I'm listening to Andrew Bird's album Noble Beast in preparation for tonight's show at Slowdown that I don't have tickets for and hence won't be attending. This one sold out very quickly, an example of another popular band that's flying under the radar. Bird's albums -- released on Fat Possum records -- are filled with slight songs that accentuate his twee voice with strings and other acoustic instruments. He's in the same league as Belle & Sebastian or even Sufjan Stevens, but darker and less poppy. Bird is a midwesterner, living in Chicago and on a farm somewhere in Illinois. He's been on a number of late-night chat shows, including Letterman and Conan, which is one of the reasons for his popularity. Another is his music. Opening is Lonely Dear. Starts at 9. Also tonight, Led Zeppelin tribute band The Song Remains the Same plays at the Waiting Room again, this time with The Big Empties. $7, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) is the CD release party for Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies at Slowdown Jr. I suspect that this will be an SRO occasion as this record has been a long time coming (I'll have a full review of the album at a later date). Opening is Pueblo, CO's The Haunted Windchimes. $7, 9 p.m. Finally, on Sunday night, blank.wav recording artist Broken Spindles (formerly on Saddle Creek) is playing at The Waiting Room with Capgun Coup and Drake's Hotel (remember them?). $8, 9 p.m.

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Before we get to the column, I just wanted to point you toward some free music that's actually worth downloading. Minnesota rocker Mark Mallman is giving away his "greatest hits" compilation as a free download right here. Titled Loneliness in America (Best of 1998-2008) and released on Badman Records, the 10-song collection of arena-style pop-rock ditties includes tracks from his five full-length albums. Mallman has played in Omaha a couple times (including opening for Head of Femur at Sokol and playing for three people at the defunct Sammy Sortino's pizza restaurant (reviewed here)). He's got a new album coming out this spring on Badman, so maybe we'll get to see him again.

* * *

This week's column is a rehash of stuff that's already been on Lazy-i -- that's the beauty and the curse of reading this blog. There are a few new ideas thrown in, however, so reading it won't be a complete waste of your time.

Column 211: Next Steps
Ladyfinger, Cursive and Conor Oberst...

I've been watching local bands rise and fall for more than 20 years; the trajectory never fails to inspire or disappoint, depending on the circumstances.

Seems like every week another band pulls its rocket ship onto the launching pad in the form of a CD release party. All of their friends show up along with the curious others who were coaxed to the event by the endless hype. The celebration feels like the conclusion of every rock 'n' roll movie -- the big finale where a yearning crowd leans forward, desperately stretching over the edge of the stage to touch the rock god before he leaves his little town to better things, bigger things, to a world seen through funky dark sunglasses aboard tour busses filled with sexy groupies and drugs, a world of jaded inconvenience and ever-growing expectations.

But real life almost never ends that way. After the CD release show, while the hourly guys sweep the floor and pick up empty beer bottles, the rock god returns to his life as a mere mortal. He'll never see a crowd like he just saw until a few years later when he calls it quits and all his friends show up one last time for the farewell engagement. He'll tell them he has no regrets for not taking the time to schedule a tour, no regrets for merely playing weekly gigs at the local bar or coffee shop of steak house. No regrets for giving up on his dreams.

Actually it doesn't always end that way, and here are three examples to prove it.

* * *

Slowdown Jr. was packed last Saturday night for the Ladyfinger (ne) CD release show. When I walked through the front doors I was met by a wall of humanity glued to opening band Landing on the Moon. It took about 10 minutes to get my pair of Rolling Rocks, but I didn't mind because there was nowhere else to comfortably stand anyway.

Shortly after 11, Ladyfinger took the stage, and I realized that the club and the band had made the right call in hosting this show in Slowdown's small room. Sure it was packed -- it was crushed -- but that only added to the vibe. Despite being supremely uncomfortable and unable to get a beer, you felt lucky to be there. It certainly wouldn't have felt that way had they held the show on Slowdown's big stage. That 150 (or whatever the number was) would have seemed like nothing, and the show would have felt like a failure instead of an event.

