a common misinterpretation about Joyner’s music, it’s that it reels in despair. “I’ve never been into music that is pathetic or wallows,” he said. “Music that is ‘Woe is me’ is not interesting to me. There’s always tension and conflict, and the characters don’t always make the right decisions.”

The entire album was recorded in the living room of a tiny house in Benson. Collaborating was Chris Deden, who supplied the drums and inspiration. “Chris was responsible for talking me into doing an electric record,” Joyner said, “and for he and I recording it ourselves and playing all the instruments.”

Joining them on “scratchy fiddle” was guitarist Alex McManus. “Alex wasn’t a violin player,” Joyner said. “So his approach was just what we wanted. I wasn’t a guitar player but was playing guitar, Chris wasn’t a drummer but was playing drums. The violin part on ‘Cole Porter’ is one of the best things I’ve heard in the last 20 years. Once he had done that, I knew this was going to be okay.”

Deden and Joyner pressed 500 copies of the vinyl-only release on their own label, Sing, Eunichs! Joyner said some in Omaha “wrote it off” as an experiment, while others recognized it as a big leap forward. Those outside of Omaha considered it Joyner’s debut. Especially in Europe, where famous DJ John Peel played the entire album on his widely respected radio show — something he’d only done one other time. Much has been made of the so-called “Peel incident,” but how much did it really impact Joyner’s career?

“I didn’t really take advantage of what it could have done for me,” Joyner said. “(Peel) had done similar things for P.J. Harvey and other bands, telling listeners to check them out. He did that for me, but I didn’t make it easy for people. It’s hard to check out something when it’s only on vinyl. Where are you going to get it? This was before Myspace and access to music downloads.”

The first 500 copies of Cowardly Traveller sold out quickly. The label pressed another 500, which also quickly sold. But that was it. Joyner and Deden decided to press no more.

“We had moved on to recording (follow-up) Heaven’s Gate and the label was just so nascent that we had to put all our funds into the next project,” Joyner said. “Repressing it seemed wasteful when we could put money into something else.”

Over time, not repressing Cowardly Traveller became “this symbolic thing for Chris and me. Chris always said that anyone who matters had it already.”

That attitude would change after the album began to fetch high prices on eBay, and when Joyner turned to old pal Conor Oberst and Team Love Records to handle the digital rights to his catalog. When it came time to digitally master Cowardly Traveller, sound engineer Doug Van Sloun created a new master from the original 1-inch tape that would end up also being pressed on 180-gram vinyl.

Joyner won’t be touring the album. In fact, its only performance was a one-off house show held a few weeks ago. “When it was originally released, I was playing these songs at house shows and Kilgore’s and places like that,” he said. “Anything beyond a house show would go from being a celebration to exploitation.”

Still, expect to hear songs off the album dropped into his live sets from time to time. “I know when I’ve written a good song when I still want to play it,” Joyner said. “And I still love playing those songs.”

As I mentioned in a recent collection of CD reviews (here) Joan of Arc’s new album, Boo Human, is the first thing in years that a Kinsella has been involved with that I could listen to more than a few times. It has its wonky moments; it also has some rather startlingly beautiful moments. Get a preview of it tonight at The Waiting Room when Joan of Arc plays with Future of the Ghost and Omaha’s own Capgun Coup. $10, 9 p.m.

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