Travelling Mercies launched a Kickstarter for their new one, Cheap Labor.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The bad weather kept me out of the venues this weekend. Such is life. Will spring ever really arrive?

One bit of news as we wait for the Maha Music Festival announcement, which arrives tomorrow…

Travelling Mercies launched a Kickstarter campaign last month for their third full-length, Cheap Labor, which drops sometime next month. “This is NOT a request for a handout. This is a pre-order of our amazing new album, Cheap Labor. You’re investing in our artistic vision, and you’re getting something for it. The more you give, the more you get. Invest at any level and you will own the album.”

Hit up the Kicstarter here.

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Q1 2018 CD reviews continue. Read them all here at The Reader website.

Hookworms, Microshift (Domino, 2018)

Hookworms, Microshift (Domino) — British neo-psych band has a bit in common with Tame Impala but lacks that band’s quirky melodies and willingness to go over the edge and look back at you. The result is a straight-forward electronic album big on chiming rhythms but small on memorable melodies.

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Hear Nebraska’s Lincoln Fund Drive is today.

A couple things to consider as you decide whether to give to HearNebraska.org during the organization’s Lincoln pledge drive…

Yes, the Omaha fund drive isn’t until next week, but for every $10 you give to this one, your name gets dropped into a “virtual hat.” And if your name is drawn from that “virtual hat” you’ll win a custom turntable valued at $2k. For all you lame-o’s that don’t have a turntable, here’s your chance to finally get with it, and for you hipsters who already have a turntable, well, once you win this one, all you’ll need is a microphone to fulfill Beck’s “Where It’s At” dictum.

For you musicians out there who could give a shit about turntables, consider this:

Not only is Hear Nebraska’s mission entirely to support your artistic endeavors, but unlike some local charitable organizations that are always mooching you for free performances, HN does what it can to compensate bands who take part in activities like the upcoming “Hear Nebraska at the 1200 Club” concert and the “Hear Lincoln concert series.”

Look, eventually you’re going to book a show, cut a recording, start a new band, get busted for something you didn’t do, and you’ll want to get your story seen-read-heard by the music-loving world that follows Nebraska music, and it’s Hear Nebraska that’s going to help you do that. What’s it cost to hire a publicist? It’s nice to know you already have Hear Nebraska on your side.

And HN couldn’t have made it any easier. Just go to hearnebraska.org and fill out the “Donate Now” doohickey right on the homepage. Your donation TODAY will help HN get a share of the “Give to Lincoln” matching gift fund. Come on, you cheap-asses, do it.

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In this week’s column, those narcissistic Millennials. Is it me or does it seem like we see and  hear more about the young, hip people creating the companies than the companies themselves? Read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

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Travelling Mercies, Motel (self release, 2013)

Listening to the new Travelling Mercies album, Motel… What would you call this… Country? Country Rock? Alt Country? Outlaw Country?

Despite its inherent twang-and-drawl it leans heavier to the right on the Rock needle. Usually. On the other hand, songs like the acoustic “Holy Mary” bend toward folk. Then there’s the weird-Hawaiian-flavored lap-steel Hank Williams-derivative “Million Dollar Recipe.” But for the most part, it’s foot-on-the-floor tractor-flavored rock like the relentless “Border Run” that rattles and crashes like a waltz in a hailstorm.

Throughout the recording is an overshadowing Christian lilt that’s not so much “preachy” as an acknowledgement by songwriter/frontman Jeremy Mercy that yeah, there’s a higher power and he may or may not pull his ass out of the shit the next time it lands there. Mercy is a storyteller, and without a doubt this is a story-teller album.

I bring this up because Travelling Mercies are headlining tonight’s relief benefit at The Waiting Room for those devastated in the recent explosion in West, Texas. Also on the dance care are Belles & Whistles, 24 Hour Cardlock and Stephen Monroe. Recommended donation is $5 (but you can always give more), with all door proceeds going to the McLennan County Salvation Army.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Bad weather (or the threat of if) kept me away from the bars all weekend. What month is it, anyway? March? March used to be “kite-flying month.” Not anymore. Thank you global climate change.