In the old days a few years ago, Ladyfinger was content just grinding it out. Today, the band's music sports real melodies, hooks and riffs. But for me, the best part of their new sound is Chris Machmuller's vocals. I don't know why, but for whatever reason his voice reminds me of Deep Purple's Ian Gillan -- a comment that will surely produce some snickering at O'Leaver's (where Machmuller tends bar). It's a different band than the one that released Heavy Hands in 2006 to disappointing sales. Now the question is: Are there enough hooks on the new album for Ladyfinger to finally capture the larger audience it deserves? Only time and touring will tell.

* * *

When it comes to deserving bands, there are none more so than Cursive.

The indie-rock four-piece on Saddle Creek Records has been writing and recording and touring since the mid-'90s. If Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst is the new Bob Dylan, than Cursive's Tim Kasher is who? The new Lou Reed, albeit a Lou Reed that can actually sing? Kasher has watched as Oberst/Bright Eyes, The Faint and Tilly and the Wall have made their way onto late-night network television, leaving Cursive behind.

That changes March 13 when Cursive finally makes the leap, performing on Late Night with David Letterman. Kasher already is a god in the tiny, insular world of indie rock. Now a new, much larger world will be introduced to him and his band, and who knows where that will lead.

Those doing the math may wonder how Cursive could be on Letterman the same night that the band is scheduled to play a sold-out show at The Troubadour in L.A. with Ladyfinger and Little Brazil. Saddle Creek Records executive Jason Kulbel explained that Cursive will tape the show while in NYC March 9 for airing on the 13th. Presumably they'll jet out to the Left Coast shortly afterward. Very rock 'n' roll. The Letterman appearance will come just three days after the release of Mama, I'm Swollen on March 10.

* * *

Finally, some next steps by a guy who's already there. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band announced last week that they're releasing their second album on Merge Records, Outer South, on May 5. The album features songs written by Oberst and other band members, including Jason Boesel, Nik Freitas and Taylor Hollingsworth. The tracks were recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas, just outside El Paso.

With this release, it's beginning to look more and more like Bright Eyes may be a thing of the past. It's conceivable that Oberst will be touring in support of this new album through the balance of this year. That will be followed in 2010 by the long-talked-about Conor Oberst / Jim James / M. Ward / Mike Mogis album, which likely will see a tour of its own. If Oberst is working with Nate Walcott in Mystic Valley Band and Mogis in this separate project, why bother with Bright Eyes, whose only "permanent" members are these three musicians? Is Oberst writing a new ending to his movie, one where he liberates himself from what some consider to be his teeny-bopper past?

If you missed last Saturday night's Ladyfinger show, you'll get one more chance to see them live this coming Monday at O'Leaver's. After that, they're on tour with Cursive and Little Brazil, headed south to SXSW.

Omaha's version of Michael Hutchence, Matt Whipkey (see yesterday's blog) and his band The Whipkey Three are opening a show for Little Black Stereo tonight at The Waiting Room. Also on the bill are Under Water Dream Machine (read a review of their CD here). $7, 9 p.m.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Remember that pair of columns I wrote about the Omaha INXS try-outs back in February 2005? You can still read them online here. Just scroll down to the Feb. 10 and Feb. 17, 2005, entries (Columns 12 and 13).

The column started like this:

So you wanna be a rock star, huh?

Well, Friday just might be your lucky day. Mark Burnett Productions, the fine folks who brought us such intelligent, thoughtful television programs as Survivor, The Bachelor and The Apprentice, will be at Mick's in Benson all day looking for an "INXS Rock Star." The talent search/reality TV series is an effort to help '80s rock band INXS find a replacement for deceased frontman Michael Hutchence, who hanged himself in 1997.

The casting director, Michelle McNulty, had told me they were looking for that person who has "it."

"'It' is that charismatic quality that comes from someone who can perform in front of 50,000 people. It could be a man or a woman."

Among those who made it to the second round were Sarah Benck, Korey Anderson, Matt Whipkey and Lovetap's Galen Kieth. None of them made it on television, which is lucky for them.

Reuters reported in this story that the winner, Canadian rocker J.D. Fortune, was unceremoniously fired by the band with a handshake in a Hong Kong airport.

"I found myself really alone because I had travelled with these guys for 23 months," Fortune told Entertainment Tonight Canada without saying exactly when he was sacked. He acknowledged that he had been taking drugs including cocaine while with the band but said he had been drug free for two years.

