And just like that, a weekend after announcing his demise at the Omaha World-Herald former OWH music reporter Kevin Coffey has launched a new music blog – Pops and Hisses. Look for music news, interviews, criticism and more, and now that Kevin is untethered from the OWH editorial yoke, expect spicy takes that we’re not used to seeing in Omaha’s great grey lady.

Another recent addition to our tiny music journalism world is Rabble Media. The successor to Hear Nebraska launched a couple weeks ago. According to the website, Rabble Media is a “for-youth, by-youth storytelling platform working to connect, engage, and develop digitally skilled young people (roughly 14-24) across urban and rural Nebraska.” The site will include stories on music, arts, culture, skateboarding, wellness, and civic engagement — which is a much broader scope than good ol’ Hear Nebraska’s original editorial mission.

Pops and Hisses and Rabble Media are welcome additions to what has become a rather barren landscape for music and arts writing. Who knows what will happen at the OWH now that Kevin is gone. As far as I can tell, Jim Minge is still publishing his Dispatch newsletter, but that’s just a calendar; good ol’ Omahype disappeared years ago.

Then there’s The Reader. It’s trying to reinvigorate its online presence, but the focus has been on the news side. BJ Huchtemann still writes about the local blues scene while Houston Wiltsey covers music outside that genre (mostly indie and pop); but both writers’ efforts are mostly for The Reader‘s monthly printed paper (which eventually make it online).

You could ask what’s the point of having music publications when there’s social media. Most bands post their upcoming gigs on their Facebook pages, and there’s no lack of music opinion on your typical news feed. That said, few people posting in social media do any sort of reporting or research. There’s value in reading local music news, interviews and opinion from sources outside the social media fray. At least there is for me, and apparently for you too, or you wouldn’t be reading this…

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The NPR Tiny Desk concert series today launched a Bright Eyes Tiny Desk (Home) concert. Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, presumably in ARC Studios here in Omaha, and Nate Walcott somewhere in LA perform threes songs off their new Bright Eyes album, Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was, and “Shell Games,” off The People’s Key. The episode is directed by acclaimed filmmaker and local musician Nik Fackler no less. Check it out:

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily (if there’s news) 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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.