The music was turned off when we arrived at The Waiting Room last night at 9:20 to allow for the Obama/McCain debate. Surprisingly, many were glued to the TV sets, as if watching a boxing match… or a trial. The droll spectacle couldn’t put a damper on what was ahead, though. The stage remained dark after the final handshake (or lack of one), and from my vantage point sitting at the bar, as the clock struck 10, I began to wonder what was going on. Then from nowhere came a shrill wave of feedback, and I realized that, of course, Monotonix was set up on the floor. I vaguely remembered hearing about the last time these long-haired Israelis came through town, how their equipment had a way of wandering throughout the club. We were in for the same thing as the band began ripping through its rowdy, punkish garage rock, barked with an accent from in front of the stage, surrounded by 150 grinning fans. You couldn’t see anything from the floor unless you were in the 6’5″ range. I wound up watching from the stage. Frontman Ami Shalev was carried above the fray in a large plastic trashcan, I’m not sure by whom, as the band was having a riot of its own. Ami kept moving the kick drum and the rest of the kit further and further away from the stage, eventually into the main bar area, then the entrance, then finally outside on the sidewalk in front of TWR, frantically waving the crowd to follow him. And they eagerly did — how often these days do they get a chance to watch a live band and smoke at the same time? Outside, drummer Ran Shimoni banged on a snare while Ami climbed a traffic signal pole. Hanging from a piece of the girding he told the crowd to count down from 10 and then count up to four, upon which time he launched into the crowd to surf back to the sidewalk. Never a dull moment.

I’m not sure you can say the same thing about Silver Jews. David Berman and wife Cassie were joined by four other band members including drummer Bob Nastanovich (of Pavement fame). Hanging from Berman’s microphone was a unit of blood that swung to and fro — it was creepy, and disappeared halfway through the set (vampire?). Though this reference will be lost on almost every reader of this blog, Berman looked just like my old communications professor from UNO, Hugh Cowden – he had the same glasses, the same beard, the same shaped face, and probably the same wardrobe — a thrift-store western-cut polyester suit jacket. It was Hugh only 30 years younger, holding a mic.

I’ve been enjoying the Jews’ latest album, which is dotted with touches of western swing. Well, there was no C&W influence heard during last night’s set. The band sounded like well-played though run-of-the-mill indie (Pavement in their final years). Even Berman’s voice sounded different, not so much like Johnny Cash as Kris Kristofferson. A couple people complained about the monotonous, medium-tempo pace of every song as well as Berman’s flat vocal delivery. It didn’t bother me at all, and there were times where it provided a necessary contrast to the more ethereal portions of the set. Though they’re out supporting Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, they only played maybe three songs from it. No “Party Barge.” No “San Francisco BC.” I assume the rest of the set was older material, which I will be downloading from Lala later this evening. Those kooky Monotonix guys joined the band for the last of the three-song encore — Ami sitting on his drummer’s shoulders. Silver Jews were great, but Monotonix will be the band most people are talking about the day after.

Looks like you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for that weekend-review punk column. I’ll have it online in the morning.

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s STNNNG (minus the gloves) with Omaha’s current “It Band” Perry H. Matthews, Mother Pile and Child Bite. All four for a mere $7.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

The live review for this past weekend’s shows (Upsets, Officially Terminated, Shanks) will appear tomorrow as this week’s column (which means they’ll also appear in this week’s issue of The Reader). Look for that.

But tonight, get your ass to The Waiting Room for The Silver Jews. I can say without restraint that their new record, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, is one of the best albums of the year. For those of you who missed it, here’s my Aug. 20 review:

Silver Jews, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (Drag City) — The album can be summed up in one perfect song: “San Francisco B.C.,” where drawling frontman David Berman croons a story of a break-up with a “local martyr in the vegan press,” a crime story that finds our hero “in the possession of burglary tools” only to confront the bad-haired murderer who orphaned his true love. Along the way there’s plenty of “fist cuisine” and “insignificant shit” and other tossed-out genius that makes this one song better than Tarantino’s last three films. Musically, it’s laid-back, rolling, countrified slacker rock, with Berman sounding like the second coming of Johnny Cash, and wife, Cassie, providing the June Carter harmonies. Rating: 4.5 stars.

