Outer Spaces at Milk Run, June 24, 2016.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First, let’s put a capstone on last week’s question about who’s running Milk Run. Sam Parker, who was at Friday night’s Milk Run show, made it clear he’s still very much involved with the venue. He’s enlisted members from a few local punk bands (No Thanks and See Through Dresses among them) to help run shows. And that Facebook post asking for people to help book the room was merely a way to give others an opportunity to try their hand at the show promotion game.

Parker will continue to book Milk Run, along with his promo company Perpetual Nerves. In fact, Parker mentioned a couple interesting upcoming shows at Milk Run that have yet to be announced, so stay tuned. Missing from the equation is Chris Aponick, who Parker said has stepped away from both Milk Run and Perpetual Nerves for personal reasons.

If that wasn’t enough, Parker, who also works at the mysterious Hi-Fi House, has been über busy working on yet another exciting live music project, which you will hear about shortly.

Friday night’s Milk Run show was held not in the micro-sized music room, but the adjacent, larger art gallery. They made the move because the AC in the small room was on the fritz. One reason shows haven’t been held in the gallery was fear of the acoustics — it’s a bigger room with a tin ceiling — but bouncing sound wasn’t a problem for this show. Even with their smallish PA, the room sounded pretty good.

So did Outer Spaces. The Baltimore four-piece (looks like they added a new bassist) played a short, sweet set of songs from their just released album, A Shedding Snake (2016, Don Giovanni). On that record, frontwoman/guitarist Cara Beth Satalino has a voice that at times is the spitting image of Edie Brickell’s, at other times she reminds me of Maria Taylor, whereas my wife think she sounds like Anna Waronker (That Dog). Performing live, Satalino has a simple, quiet quality all her own on songs that are classic ’90s-style indie. The live set was more laid-back than what you get on the record, which is one of my favorites from the first half of the year.

I told Parker he should use that gallery space for shows more often. In addition to sounding good, it was more comfortable, with plenty of room to move around. No doubt the room’s capacity is twice as much as the small room, and concerns that the gallery would feel empty during small shows was unfounded. Friday night’s show felt well-attended even though only 15 or 20 people were in the audience.

Find out for yourself tonight when Austin band Pale Dīan plays at Milk Run, a band whose music has been described as “dreamy swirling melodic sounds inspired by classic 4AD artists like Cocteau Twins and Lush.” Shrinks and Hiraeth open. Price ranges from $5 to $7 (you pick). Show starts at 9

The Pale Dian show has been cancelled.

Also tonight at The Waiting Room it’s the return of Portland-based indie folk group Blitzen Trapper (Vagrant, Sub Pop). Opening is Frontier Ruckus. $18, 8 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Well, Nick Carl’s new band, The Meadowlarks, was not on hand last Saturday night at The Barley St. Tavern, due I’m told to scheduling and transportation-related issues. No matter. Carl did the show alone, and like the last time I saw him, laid down a good set of simple acoustic love (or lack of love) songs sung in his easy-going coffee-shop folk fashion. I dug it, and so did the 15 or so people in the room. Singer/songwriter Nick Jaina and his band closed out the evening with a rowdy set of crash-bash folk rock featuring stand-up bass and trumpet along with the usual instruments. Jaina sort of reminded me of Elvis Perkins, though his music swings closer to folk than Perkins’ dusty Americana.

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Tyson Vogel, one-half of Saddle Creek Records band Two Gallants, announced that his solo debut, Devotionals, is being released July 13 by Alive Records. “Devotionals music is based around Tyson’s guitar compositions, with Anton Patzner (Judgment Day, Bright Eyes) invigorating the musical space with his violin mastery, and they are joined by various guests and collaborators,” says the press release. “The result is a unique combination of simplicity and raw emotion that will delight new and old fans of Two Gallants, a kind of street music with nods to Rachmaninov and John Fahey. The recording is entirely analog.” Really? Wonder if it comes in cassette and/or 8-track tape format. BTW, Two Gallants’ last full length for Saddle Creek came out in 2007.

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Tonight at The Slowdown, it’s red hot indie band Blitzen Trapper with The Moondoggies. $12, 9 p.m. It’s also Slowdown’s third birthday (remember this article?). Stop on down and buy the staff a round. They deserve it.