Oquoa at Farnam Festival, Sept. 12, 2015.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Today Omaha indie act Oquoa dropped the new video “Sunshine” off their just-released album, Timesquares. The band celebrated the album’s release during O’Leaversfest last Sunday.

In some ways, the show was a farewell party for Oquoa drummer Roger Lewis, who is moving in the coming days/weeks to Seattle. This is more than just another example of the Great Migration of local musicians from Omaha (mostly to the West Coast). Roger has been one of Omaha music’s cornerstones for as long as I’ve been covering music in this city. His loss is a pretty deep wound to the music scene.

Some of my earliest interactions with Roger were back in the ’90s when he was a fixture at shows down at Sokol Underground as well other venues that hosted indie rock shows. As a drummer, Roger’s played in a number of great Omaha bands, not the least of which include The Good Life, Neva Dinova, Conduits, Artsy Golfer and a ton more including Oquoa (not to mention his stellar work as DJ alias Tyrone Storm).

Oquoa frontman Max Holmquist agrees that it’s sad that Roger’s moving, but says we’ll still be seeing him ’round here. “We’re going to keep working with this current line-up (with) Roger on the drums,” Holmquist said. “He plans to come back to Omaha semi-regularly to do DJ gigs, and do short Midwest runs of dates and local shows with us for as long as it works for us all. It will force us to be more thoughtful and strategic about our shows, which is never a bad thing.

“We will miss him being nearby, but it’s a shrinking world and it’s worth it to us to keep working with him from a distance.”

No doubt.

What the hell is happening to the Omaha music scene and all the migration? Holmquist chocks it up to the standard ebb and flow of creatives in and out of Nebraska. If that’s the case, we are indeed at low tide.

But we still have Oquoa. Holmquist said the new album is now available at bandcamp for your downloading pleasure. Roger, what are we going to do without you?

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Three hot shows happening tonight:

Over at Midtown Art, 2578 Harney St., Thick Paint is rolling out some new music for what they’re saying is their second to last show of the year. Also on the bill is Oakland band Preening as well as the dynamic duo known as Pagan Athletes. $5, 8 p.m. sharp.

Meanwhile, over at Reverb Lounge, Chicago experimental rock band FACS headlines. The band’s lable is Trouble in Mind Records (home of David Nance Group). Fellow Chicago-ites Dendrons also are on the bill. $10, 8 p.m.

Right around the corner at The Waiting Room it’s the return of alt-country rockers The Nadas. An acoustic version of Pony Creek opens at 8 p.m. $20.

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.