Silver Jews rarely tour, rarely play live. The couple are notoriously private and in years past rarely did interviews (Here’s Chris Aponik’s e-mail interview in the current issue of The Reader). It’s very likely that you will never get another chance to see this band in Omaha. A very good chance. Don’t miss it. $14, 9 p.m. Get there on time to catch the return (since April 2007) of Israeli garage band Monotonix representin’ Tel Aviv.

Tonight is day one of a week filled with amazing shows at The Waiting Room. The STNNNG plays tomorrow night, UUVVWWZ plays Thursday opening for A Place to Bury Strangers, McCarthy Trenching has its CD release show Friday with Neva Dinova and Ted Stevens, Coffin Killers open for School of Arms Saturday, then the place gets burned down Sunday night by Bloodcow and stoner rock kingpins High on Fire. Get the details at The Waiting Room website, and thank Marc and Jim the next time you see them, which better be tonight.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

The band of choice for opening CD release shows has a CD release show of its own tonight at The Waiting Room. The Black Squirrels is self releasing its 12-song sophomore effort, Paying for Your Pleasure, recorded by fellow squirrel Tim Cich at Bassline Studio. Considering all the bands they’ve opened for, I expect there to be a huge crowd for this one. Opening is The Great Atomic Power (with the great Mike Friedman, Anderson, Dunwoody) and Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies. 9 p.m., $7.

Also tonight, Seattle instrumental outfit Joy Wants Eternity has moved its show from O’Leaver’s to The Saddle Creek Bar. Also on the bill are local punk faves The Upsets and Officially Terminated. No word on the cover. Starts at 9.

Speaking of punk, tomorrow night is the long-awaited final show ever for The Shanks, who will go down in the history of Omaha music as one of the most lewd, crude, out-of-control bands the scene has ever known. When The Shanks were on stage, there was never a dull moment. You instinctively kept your head on a swivel watching for flying bottles or fists, never quite certain if what you were watching was rock and roll or performance art (or both). The Shanks were guttural. They were angry — with each other, with themselves, with the crowd. Or so it seemed. Maybe it was only an act. We’ll never know. But one thing’s for certain, they did an admirable job trying to hoist the long tradition of punk rock on their t-shirt-clad shoulders. They shall be missed.

As part of their farewell, the band is cleaning house. According to Shanks’ Todd:

“All of the remaining 45s will be given away for free. Also, a 7-song CDEP of unreleased songs will be available for free. Only 50 made, any left over from the show will be available at the Antiquarium. Opening the show will be The Intelligence from In The Red Records. They’re from the West Coast and use to be the A-Frames.

Box Elders play second, just returning from Gonerfest in Memphis.

The Shanks play last. May play old stuff, maybe unheard of stuff, maybe all covers from Sesame Street. No one knows ’cause we don’t either. We’re still going thru all our recordings and may release one more 7″ and with everything else, it’s going up online at LastFm and Soundclick for those who IPod and who don’t have turntables.”

$5, 9:30 p.m. Get there early if you want in because this will be a madhouse.

Also Saturday, Talkin’ Mountain, Honeybee and Tim Perkins are playing an afternoon gig (4 p.m.) at Urban Outfitters. It’s free.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Speed! Nebraska Records launched a new, improved website this week that not only let’s you find out about some of the coolest bands in the area and hear some samples, but also buy S!N product online, thanks to their exciting new shopping feature. Man, this Interweb technology is amazing! Check it out.

* * *

Did you notice that Slowdown is closed next Monday through Wednesday? Jason at Saddle Creek tells me that they’re installing new flooring (It’s about time they replaced that old shit! What’s it been, a year?). Slowdown will reopen next Thursday, just in time for electro-dance band Lotus and Somasphere.

* * *

Tonight at The Barley St. Tavern, it’s the UNO Mavradio fundraiser. Your $3 cover will go toward station upkeep and the purchase of a new soundboard. No, you still can’t hear Mavradio in your car; only on the internets (launched at mavradio.org). But who knows, some day… The show line-up is Benny Jones, Spiders for Love, Platte River Rain, and Ragged Company. Starts at 8.