Since then, Fortune's fortune has continued to turn rather bad, as he says he's now back to living in his car. Ah, Matt, that could have been you.

* * *

Speaking of old stories, last fall I was asked by Midwest Airlines to write a feature about Omaha for their airline magazine, MyMidwest. They wanted your typical "what to do on a long weekend in Omaha" sort of story. The piece ran in the Jan/Feb issue, which presumably is in airplanes now. Of course, like all magazine articles, it was partially rewritten (they changed my lead, which referenced hilly Omaha streets and Les Nessman, and my ending. Oh well, at least the check cleared.). I've never seen an actual print copy of the story (I don't fly Midwest much these days, though I do prefer it over any other airline if only for its first-class leather seating and chocolate chip cookies). I discovered this PDF version of the story online, and include it for your amusement, since you already know all of this stuff. I tried to highlight Benson's music scene, and some of it actually made the cut. At the time I wrote this, Mick's was of course still in business. Warning, this PDF is a 2 meg file.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Is Fat Tuesday becoming another calendar event with the sole purpose of getting drunk like St. Patrick's Day, Halloween and New Year's Eve? It's beginning to look that way judging by the number of shows going on around town. The Waiting Room, Saddle Creek Bar and O'Leaver's all have shows tonight. The stand-out is at O'Leaver's with Ric Rhythm and the Revengers, and from Minneapolise, Private Dancer and The Chambermaids. 9:30, $5.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Slowdown Jr. was indeed packed Saturday night for the Ladyfinger CD release show. When I walked through the front doors I was met by a wall of humanity, all glued to Landing on the Moon. It took about 10 minutes to get my pair of Rolling Rocks, but I didn't mind because there was nowhere to comfortably stand anyway, figured I might as well just stand in line.

LotM, which formed after The Quiet Type broke up in 2003, is now recognized as a veteran band in the scene. When they first started, they were tight -- almost too tight -- but years of playing on local stages has loosened them up, made them more relaxed. And while I like their brand of indie rock (I'm told they're working on new material) I'd love to see them venture outside of their comfort zone, i.e., improvise somewhere within their set. I know that improvisation is a dirty word in the indie music world and conjures images of the most dreaded description of all -- the jam band. But look, I'm not talking about "jamming," I'm talking about letting their songs breathe a little bit, to loosen that musical corset. LotM is methodical. They stick to the script as closely as any band out there. But they also have some of the most talented musicians in the scene, which makes me wonder what they'd come up with if they slid an extra 16 or 32 bars onto the end of their songs. What would happen?

The very nature of indie rock seems anathema to improvisation. Bands write songs, record them and then do their damdest to replicate them live, and for the most part, that's how it should be. As much as I can imagine LotM strolling off the path, I can't imagine Ladyfinger budging from their formula, nor would I want them to. We've come to expect something from them, and would only be uncomfortable if it varied from that expectation.

Shortly after 11, Ladyfinger took the stage, and it didn't take long to realize that the club and the band had made the right call in hosting this show in the small room. Sure it was packed -- it was crushed -- but that only added to the vibe. Despite being supremely uncomfortable and unable to get a beer, you got the feeling you were lucky to be there. That certainly wouldn't have been the case had they held the show on the big stage. That 150 or whatever the number was would have seemed like nothing, and the show would have felt like a borderline failure instead of an event.

The band roared through its set -- a selection of old and new songs. Joining them on six songs was LotM's Megan Morgan -- a smart addition. When I interviewed Ladyfinger a few weeks ago, they talked about how they brought down their volume level so that Megan could be heard better in the mix. That adjustment was noticeable when they played on the big stage opening for Neva Dinova a few months ago. It wasn't so successful last Saturday. Ladyfinger kept the amps roaring, and Megan did the best she could to push her voice above the fray.

For me, the best part of the new stuff is Chris Machmuller's vocals (I don't know why, but for whatever reason, Machmuller's voice reminds me of Deep Purple's Ian Gillan -- that comment is bound to result in some snickering at O'Leaver's). In the old days, just grinding it out was enough. Now Ladyfinger's music sports true melodies, hooks and riffs. It's a different band than the one that released Heavy Hands. So the big question is: Are there enough hooks on the album to finally capture a much-deserved larger audience? Time and touring will tell.

