Willy Mason plays tonight at Pageturners Lounge.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

According to my records (glances at the Lazy-i Archives), it’s been about a decade since singer/songwriter Willy Mason came through town. The last time was opening for First Aid Kit at The Waiting Room back in June 2014. 

From that review: “Mason’s brassy voice has deepened dramatically since he emerged a decade ago. As proof, he played the standout track “Oxygen,” from his Team Love debut, the Ritalin-referenced lyrics betraying his lost youth. Last time Mason came through was as a solo artist, too. I’d like to see him with a band.”

I’d still like to see him play with a full band, though that’s not going to happen tonight at Pageturners. 

Those of you who were around at the dawn of Saddle Creek Records 20 years ago might remember a then-high-school aged Willy Mason played a tangential role as one of the first artists signed to Conor Oberst’s and Sean Foley’s fledgling record label, Team Love (along with Jenny Lewis and Tilly and the Wall, among others). 

The story behind that signing is also in the Lazy-i Archive, right here. Since then, Mason’s been on a bunch of labels and these days his music is licensed to Cooking Vinyl, including his last EP, Bok Bok Hill. Tonight Mason plays at Pageturners Lounge, along with our very own Sean Pratt (sans Sweats?). 8 p.m., $10 suggested donation (Why not just charge a cover?). 

Maybe Willy’s record label pal, who also owns Pageturners, will show up tonight for old times’ sake…

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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.

First Aid Kit at The Waiting Room, June 2, 2014.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We thought we’d beat the crowds and get a table for last night’s sold out First Aid Kit show at The Waiting Room, but by the time we got there at around 7:15 all the tables and seating were occupied, mainly by old people (and when I say old, I mean older than me). The crowd ran the spectrum in age, from the X-crossed hands of the under-21s to the elderly. I saw women who must have been pushing 70 in the crowd. But mostly it was women in general. First Aid Kit attracts a large female audience, which I guess isn’t surprising.

The duo has graduated to major-label success with the pending release of Stay Gold, which comes out on Columbia next Tuesday. Powering their popularity is their blend of folk and country, and their tightly intertwined harmonies that recall the better days of a Nashville long gone.

If you think about it, women have taken over pop music. The best and brightest stars — whether in indie or commercial radio — are all women, whether it’s Warpaint and Courtney Barnett, or Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. The biggest arena concert news these days isn’t the return of Pearl Jam, it’s last weekend’s Cher concert or the just-announced Lorde show at Stir Concert Cove.

Anyway, last night’s show kicked off with a solo electric performance by singer/songwriter Willy Mason, who played a tight 40-minute set as people filed into the club. Mason’s brassy voice has deepened dramatically since he emerged a decade ago. As proof, he played the standout track “Oxygen,” from his Team Love debut, the Ritalin-referenced lyrics betraying his lost youth. Last time Mason came through was as a solo artist, too. I’d like to see him with a band.

First Aid Kit took the stage at the stroke of 9. The Swedish duo were backed by a drummer and a guy on lap-steel and other instruments, while the sisters provided the guitar, keyboards and heavenly voices. The crowd stood motionless as they played through a set list that drew from their two previous albums and the upcoming LP.

While I like their last record, The Lion’s Roar, there’s only a few songs that really stand out for me. Among them, “King of the World,” which they played early in their set. And their other “hit,” the country music tribute “Emmylou,” which they saved for the last song of the evening, during their encore. In between the set ebbed and flowed. Whenever it got too boring they spiced it up, at one point walking to the edge of the stage to sing a tune microphone-less, somehow managing to bring the ambient noise in The Waiting Room down to a whisper.

The duo’s new music falls in line with what they’ve released in the past. The standout among the new stuff is the title track, “Stay Gold.” The rest may need time to grow on me. All said and done, the show was over by 10:30, a reasonable time for a Monday evening, and the elderly.

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I have no doubt that tonight’s show, Guided By Voices at The Waiting Room, will go well past 10:30 and into the wee hours of the morning. As of this writing, tickets were still available. If you’ve never seen GBV, you will be well-rewarded in making the $30 per ticket investment. Pollard and Co. leave it all out there on stage. When they played The Black Cat in DC on May 24 they played 48 songs including three encores (see setlist). Good thing this show starts at 8 p.m. with opener Bobby Bare Jr.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Thanks to all of you who entered this year’s drawing for the annual Lazy-i “best of” compilation CD. When I announced this drawing, everyone was like, “just make your playlist available in Spotify,” but what fun would that be? And based on the response, someone obviously still likes listening to CDs.  With that, the winners are:

Evan Hayford, Berwyn, PA
Alexis Abel, Lincoln, NE
Tom Pacer, Omaha, NE

Your CDs will be dropped in the mail tomorrow, along with a commemorative Lazy-i vinyl sticker. Enjoy!

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Jake holds a copy of the Help cassette.

In other news… Jake Bellows has a new cassette tape out called Help.  That’s right, it’s a cassette, but you can also purchase the cassette’s “A-side” digitally (the digital A-side tracks are free with cassette purchase).

“The tape contains one song from the upcoming album and nine assorted b-sides and demos that we found interesting,” Bellows said in his email. I bought my copy this morning and can’t wait to play it in my 1996 POS Geo Tracker. Buy your copy here:  http://www.majesticlitter.com/store/

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Speaking of cassettes, one of Omaha’s favorite cassette tape record labels, Unread Records, has moved its world headquarters to Pittsburgh, PA, according to their latest update. Unread artists include Simon Joyner, Samual Locke Ward, Charlie McAlister, Will Simmons, Noah Sterba and a ton more.  Check out the catalog and buy a cassette, record or CD. Goodbye, Mr. Fischer.

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Omaha’s adopted Lawrence band Cowboy Indian Bear has a new single out called “Does Anybody See You Out” available for free download at their website: cowboyindianbear.com. Check out the track below:

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Okkervil River fans can download a new track by the band’s frontman, Will Sheff, called “Shock Corridor.” Says Sheff of the solo project:

“The album was intended to be something I was making for myself and I have no definite plans to release the whole thing. At the end of the process, I gave a couple copies of the album to some close friends I knew would get where I was coming from. After thinking about it a bit I decided I’d put a couple of the songs out there, but that I’d put them out for free since the album cost me almost nothing to make. So here’s one of them, track two on the album. The name of the project is Lovestreams.”

Get it at http://lovestreamsdreams.tumblr.com/

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Remember Willy Mason? He was the second act signed to Team Love Records way back in 2004. Well, Willy’s still kicking and has a new EP out called Don’t Stop Now on British label Communion. Check out the video for the first song “I Got Gold” below:

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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.