Also tonight, Nashville Pussy returns to The Waiting Room with Grady. $12, 9 p.m. And down at Slowdown Jr. (on those ugly old floors) it’s Sing It Loud, You Me and Everyone We Know, Take Cover and Get Down. $10, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

This week’s column is some new stuff combined with rehash from last week’s blog entries. Pick and choose, etc. The big news is at the top …

Column 192: Faciinatiing Opportunity
The Show Is the Rainbow added to Faint tour.

The last time we checked in with Darren Keen he was discussing the 5-year anniversary of his project, The Show Is the Rainbow, while dining on CiCi’s over his lunch break at Homer’s.

Despite such low-rent eating habits, Keen has carved out an impressive career in music, thanks to a solid discography and a willingness to live for weeks at a time on the road playing his unique brand of trippy, experimental indie rock as only he can — on the floor and in your face.

His persistence is paying off in what may be the biggest break of his career. The Show Is the Rainbow has been asked to be the opener for The Faint, who are on the road supporting Faciinatiion, their new self-released album currently sitting at No. 7 on the CMJ radio top-200. Keen’s leg of the tour begins Oct. 19 at The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri, and takes him to Nashville, Athens, New Orleans, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Boulder and Albuquerque, before ending Nov. 1 in Tempe, Arizona. It’s the kind of tour every Omaha band dreams about — playing in sold-out, medium-sized venues filled with The Faint’s insanely rabid fans. Keen said his booking agent, Panache Rock out of California, lined up the tour with The Faint’s booking agent (presumably Brian Cohen of William Morris Agency).

The timing couldn’t have been any better. Keen just finished recording his new album, Wet Fist, at his storage-room studio inside The Faint’s Enamel Studio. Mixed by The Faint’s Joel Petersen, the full-length will be released on Retard Disco Records. “They are from L.A., home to really good like-minded weirdo shit,” Keen said of his new label. The vinyl version of the album will be released on S.A.F. Records, who released Keen’s last album, Gymnasia. To help get momentum rolling for the February release, Retard Disco is pressing a sampler of new material to be given away at shows.

Keen said money made from the tour will help offset debt he’s accumulated from booking flights for his European tour that begins the day after he gets back from The Faint tour. The Europe shows will feature These Arms Are Snakes, Russian Circles and Bad Dudes, “plus my own headlining shows in Norway, where I now am a total pimp,” he said, adding that he snagged the same Scandinavian booking agent as Metallica and KISS after playing a festival there.

Could this upcoming Faint tour be Keen’s ticket out of CiCi’s buffet line? “I don’t know what it’ll mean for my career, but it will be really fun,” he said.

* * *

Looks like Lincoln Calling had its most successful year ever. The five-day event held in Lincoln the weekend before last featured arguably the best line-up at any local festival. Lincoln Calling organizer Jeremy Buckley said the numbers were impressive.

“We had attendance of close to 2,300 overall, with 10 shows having attendance of more than 100,” he said. “Band payout was in the neighborhood of $8,500, and sound guys made $1,300 last weekend. I wish I could do the math and see what kind of money the crowds generated for downtown Lincoln, because if everyone spent $20 on top of the cost of their ticket on food and beer and such, that’s 40K. Big numbers.”

Indeed. Buckley, who has been doing Lincoln Calling since 2005, said he intended to “slow down” after this year’s festival, “but it was the first year that I genuinely felt that a lot of non-regulars supported shows at all of the venues involved,” he said. “It was a very community-oriented event, and I think rather than tone it down next year I’ll just figure out how to involve a group of people (to be) in charge of different aspects of the weekend.” Here’s to Lincoln Calling ’09.

* * *

Speaking of noteworthy tours, while glancing at the Saddle Creek Records tour schedules on their website, I noticed that there’s an Azure Ray concert scheduled for The Troubadour in Los Angeles on Nov. 30. The duo of Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink had played together for 13 years prior to their split in 2005. Now three years later, they’re back together again, at least for one night.