* * *

Speaking of O'Leaver's, I spent Friday night there catching sets by Cowboy Indian Bear and Thunder Power. CIB was a pleasant surprise, a trio out of Lawrence where all three members provide vocals and harmonies (as well as some expert chops on guitar/bass/drums/keyboards). About half the set was performed using a double-bass attack. Nice. They're said to be working on a new album, which hopefully will bring them back through town. Thunder Power continues to be defined as Omaha's version of Belle and Sebastian, and for good reason. The six-piece knows how to play whimsical chamber pop as well as anyone out there. Good melodies and fine vocals, though for the life of me, I can't understand a word the cooing lead singer is singing. Does it matter? With this style of music, the answer is yes.

* * *

Just got word this morning that Cursive will be performing on Late Night with David Letterman March 13. Waitaminit, don't they have a sold-out show at The Troubadour in L.A. that night with Ladyfinger and Little Brazil? Jason Kulbel from Saddle Creek tells me that the band will be taping their performance March 9 for airing on the 13th. Very rock and roll. The new album has a street date of March 10. Entertainment Weekly is currently hosting an exclusive track off Mama, I'm Swollen, here.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room, it's our old friends The Appleseed Cast with Tie These Hands and Anniversaire. 9 p.m., $10.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Catching up on some news from earlier this week, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band announced it is releasing a second album on Merge May 5, titled Outer South. According to CMJ, "The album will feature songs written by both the Bright Eyes mastermind and other band members, including Nik Boesel, Nik Freitas, and Taylor Hollingsworth, and was recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillio, just outside El Paso." The sold-out April 9 show at Slowdown apparently is in support of the release. It's beginning to look more and more like Bright Eyes may be a thing of the past. It's conceivable that Oberst will be touring this new album through the balance of the year. That will be followed in 2010 by the long-talked-about Conor Oberst / Jim James / M. Ward / Mike Mogis album, which will likely see a tour of its own. If Oberst is working with Nate Walcott in Mystic Valley Band and Mogis in this separate project, what's the point in even doing a Bright Eyes album since Conor, Nate and Mike are the only permanent members of that band? It's hard to believe that it's been almost two years since Cassadaga was released...

* * *

Marty Hillard, the Lawrence, Kansas, chap who you remember from a few years back performing as TheSisterMaria, is playing tonight at O'Leaver's with his new band, Cowboy Indian Bear, along with Thunder Power, Why Make Clocks and Platte River Rain. The show should be the usual $5, and start around 9:30.

Also tonight, Saddle Creek Bar has hard rock acts Constant Velocity and Sin. $5, 9 p.m. Thank You and Mi Ami are at Slowdown Jr. $8, 9 p.m. And Midwest Dilemma is playing at The Barley St. with Down with the Ship, Where Astronauts Go to Hide and Fiance. $5, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night, it's the long-awaited CD release show for Ladyfinger's new one, Dusk, at Slowdown Jr. with Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship and Landing on the Moon. That's right, I said Slowdown Jr., which means this one will be packed to the gills. Get there early. $7, 9 p.m.

Also happening Saturday night: Underwater Dream Machine is playing at The Barley St. with Cat Island. $5, 9 p.m.; and Javier Ochoa is having his 40th Birthday Bash at The Waiting Room with a bevy of tribute bands. Your $10 cover will go toward the Multiple Sclerosis Society. This one starts early -- 7 p.m.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Work has kept me from posting today's entry until this late hour. Hey, a guy's got to make a buck, right?

Column 210: Unheard Melodies
A critic's guilt upon spring cleaning.

I had to clean out my office over the weekend, or at least begin to clean it out. Endless clutter is one of the by-products of being a music critic.

As I've said before: I got involved in writing about music for one reason and one reason alone: To get free CDs. When I started writing reviews over 20 years ago, compact discs were still sort of a novelty. Working my way through college at Kmart, I remember flipping through the bins of albums and seeing the racks of cassette tapes, but CDs had only just begun to arrive, displayed in large cardboard boxes, which later were replaced by impenetrable plastic containers. The odd, oblong contraptions were designed to prevent thieves from sticking discs down their pants, but they also kept buyers from getting their CDs opened after they got home. I remember struggling with a pair of industrial-strength scissors desperately trying to cut through the thick plastic CD holders, often cutting my hand in the process. I once had the brilliant idea of melting the container with a lighter only to have it catch on fire along with my copy of Billy Idol's Whiplash Smile.

