by Tim McMahan. Lazy-i.com

Poster Child Productions (a name that will always remind me of the classic Champaign Illinois band The Poster Children) is the name of Jeremy Buckley’s new music promotion company. We all know Jeremy as the guy who puts together the Lincoln Calling and the Omaha Invasion festivals every year.

Anyway, according to their website: “Poster Child Productions is a promotions company based out of Lincoln, Nebraska, with a focus on providing quality live music events at venues across the state. While the company name is new, its staff brings more than a decade of booking experience at more than 20 venues across Lincoln and Omaha. Our goal is to bring quality national talent to Nebraska and pair those bands with the amazing local roster of musicians performing live music across the state.”

Sounds impressive. And to think it all started way back in 2004 with Lincoln Calling. For this year’s Lincoln Calling festival, which is Oct. 11-15, Buckley is trying something completely different — he’s inviting any and all bands to apply to be part of the festival.

“I’m hoping to eliminate a lot of that back and forth by asking bands to fill out a quick application if they want to be considered for this year’s fest,” he said. “As always, bands will receive some sort of pay, which will be negotiated separately for each band and showcase. Of course applying doesn’t equal automatic acceptance, but it will help me keep track of interested bands while compiling contact info, bios, press pics, etc. for once it’s time to promote the event.”

The application is located online here: http://lincolncalling.com/registration.php

Meanwhile, this coming weekend is the second annual Omaha Invasion Festival, an idea that Jeremy admits was born out of a suggestion made on this here website.  This year, Duffy’s and the Bourbon Theater will host the event. Tickets are $6 per night or $10 for a two-day pass that gets you into both clubs. Here’s the schedule:

Thursday – April 14th – Duffy’s Tavern

08:40 – 09:20PM – Kyle Harvey

09:40 – 10:20PM – Lonely Estates

10:40 – 11:20PM – Down With The Ship

11:40 – 12:20AM – All Young Girls Are Machine Guns

12:40 – 01:20AM – Midwest Dilemma

Thursday – April 14th – Bourbon Theatre (Rye Room)

08:20 – 09:00PM – Underwater Dream Machine (Bret Vovk)

09:20 – 10:00PM – Vago

10:20 – 11:00PM – Dim Light

11:20 – 12:00AM – Conchance

12:20 – 01:00AM – Matt Cox

Friday – April 15th – Duffy’s Tavern

08:40 – 09:20PM – Hello From Ghost Valley

09:40 – 10:20PM – The End In Red

10:40 – 11:20PM – Flight Metaphor

11:40 – 12:20AM – Lepers

12:40 – 01:20AM – Blue Bird

Friday – April 15th – Bourbon Theatre (Rye Room)

08:20 – 09:00PM – Cordial Spew

09:20 – 10:00PM – Witness Tree

10:20 – 11:00PM – Mitch Gettman Band

11:20 – 12:00AM – Honey & Darling

12:20 – 01:00AM – Answer Team

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Finally, it appears that our friends at MECA have finally plugged in redskyfestival.com, Red Sky’s official website. There’s nothing there that we didn’t already know, but it clearly won’t be long now until they make their big announcement (maybe this weekend?). Wonder how many of the predictions/rumors in my Red Sky Festival column, posted in March, will come true?

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Tomorrow: The New Pornographers

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.