Saddle Creek Records label chief Robb Nansel said the concert is a “one-off for now,” but added, “Hopefully it leads to more stuff.” While I’ve enjoyed Maria’s and Orenda’s solo and band projects, none of them reached the level of their Azure Ray output. Could this be the beginning of a long-term thing? Only time will tell. Hey Robb, when are we going to get that reunion on Slowdown’s stage?

* * *

Finally, a bit of nostalgia: My all-time favorite concert film was released for the first time on DVD this past Tuesday — U2’s Live at Red Rocks. And with it comes an accompanying live album, a remastered version of Under a Blood Red Sky, a record that captured U2 at its creative zenith, when the band was still young and angry and everything they did felt important. Filmed during a rainstorm at Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater on June 5, 1983, the DVD captures a break-neck performance of their best songs from the pre-Unforgettable Fire years (Boy, War, October) including five previously unreleased live cuts, a director’s commentary, digitally re-graded pictures and a 5.1 mix. Never has this material sounded so good, and never again will this band be so relevant. Some things, it seems, don’t improve with age.

* * *

There’s a handful of interesting shows going on tonight.

The Waiting Room is hosting a trio of dusty psychedelic bands including Secretly Canadian act Catfish Haven, Athens band Dead Confederate and Awesome Color. $10, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, The Barley St. has a trio of punk acts headlined by The Yuppies, with The Dinks and Black Time. $?, 9 p.m.

And finally, down at Slowdown Jr., it’s the return of Kayo Dot with Omaha noise rock duo The Lepers and the sound art of Fathr. $7, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I knew little about Dr. Dog before last night’s show at The Waiting Room. I had listened to one or two of their songs on Lala and just wasn’t feeling it. Still, their publicist put me on the list — and I got my column in early — so how could I resist? I’d like to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised, but DD sounded pretty much how I expected — a cross between Gomez and Nada Surf, a little too mainstream for my tastes. The band sports two lead singers — the bass player who has an in-your-face Roger Daltrey style, and a guitarist/keyboardist with a high, slightly nasal tone who sounded like a cross between Doug Martsch and Neil Young. It was the nasal guy who I dug the most; his subtle approach effectively sanded down the edges of the band’s over-the-top rawk that more often than not, suffered from trying too hard. Try telling that to the 180 screaming fans on hand, however, who soaked in every minute of it.

Another reason I went last night was because Teresa wanted a Dr. Dog T-shirt — not because she likes the band, but because she’s dog crazy. Unfortunately, there weren’t any dogs on Dr. Dog’s shirts, and they cost $20. I’ll buy just about any band’s T-shirt if it has a halfway interesting design and costs $10. For $20, it has to have either been a life-changing show or an AA shirt with a jaw-dropping design. Or have a dog on it.

I’ve got a lot of T-shirts.

* * *

Here’s the latest and greatest from intern Brendan Greene-Walsh:

Department of Eagles, In Ear Park (4AD) — The story of how Department of Eagles came to be is as interest as its music. In what could have been a dreaded situation, Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen were assigned as roommates their freshman year of college without first meeting. As luck would have it, their friendship flourished. They began writing together, combining their different influences and ideas. Even though separated while Rossen was on tour, they continued to record and email ideas to each other. It was this cross-country collaboration that helped create the backbone of this album, which comes out next month. The recording is as eclectic and scattered as the methodology that went into writing it. While most songs on the album are down tempo and subdued — like “Phantom Other” and the title track — others take the same restrained song structure and couple it with uplifting and whimsical instrumentation, such as on the fourth track, “Teenagers.” This feat is achieved thanks to an eclectic selection of backing instruments — guitar, upright bass, piano, synthesizers, oboe and handclaps. The band keeps an even keel throughout the album, but manages to ensure that the songs don’t become repetitive and boring. Rating: Yes. — Brendan Greene-Walsh

Tim’s take: More often than not, DOE sounds like pre-synthpop, pre-Outback Steakhouse Of Montreal — i.e., earnest. echoing chamber pop . But whereas pre-bloomin’ onion Of Montreal tended to wander and bore, DOE’s ethereal quality is infused with enough hooks to make you stand and listen and wonder. It’s dream pop that isn’t interested in putting you to sleep. Rating: Yes.