In the late '80s, record labels had just begun mailing CDs to music writers, and getting a compact disc for free was a real treat. Vinyl records seemed old-fashioned and junky, but free CDs, well they just had to be quality or the label wouldn't have wasted the money making them, right? Funny how times have changed. Now I can't imagine anything more valuable than finding a box in the mail filled with free promotional vinyl albums and 45s.

Getting free CDs also was the driving force behind creating lazy-i.com back in '98. And just a few short months after the website's launch, I began to reap the harvest. CDs magically began arriving in my mailbox, one or two per week like prizes awarded for my writing. I eagerly tore open the envelopes to reveal these little presents before neatly stacking them next to my stereo. It didn't matter that only one out of 10 was actually worth listening to, my collection was growing.

By the time Omaha became recognized as the center of the indie music world (in around 2001), I was getting three or four CDs in the mail every day. My cup quickly runneth over. Soon, the dining room table was littered with stacks of unopened manila envelopes, to the annoyance of Teresa who would eventually gather up an armful and drop them in my office to await the tedious task of opening and cataloging each on the website.

The envelopes themselves became a screening device. Opened first were packages from recognizable labels -- Matador, Merge, SubPop, Saddle Creek, Secretly Canadian, YepRock, Caulfield, Homestead, etc. This was the good stuff.

Next were packages from larger metropolitan areas and indie music hubs -- New York City, the Pacific Northwest, Athens, North Carolina, Lawrence and of course, Omaha. After that were the quirky packages that obviously contained something more than a CD. Somewhere along the way bands got the idea that if they threw in little treats like candy or toys with their music that it would catch a reviewer's eye, and they were right. What they didn't understand, however, is that the reviewers are more interested in the trinkets than their music.

Last opened were the plain envelopes with hand-written return addresses and "Do Not Bend" scribbled on the back. Anonymous packages from anonymous locales. It's amazing how much one assumes about a band and its music simply by its name, photo and album artwork.

It didn't take long until towers of precariously stacked, unlistened-to CDs covered every horizontal surface in my office. It's not that I didn't want to listen to all of them. The problem is that in addition to CD reviews I also write feature stories about bands -- their music has to take precedent or else I'll come off even more like an idiot during interviews than I actually am. Falling to the wayside in all this was time for listening to music that I actually sought out and knew I liked.

About every 18 months things reach a tipping point, and I have no choice but to undergo a global purge. I've never sold a promo CD in my life; I've only traded them for other music, which is what I did this past weekend with more than 600 CDs (and with another 500 on the way). I'd like to tell you that I'd listened to all of them, but that would be a lie. It simply wasn't physically possible.

While packing away those CDs, I felt a tinge of guilt and regret. Somewhere in there could have been a diamond hidden among the hours and hours of derivative indie folk, sloppy garage punk, geek metal and personal confessional monstrosities. Could I be missing the next Elliott Smith or Husker Du? I'll never know. What I did know was that each one of those poorly packaged and designed CDs represented someone's hopes and dreams. All they wanted was for me to take a moment and listen to their music. Instead, here I was sending it away, unheard.

Over the past couple of years, the number of CDs arriving in the mail has slowly dwindled thanks to new ways of distributing music via digital download -- a much more efficient, economical and earth-friendly approach. It won't be long until finding a CD in the mail will once again be a novelty -- an unexpected gift -- instead of an ever-growing monster that slowly takes over my office.

Look for the usual Friday pre-weekend update at the usual time tomorrow...

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Just posted (here) is a brand new feature / interview with Ladyfinger. The band talks about their new album, Dusk, and how they hope it performs better saleswise than their debut, Heavy Hands. So what went wrong with the first one? Beyond basic quality issues, who knows why one record sales well and another doesn't. The assumption was that HH would sell much better than it actually did, based on sales of the band's self-released demo and the fact that they had Saddle Creek backing them. Add to that months and months of touring, and you had a recipe for success -- or so everyone involved thought. The sales numbers outlined in the story are bracing, but do they reflect a new reality for the indie music business? I don't think so; I certainly hope not.

