The Everymen at O’Leaver’s, July 6, 2014.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

O’Leaver’s on a hot Sunday afternoon in July is a surreal experience, like stepping onto the set of Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H. All the usual characters strolled around outside in the “beer garden” with cocktails sweating in the blazing heat while an O’Leaver manned a barbecue grill frying up large greasy kielbasa. Across the parking lot in the sand pit half-naked volleyball players slathered in sunblock slammed PBRs to the sounds of Van Halen’s “Panama.”

Meanwhile, inside the dark cool confines of The Club, The Everymen set up for the afternoon gig. The band featured none other than Catherine Herrick, the former PR wonk at Beggars Group (Matador, XL, etc.) familiar to anyone who’s had to interview, say, Cat Power or a member of Interpol over the past 10 years. I chatted with Catherine after the show, and that interview will be the basis for this week’s Over the Edge column in The Reader. You’ll have to wait for it..

In addition to Herrick, The Everymen consisted of five more members — two guitarists, bassist, drummer and saxophone player. That sax — along with the band leader’s love of all things New Jersey (and The Sopranos) — might give you some ideas what this band sounded, but you’d be wrong.

The Everymen combined elements of garage and indie with doo-wap, metal, even theater rock. Their style was all over the board. One minute you’d think you were listening to something penned by John Steinman (albeit, without keyboards), the next it sounded like an homage to The Scorpions, but with sax thrown on top of the riffs.

That sax player (who switched between bari and alto when he wasn’t adding vocals) defined (or at least shadowed) everything about The Everymen, along with Herrick, who has an intensity that reminded me of Heidi Ore of Mercy Rule/Domestica fame, and frontman/guitarist Mike V, who would have you believe this band is just a group of goombahs in town from the Jersey shore. And while they did have sonic similarities to a certain Jersey dude who also has a sax player in his band, no one would mistake this guttural rock with anything released by The Boss.

Highlight moments came toward the end of the 45+ minute set in the form of a growler I think was called “Motorbike,” and a fist-pumping anthem (again) I think was called “I Held On.” They could be campy (synchronized group arm gestures, finger-snapping), they could be heavy, but most of all they were fun. And labels like Matador or XL could use a little fun in their rosters.

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Tonight at The Sydney it’s a four-artist bill headlined with New Orleans band SIRENS (Community Records). Opening is Mike Schlesinger, Anne McClellan and adamroberthauG. $5, 9 p.m. Not a bad way to kick off the week…

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

First Aid Kit is playing tonight at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Who is Catherine Herrick and why should you care if she’s leaving Beggars Group?

Music writers depend on publicists to help line up interviews with artists, get pre-release albums and get “on the list” for shows when the talent they represent comes through town. In most cases, our access is only as good as the publicists we work with. If the publicist is a boob (and there are plenty of them) interviews drop through the cracks, records aren’t received and — worst of all — we get left off lists (and there’s nothing more demoralizing than asking if you’re on the list only to be told “Nope, nothing here.”).

None of those things happened whenever Catherine Herrick was involved. Herrick has worked the past 10 years as a publicist for The Beggars Group (which includes Matador, XL, Rough Trade and 4AD, among others). She is one of the best publicists I’ve worked with over the course of my 20-some years as a music journalist. And in many ways, she carries a share of responsibility for those labels’ success.

Catherine was iron clad, a go-to person that writers could count on for keeping us in the loop and following through on everything we needed help with. You could count on her — and that’s the best thing you can say about any publicist.

Needless to say, I was bummed when Catherine announced last week that she’s leaving Beggars Group. The good news is that she’s headed out on the road with her band, The Everymen (Earnest Jennings Records), and will be playing at fabulous O’Leaver’s July 6. That gives me a chance to thank her in person for all the help she’s given me over the years, and to wish her well-deserved good luck…

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As we prepare for Wednesday’s Conor Oberst concert at Sokol Auditorium (as of this writing, tickets are still available), Kevin Coffey at The Omaha World-Herald weighs in with his own Conor interview, which you can read here.

And if you haven’t already, you can also read my Q&A with Conor right here at TheReader.com.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, it’s the long-awaited Omaha debut of First Aid Kit. The band is no stranger to Omaha, having recorded their last two albums (including the upcoming Stay Gold, out next Tuesday on Columbia) at ARC.

Opening for First Aid Kit is the second person ever to sign to Team Love Records — Willy Mason (Who, btw, was the subject of the very first installment of my Lazy-i print column in The Reader 10 years ago — check it).

I’m happy I got my tickets early for this one, as it’s SOLD OUT. Show starts at 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.