* * *

Team Love recording artist and Conor Oberst’s biggest vocal influence Dave Dondero returns to Omaha tonight at The Waiting Room. Dondero’s sets either mesmerize or stultify, depending on his mood and yours. Opening is singer-songwriter and guitar wizard Lincoln Dickison. Definitely worth the $8. 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Well, The Filter Kings have to be pleased with the turn-out Friday night for their CD release show. I didn’t get an official count, but my eyeball estimate would be at least 200. The crowd was about half that when the Wagon Blasters went on at around 9:30, probably because of debate.

I didn’t realize that both Thornton brothers were in the Wagon Blasters — Bob and Bill playing bass and guitar. As such, it was sort of like a Frontier Trust reunion. We were even treated to a couple classic FT songs, including all-time favorite, “Swimming Hole.” Even the new stuff had that slightly country-fied (fried?) twang that FT was known for, more so than the faster, harder, guitar-burning stuff that makes The Monroes so special. The common denominator: Gary Dean Davis, who sports the same hollerin’ auctioneer vocals regardless of whoever’s playing guitar.

Next, Black Squirrels did their usual laid-back set of homemade bluegrass — always pleasant. Then it was the Filter Kings’ turn. The band seemed properly amped for the show, much more revved up than the last time I saw them just a few weeks earlier. The overall vibe felt chaotic and rough-hewn. Out of the box they had trouble with the stage sound — frontman Lee Meyerpeter frantically pointed at his microphone and guitar, then pointed skyward. Feedback ensued, and was a problem throughout the set. Still, the band sounded on-point playing songs off the new album along with a cover or two, including a gut-punch tribute to Jerry Reed via a scorching version of “East Bound and Down,” which we all remember from Smokey and the Bandit. Guest vocalists came and went all night, including Kat from Cloven Path and Kat from Black Squirrels. The crowd did its share of hootin’ and hollerin’, and for one night, The Waiting Room was transformed into a Midwestern version of Gilly’s.

* * *

Tonight at the Waiting Room, the red-hot Dr. Dog (currently at No. 6 on the CMJ Triple A top-20) plays with openers Delta Spirit and Hacienda. $12, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr. it’s Birdmonster and local heroes Fortnight (Jenn Bernard of Park Ave.). $8, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

We’ve got another logjam of quality shows tonight. Choose wisely.

I’ll be at the Filter Kings CD release show at The Waiting Room, with openers Black Squirrels and Wagon Blasters. I saw the Kings a few weeks ago and it was a rather milquetoast event. I’m told by Gerald Lee himself that the Filter Kings will be at their edgy, boozy, watch-out-for-flying-chairs best tonight. Get there early to see what kind of trouble Gary Dean Davis is up to these days. $8, 9 p.m.

The FK show has fierce competition at Slowdown Jr. from Brimstone Howl, who will be celebrating the release of their new disc, We Came in Peace, on Alive Records. Opening is The Stay Awake and Father of the Year. The show starts shortly after Slowdown’s Obama/McCain debate party. $7, 9 p.m.

Also tonight at brand-new music venue The Attic at 33rd and Harney, it’s Yuppies, The Cave Kids, Lipstick Homicide and Lincoln legends Domestica. $6, 9 p.m.

And at PS Collective it’s the hard stuff by way of Paria and Fromanhole, with The Zach Heath Band and DJ Plan 9. $6, 9 p.m.

There’s not so many choices tomorrow night. The only show on the list is the final reunion of Lincoln band Mr. 1986 at Slowdown Jr. Opening is Eagle*Seagull and Darren Keen. $7, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Just posted, a feature/interview with Lee Meyerpeter of the Filter Kings (read it here). Actually, Lee says he goes by “Gerald Lee” these days, even though for all those years in Cactus Nerve Thang and Bad Luck Charm he was simply “Lee.” I’m guessing the name shift is a tribute to his late father, Gerald Lee, Sr. The story covers the origins of the Filter Kings and their new album, Finer Things, which will be available at a CD release show tomorrow night at The Waiting Room.