I didn't have room in the article to talk about the words within the music. Ladyfinger frontman Chris Machmuller writes all the songs' lyrics, and we went through a handful during the interview. The standout is "Plans," which would be my pick for the first single. The song opens with the lines: So much for plans / So much for heavy hands to take / The hopes we had were bound to break. "It's about an ex-girlfriend and close friend of the band who died of a cocaine overdose," Machmuller said, adding that they got the sobering news about her death the day after Halloween while in Belgium on tour. The song epitomizes the more thoughtful, more layered approach Ladyfinger has taken with this album. Check it out.

* * *

Val Nelson at Slowdown is asking that anyone interested in how downtown Omaha evolves over the next 20 or 30 years attend a meeting tonight between 6 and 10 p.m. at The Embassy Suites at 10th and Howard. Val says it'll be the first opportunity to see where the Master Plan is headed, and a chance to let the City know where you'd like it to go. If you care about downtown, you'll be there.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

There's a Q&A with M Ward in Time Magazine (here) wherein Matt mentions the now legendary M Ward / Conor Oberst / Jim James project that's been kicked around since the trio did that show at Witherspoon Hall in January 2004 -- five years ago. It'll be another year until the actual recordings are released (my guess is it'll be on Merge). It's hard to believe it's been almost six years since I did this interview with Ward. Time has indeed flown by. Of course one drawback to being associated with Conor and Mike Mogis is that Pitchfork will only give you a fair-to-middling review, as they did today for Ward's new album Hold Time (here). It got a rating of 6.7 -- in the same ballpark as all Saddle Creek releases.

* * *

Someone posted on the ol' webboard that Ladyfinger will be performing live in the studio on Z-92 tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. CT. More details here (I didn't know that Todd & Tyler listened to rock music). Watch for my feature interview with Ladyfinger tomorrow on Lazy-i.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

I ended up not going to any shows this weekend. None. What's up with that? It was a combination of the crappy weather and pulling a muscle in my back. Fact is, I knew that the It's True CD release show at the Barley Street would be so packed that I wouldn't be able to see or hear any of it anyway. Sure enough, someone who was there told me it was the biggest crowd he'd ever seen in the place (which only has a capacity of 40 or 50 in the showroom) -- a real crush mob. It's a shame that the show couldn't have been held in a larger venue.

Anyway, my back's fine now, so much so that I'm contemplating dropping in on that Marah show tonight at The Waiting Room tonight. Landon Hedges is opening, doing a solo acoustic set as Fine, Fine Automobiles. $8, 9 p.m. Marah's out touring its latest on Yep rock, Angels of Destruction, which has a sort of chug-a-lug rock 'n' roll vibe. Also tonight is Ben Kweller at Slowdown with The Watson Twins and Drew Smith's Lonely Choir. That show's $15 and starts at 9. I have no interest in Kweller but wouldn't mind seeing the Watson Twins, who came through a few years ago as a backup to Jenny Lewis.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

For whatever reason, Fu*ked up canceled their show last night. You would have known that before you went out had you been "following" me on Twitter or read my webboard. And you'd figure there's a good chance for even more cancellations tonight, but I doubt it. Every show is a local show, and let's be honest, it's only supposed to be six or eight inches. It is, after all, winter.

So the question becomes where would you want to be on a snowy night in Omaha? Top of the list may be The 49'r, where The Filter Kings are playing with The Killigans and Making Movies. Few bars are as ski-lodge cozy as the Niner on snowy nights. The bar's website is showing an 8 p.m. start time, but no word on the cover.

There's a benefit show down at The Bemis Underground featuring a slew of Slumber Party Records bands including Capgun Coup, Bear Country and Honeybee, along with the toughest trio in Omaha, Box Elders. Tickets are $13 for non-members, $7 for members, and the show starts at 9. For more info, go to bemiscenter.org.

Over at O'Leaver's, Speed! Nebraska recording artist The Third Men is playing with No Blood Orphan. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Saddle Creek Bar is going punk with crazy-ass Officially Terminated, ska-boys Eastern Turkish and classic '80s thrashers Cordial Spew. $5, 9 p.m.

Sarah Benck and The Robbers are playing their last show under that moniker tonight at Slowdown Jr. with Bonne Finken and The Ground Tyrants. $7, 9 p.m.