Over the weekend, Matt Whipkey launched his Penny Park Omaha, NE Summer 1989 project. For those too young to remember, there was this urban amusement park located where the Hy-Vee currently stands at 79th and Cass St. I always thought the park itself was kind of shitty, but the lagoon, well, that was special.

Anyway, it was called Peony Park, not Penny Park. But there were some legal questions tied around using the Peony Park name. Whipkey points out that the record isn’t specifically about the park but about a girl named Penny Park.

“Penny Park is a person. Peony was an amusement park. The former spent a great deal of time at the later. This is a record about a girl,” says the mypennypark.com website.

As part of the recording project, Whipkey is asking people to send in their memories and photos of Peony Park. Those photos may be used in the album’s gatefold. We’re talking about a 21-song double vinyl album, folks. In fact, tomorrow, Whipkey will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to help fund its production.

For now, here are a couple recordings that will give you a flavor of the project:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/84636455″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/84638002″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Speaking of Kickstarter projects…

Outlaw Con Bandana is currently running a Kickstarter to help produce a new double-vinyl LP and writing collection.

“White Pariah is a micro publishing company started by four friends from Omaha, NE. The Ticks and Trips vinyl and writing collection will mark our first release. We’ve worked really hard to make sure this thing rules. The writing collection has a bunch of great prose, and poetry from Brendan as well as some old photos we had him dig up from the depths. The booklet also features lyrics to all 27 songs featured on the album, which we had fun making Brendan type up. We hope everyone loves sitting down and going through this thing.”

OCB is only trying to raise $1,000 and currently is at the $865 mark with four days to go. Go to his Kickstarter page and give him a hand.

About a month ago I told you about the Kickstarter campaign for Travelling Mercies’ Motel album. Well, according to that Kickstarter site, the band has met it’s $4,000 goal (though the pledges listed don’t add up to $4,000 — I’m not sure how that works. Regardless, congratulations are in order).

Kickstarter is quickly becoming a accepted way for artists to “pre-sale” their albums, effectively funding their production and taking away a lot of the risk involved. For better or worse, it’s become a primary business model for independent musicians.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Domestica at The Sydney, Feb. 22, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Who remembers these guys, circa Nov. 1994? Tisdale is the one in the hat.

Domestica unveiled a lineup change at the Sydney Friday night with the addition of Paul Tisdale on drums. The last time I saw Tisdale play live was way back in ’93 with his classic band, Sideshow. Back then, Tisdale became a slashing, violent blur every time the guitars kicked in. Twenty years later and time hasn’t diminished Tisdale’s insane percussion skills. Not in the least.

In fact, Tisdale is the first drummer (including Ron Albertson) whose drumming was so big that it drowned out Jon Taylor’s and Heidi Ore’s usual mammoth roar… at least during the first part of Friday night’s set. Tisdale hits those friggin’ drums hard hard hard, and as a result, they’re loud loud loud. So loud that two songs in, the sound guy passed a message to Taylor, who responded with: “Those are the words I love to hear.” The “words” (I think) were “turn your guitar up,” because that’s exactly what Taylor did, and would again a couple songs later.

Does any band really need to be that loud. The answer, of course, is yes. With Taylor pushing it to 11, the earth’s tilt was restored and all was right with the world once again.  Now if only the Sydney could have turned up Heidi’s vocals, which were lost where I stood on the opposite side of the room from the stacked PA and on the other side of Tisdale. It’s a balancing act that’s been around as long as I can remember seeing Heidi and Jon play. Add Tisdale and the equation becomes that much more difficult. Something tells me that over time, they’ll work it out. So is Tisdale a permanent part of Domestica? Let’s hope so.

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Last week the folks in Travelling Mercies launched a Kickstarter campaign for their sophomore full-length album Motel. They’re trying to raise $4,000 to help cover their recording and production costs. After one weekend, they’re already 1/4 of the way there.

I’m trying to remember the last time I saw this band perform and think it had to have been years and years ago, way back in the old Saddle Creek Bar days. Back then, the band was sort of a laidback Americana/Folk band. That, apparently, no longer is the case, based on the couple demos that frontman Jeremy Holan passed along. We’re talking breakneck buzzsaw rock with a hint of Americana to give it a rural tilt. Holan sees Kickstarter as a simple way to presale the record, and to me, that’s the best way to use Kickstarter (if you’re a musician). Check it out.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.