I’m not a country music fan, but just like any god-fearing red-blooded American, I like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams and some of the “old country” bands that were around in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, before C&W got slicked down and commercialized. I can say unconditionally that I love this new Filter Kings record. Meyerpeter and his band have made an album of rocking country music about booze and broken hearts that stands tall next to anything played on country radio. There’s meaning behind every song, whether it’s the story of Meyerpeter’s parents’ divorce (“Passion Lingers”) or Lee Jr.’s love of Rumplemints (“100 Proof Man”). It’s one of the top-five locally produced records this year, and has potential to take off if the band can get it into music programmers’ hands at so-called “Outlaw Country” radio stations, and if the band can get out and tour. Anyway, read my account of the band, then go to The Waiting Room tomorrow night. Opening is Black Squirrels (who have become the band of choice for opening slots at CD release shows) and The Wagon Blasters — a new project that reunites The Monroes’ Gary Dean Davis with Bill Thornton, both former members of Frontier Trust. Monroes’ drummer Jesse Render also is along for this break-neck hayrack ride.

* * *

Tomorrow night’s show is the Wagon Blaster’s Omaha debut. Their first gig ever was last week at Lincoln Calling, which had its most successful year ever. LC organizer Jeremy Buckley said he was pleased with the attendance numbers. “We had attendance of close to 2,300 overall, with 10 shows having attendance of more than 100,” he said of the 5-day event. “Band payout was in the neighborhood of $8,500, and sound guys made $1,300 last weekend. I wish I could do the math and see what kind of money the crowds generated for downtown Lincoln, because if everyone spent $20 on top of the cost of their ticket on food and beer and such, that’s 40K. Big numbers.”

Indeed. Buckley said he intended to “slow down” after this year’s festival, “but it was the first year that I genuinely felt that a lot of non-regulars supported shows at all of the venues involved,” he said. “It was a very community-oriented event, and I think rather than tone it down next year I’ll just figure out how to involve a group of people (to be) in charge of different aspects of the weekend.” Here’s to Lincoln Calling ’09.

* * *

In other news, while glancing at the Saddle Creek Records tour schedules on their website the other day, I noticed that there’s an Azure Ray concert scheduled for The Troubadour in Los Angeles on Nov. 30. The duo of Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink had played together for 13 years prior to their split in 2005. Now three years later, they’re back together again, at least for one night. Saddle Creek Records label exec Robb Nansel said the concert is a “one-off for now,” but added, “hopefully it leads to more stuff.” While I’ve enjoyed Maria’s and Orenda’s solo and band projects, none of them reached the level of their Azure Ray output. Could this be the beginning of a long-term thing? Only time will tell. Hey Robb, when are we going to get that reunion on Slowdown’s stage?

* * *

Tonight at The Barley St. it’s Thunder Power with Midwest Dilemma (there is no way that their full ensemble will fit on Barley St.’s tiny “stage”) along with Bad Folk and Spiders for Luv. 9 p.m., $4.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

A friend of mine read the following column and said, “That’s a nice story, but what happened on your panel? Who was there? What’d you talk about?” Well, I didn’t bother recapping the dialog between myself and the authors because it was only interesting at the moment — or as they say, you had to be there. It was mostly back and forth about how music kind of influenced the panelists. Carleen Brice’s novel probably had the most direct link to music, having written Nina Simone into the story line. But all the writers said they don’t really draw directly from music when they write, and like me, can’t write while there’s music playing in the background, especially music with lyrics. It’s too distracting bordering on impossible. Even when I’m reviewing an album, I might have the record playing when I get started, but eventually I grab the remote and turn it off. Charles Bock uses music to mentally set a tone before he writes. So the underlying theme was, yes, music influenced the authors’ creative process, but really, how could it not? I’ve never met a creative person that isn’t inspired in some way by music or art.

The most interesting part of the panel was hearing Dana Rasso discuss her love for The Minutemen and the film We Jam Econo, and hearing Bock complain about Pitchfork and other online music review sites. Part of his comments are below. I had a great time, and from what I can tell, so did the 30 or so people in the gallery.

Column 191: Book Learned
Confessions of a Lit Fest moderator

The (downtown Omaha) Lit Fest was last weekend at the Bemis Center. It was an opportunity for local writers and people who like writers (readers?) to meet and discuss the art of writing with people who do it for a living.

