The art of Mari Dailey opens at Ming Toy Gallery tonight as part of Benson First Friday.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Happy Groundhog Day. Our weekend music calendar is like very much like the movie Groundhog Day, in that every year around this time there are no touring indie bands coming through town. And this year is no exception.

That said, it’ll be unseasonably warm this weekend, including tonight, which is Benson First Friday (#BFF) – when the galleries and businesses up and down Maple Street feature art by our talented local artists. If you’re out and about, drop in at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple Street (right next to Legends Comics) and check out the opening reception for Mari Dailey. The evening will also feature spoken word performances by four poets including Todd (The Toddfather) Robinson starting at 7 p.m. And it’s also our one-year anniversary at this space, so… cake! The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. See you there!

Today also is Bandcamp Friday. That means proceeds from all purchases made today go directly to the artists, as Bandcamp doesn’t take a cut on purchases made today (and in many cases, neither do participating record labels). So go to Bandcamp and support musicians!

Among them, TIT. I’ve been wondering what Digital Leather’s Shawn Foree has been up to lately, and now we know. TIT is the project by Foree and Bobby Hussy (The Hussy, Wristwatch). Today they announced their debut, out April 5 on No Coast Records. According to the Bandcamp page, this one is 10 years in the making and includes a special guest appearance from Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) handling lead vocals on one track. Preorder the album today to pass along those Bandcamp bucks.

While you’re at it, might as well preorder the self-titled debut by by David Nance and Mowed Sound, which comes out Feb. 9 on Jack White’s Third Man Records. 

Show-wise, tomorrow night Mike Saklar’s band The Sun-Less Trio plays at fabulous O’Leaver’s. It’s part of a three-band bill that also includes mysterious headliner The Radical Sabbatical. White Wolf T-Shirt opens the show at 9 p.m. And guess what? It’s free.

Also Saturday night, Des Moines alt-folk-rock band The Nadas is playing at The Waiting Room. To their credit, the band has been coming through Omaha literally for decades. They were named among The Best College Bands You’ve Never Heard of by Playboy in 2001, or “the Creed era” as it’s known in the alternative rock world. Emma Butterworth (no doubt a relation to Nadas’ frontman Mike Butterworth) opens the show at 8 p.m. $30. 

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend…

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) unveiled the nominees for its 2019 indie music-celebrating Libera Awards and Saddle Creek Records has been nominated as Label of the Year (Medium).

Creek’s competition in the category is Bloodshot, Mom + Pop, Partisan and Yep Roc. Last year Dead Oceans won in the “big” label category, which was for imprints with more than six employees. The org has since revamped its categorization and added a “medium”-sized company category.

Last year Big Thief’s Capacity was among the nominees for Album of the Year and Best American Roots and Folk Album. The album was released by Saddle Creek in 2017.

The Libera Awards will take place in New York City June 20, the culmination of A2IM’s “Indie Week.”

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Onto the weekend…

Emo is still a thing, even in the UK. Tonight Ipswitch emo rockers Basement headline at Slowdown Jr. Joining them are Salt Creek and Dear Neighbor. $18, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Des Moines folk-rock act The Nadas returns to The Waiting Room. Matt Whipkey and Wasted Highway open the show at 9 p.m. $25.

There’s also a benefit show tonight at The Brothers Lounge for Jordan Jmal Maly. Performing are Iowa City’s Dryad, Houma and Bed Rest. $5, 9 p.m. with all proceeds going to Jordan.

Tomorrow night, Detroit electronic duo ADULT. headlines at Slowdown Jr. The husband-and-wife team Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus have been doing their style of synth rock since ’96. Their latest full-length, 2018’s This Behavior, was released on DIAS Records. Cult Play and HXXS open at 9 p.m. $15.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.