Reagan and the Rayguns are playing at The Waiting Room tonight with Jessica Errett Band and Vago. $7, 9 p.m.

Black Squirrels, Goodbye Sunday and Tsumi are at Barley Street. $4, 9 p.m.

Valentine's Day (Saturday) is highlighted by the It's True CD release show at The Barley Street Tavern with Cat Island (also celebrating a CD release on Slo-Fi), Kyle & Kat, Ben Seiff and John Klemmensen. $5, 9 p.m.

If I hear of cancellations, I'll pass them on via Twitter.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 209: A Simple Truth
Adam Hawkins embraces reality.

Adam Hawkins has lived through some bad shit. It was self-inflicted shit, it was some dumb shit, but it was shit nonetheless and he lived through it. And maybe too much has been made of it, at least to me.

When I first heard about the singer / songwriter / band leader, it was only in the terms of this bad shit. "Man, this guy's been through it," they said. "He's seen it, he's lived it and now he sings about it in his music."

Lived through what? I had this picture of a junkie bunked out under an interstate off-ramp in a cardboard box or on his knees shaking a stained Dixie cup begging for dope money.

The truth was less dramatic. He did go through some bad shit, but he's better now. It didn't happen here; it happened when he was living in Ames, Iowa, in the early part of this decade. "I did a lot of hanging out, a lot of partying," he said. "I was engaged to be married and then the shit hit the fan in all those regards."

His partying led to the failure of his relationship, which led to harder partying. Just how bad was it? "It wasn't anything monumental; I wasn't 98 pounds," Hawkins said. "I was on the path of losing control. I slowly started realizing the type of people I was hanging around -- I wasn't around them because they were my friends, but because they had stuff and they would share it with me. I kind of realized that I didn't want to become these people."

So he moved to Omaha. It wasn't his first choice. The plan was for him and his roommate to move to Hollywood -- a decision based on a 3 a.m. conversation after a few days of partying. Instead, Hawkins' brother Jamie suggested he pack up and move in with him in Omaha. "He knew what was going on and said I could stay with him as long as I needed to. He gave me a lifeline and some security."

Music wasn't even in the picture. Hawkins had been in a few bands in Ames ("none worth mentioning"), but that had fallen to the side during his party years. Now in Omaha sometime in late 2005 or early 2006, he was living through a string of jobs -- telemarketing, then slot attendant and eventually blackjack dealer at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, a job that depressed him so much that he hated getting up in the morning. After he was fired, he went back to telemarketing, and then waiting tables at Perkins. He's now at Dietze Music, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Music slowly eked back into Hawkins' life. After hearing him play in her living room, a friend suggested he perform at a birthday gig at a local school. On her own volition, she launched a Myspace page for him. "I thought it was totally ridiculous," Hawkins said. "I thought Myspace was a tweener past-time, what kids did." But that Myspace page would become a conduit for meeting other local musicians.

Kyle Harvey, the label executive behind Slo-Fidelity Records, first heard Hawkins play a solo show at The Foundry. Harvey and Hawkins began to correspond via e-mail, along with Midwest Dilemma's Justin Lamoureux, and before long, Hawkins found himself entrenched in the Benson singer-songwriter scene.

"Knowing them motivated me to play out more," Hawkins said. "Instead of playing in some school conference room, they were helping me get shows at bars."

On his debut album, titled there there, now... / i think it's best... (if i leave), Hawkins goes by It's True -- the name has to do with his psychedelic past and his definition of reality, which boils down to: "Any form of truth is a representation of that ultimate truth."

Self-recorded on a four-track in bedrooms over the past couple years, the album is solo-acoustic folk sung in Hawkins' dreamy croon, strong on melody and meaning. The lyrics are straightforward and painfully honest, obviously candid, and probably written from a place that you don't want to go. But at the same time, it's up-tempo and touchingly positive.

"Negativity can quickly get corny and self serving," Hawkins said. "Not a lot of people want to hear you complain about your life unless there's some deeper resonance. I want to be positive, but that doesn't mean that I always want to sing about rainbows and sunshine."

He said he never intended to release the songs until Kyle Harvey asked him to. "They were rough drafts," Hawkins said. "I wanted to put a band together and rerecord them, and then time passed. It was actually keeping me from writing new stuff. Kyle said to just release them as they are." Good call. The austere production adds to the music's simple honesty.