This year I was asked by Lit Fest organizer, novelist Timothy Schaffert, to moderate a panel discussion about music and writing. “Taking Notes: Music and Writing,” the panel was titled. “Reader music critic Tim McMahan discusses the role of music in writing fiction, criticism, and screenplays.”

The panel included three professional writers. Novelist Carleen Brice, author of “Orange Mint and Honey,” is an Omaha native living in Denver who featured the spirit of Nina Simone in her novel, acting as sort of a guardian angel/guiding light to the main character. Charles Bock, author of “Beautiful Children,” lives in New York, though he was raised in Las Vegas, where his novel takes place. His music connection involved a promotional website with a rock soundtrack that serenades readers as they browse. Finally there was D.E. (Dana) Rasso, the guy behind defunct music blog #1 Hit Song (numberonehitsong.com), or so I thought. The final scheduled panelist was Omaha’s own Nik Fackler, writer/director of the film Lovely Still and frontman for the band The Family Radio. Unfortunately for us (but fortunately for him), Nik’s film was chosen for screening at the Toronto Film Festival, which meant he had to be in Toronto.

Then there was me. I’ve never moderated anything before let alone a panel. While I’ve been known to read books — usually two or three at a time — I have a disability that prevents me from finishing them. If you go into my home office you’ll find hundreds of books with deposit slips, matchbooks, Metro cards, concert tickets, torn bits of toilet paper, anything that can be used as a bookmark, sticking out of them. My problem stems from forcing myself to fruitlessly read the Foundation Trilogy in high school. I promised afterward to never subject myself to finishing a boring novel again. And as for good books, I can’t bear the thought of finishing one knowing that there was nothing left to enjoy. Better to stop a few chapters before the end and keep something for later. As a result, I had to wait for the movie to find out what happened to Frodo and Miles Roby (“Empire Falls”) and James Leer (“Wonder Boys”) and Rob Fleming (“High Fidelity”).

Well, Dana turned out not to be a guy, but a cute, smart, funny lady with an intense love of The Minutemen. Carleen was pleasant and interesting. Charles Bock, on the other hand, was intense and serious, the portrait of a young East Coast novelist with something to say. I found out later that he’s sort of a celebrity in New York. “People recognize him on the street,” Dana told me afterward. It was Bock who also had the most on his mind during the panel.

“Online music criticism in general is just ass. It’s insular and it’s smarmy and everyone has an opinion on something,” he said. “It’s going to make it really difficult to the point of impossible for anything to be heard genuinely or experienced in a genuine way because there’s already a short-handed answer.”

Bock went on to say that an album is meant to be taken at face value. “If you’re bright you can hear overtones of this and that and come up with something,” he said, “but to have a smarmy little fuck tell you in 200 words whatever. And then Entertainment Weekly gives you a grade. Like really? Thumbs up?”

Bock was hitting a little too close to home, especially considering that The Reader just relaunched CD reviews. Each with a 200-word limit. And a 5-star rating.

Afterward, Bock said he was headed back to his hotel room, to write, because “that’s what I do.” I intend to seek out his book and enjoy it, at least up ’til the ending. Hopefully he’s already sold the movie rights so I can find out what happens.

Carleen disappeared to another panel, while Dana and her friend, New York publicist Lauren Cerand, were curious to find out about Omaha outside of The Old Market. So we hopped inside my Mini Cooper, dropped the top, and I gave them a whirlwind tour through midtown, Benson, the faceless West Omaha suburbs, past landmarks like Boy’s Town, the Gold’s Gym that used to be the Kmart where I worked my way through college, and Von Maur, the scene of last year’s tragic shooting and a fine place to buy shoes.

It was the second time in less than a month that I showed a New Yorker around Omaha, and just like the first time, Dana and Lauren seemed genuinely thrilled. Or maybe it was just the fact that, as New Yorkers, they hadn’t ridden in a car in months. I hope they flew back to New York having made a few new fans at Lit Fest, and thinking that Omaha would be as good a place as any to end their next novel.

***

Tomorrow: The Filter Kings

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