by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight is the launch of the annual Nebraska Pop Festival, the most confoundedly strange music event of the year. Strange in that somehow, some way, organizer Christopher Beiermann manages to get bands from “around the world” to come to Omaha to play for free at places like the Barley Street Tavern and Shamrock’s.

Needless to say, these international bands Beiermann does attract are virtually unknown by anyone in our scene. Tonight, for example, Virginia band The Anatomy of Frank plays at Shamrock’s, 5338 No 103rd St., with Le-Li (from Italy), Croaker (Wisconsin), Sad Navigator (Kansas City), Prairie Tide (Kansas) and Classes (from Omaha). Heard of any of these folks? Neither have I.

Tomorrow night the festival moves to Barley Street Tavern with Saara Markkanen (Finland/Germany), Tony Memmel (Wisconsin), and handful of Nebraska bands that, again, I’ve never heard of: Brutal Pheasant, Miss Fick, No Triangles, and Amy Schmidt and The Restless Things.

The balance of the festival is sprinkled with a few familiar faces: Orion Walsh, In Love, Well Aimed Arrows, Thunder Power, Field Club and Ragged Company all will perform. Check the schedule at the Nebraska Pop Festival website,  where you can download a .zip file that contains most of the bands slated to perform.

Tonight’s show at Shamrocks is free. The shows the rest of the week at Barley Street are $7, with proceeds going to Arts for All, Inc. Hats off to Beiermann for pulling this off year after year.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.