Hawkins is celebrating the CD's release this Saturday night at The Barley St. Tavern with fellow songwriters Kyle & Kat, Ben Seiff, John Klemmensen and Kendra Senick (Cat Island).

He said he has another group of "wordier songs, less melodic, more rambling" that he may record as an EP someday. Or he may not. Hawkins is content going with the flow.

"Right now, the plan is to get the band up to par. And that's all in terms of ambition. I know the guys would really like to record something, and I would, too."

But Hawkins said anytime he tries to do something deliberately, it doesn't work out, and he gets frustrated. Better to take it one day at a time. "I'm not trying to avoid disappointment. Things just seem to turn out better that way."

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It's another hopping night in Benson tonight. Over at The Waiting Room, Fucked Up headlines a show with Dance Me Pregnant. Here's what I said about FU's Matador Records release The Chemistry of Common Life back in December:

The vocals aren't so much Cookie Monster as they are an Andrew W.K. rip -- over the top, slightly out of control, in your face. But not Cookie Monster -- that term is forever reserved for the vacuous metal-esque goon-rock bands that litter high-NRG Nickelback stations (in Omaha, 89.7 The River). Fucked Up isn't "goon," and you would never confuse it with metal or, really, even punk (though it is loud and obnoxious). This is spaz rock in that AWK-vein. Overbearing and sometimes annoying, it's best served in small doses. That, along with odd tangents like space instrumentals "Golden Seal" and "Looking for God" -- that owe as much to Pink Floyd as anything punk --are enough to make this worth checking out.

I think it could be entertaining, if not ear-bleedingly loud. $8, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at The Barley Street Tavern, Brimstone Howl plays with Rock Paper Dynamite and Watching the Trainwreck. $5, 9 p.m.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Here is a handful of notable news from the web:

I was just reading an article in Rolling Stone about how Live Nation was supposed to bring down the cost of tickets -- specifically service charges -- when they began selling them. Of course they didn't. And now comes news yesterday that Ticketmaster and Live Nation have proposed a merger. Best line in the AP article: "'Ticketmaster does not set prices. Live Nation does not set ticket prices. Artists set the prices,' (Ticketmaster CEO Barry Diller) said, without mentioning the ticket surcharges Ticketmaster relies on for much of its revenue." Looks like the Justice Dept is going to get involved. The Boss already has, according to this update: "'The one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing,' Springsteen said on his Web site." I'm happy I don't go to arena shows anymore. Now if we can just keep these thieves out of the clubs.

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For those of you who don't get the OWH, there was another detailed write-up about vinyl's increased popularity in the Sunday edition, this time written by Kevin Coffey. The OWH has printed three or four of these stories over the past three or four years, and for my money, they never get old. Interviewed this time were Spencer Munson (DJ Spence), Homer's Mike Fratt, and Drastic Plastic's Neil Azevedo. There's also a companion piece about vinyl fans' favorite vinyl here. Coffey left out his favorites. My favorite vinyl is anything by Led Zeppelin. While I've acquired most of the Zeppelin catalog digitally, there's just something special about listening to Zeppelin I or III on vinyl. Hmmm, seems like I predicted the return of vinyl in 2007 (along with everyone else). For serious music fans, vinyl is still the best value, especially for new albums because they almost always come with a CDR for downloading.

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Speaking of free stuff, the fine folks at Alive Records have issues a 2009 sampler and they're giving it away for free digitally at Amazon right here. The sampler includes tracks by Hacienda, Outrageous Cherry, Buffalo Killers and Lincoln's own Brimstone Howl.

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There's a notable happening going on tonight but it's by invitation only, so I don't know if I can tell you about it or not. It involves Brad Hoshaw and his band and the debut of his new full-length album. Look, if you stumble around Benson long enough tonight you're bound to find it. Consider it a treasure hunt.

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Tomorrow's column: A profile of Adam Hawkins.

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There was no update yesterday because of a mechanical breakdown of the ol' Sidekick. In fact, I thought it was going to start on fire. The tow-truck/repair scenario wiped out my lunch hour, but ol' trusty is back and running again, and so is this here blog.

Some weekend thoughts -- The Hyannis CD release show at Slowdown Friday night was well attended and the band sounded okay -- kind of like a hippie band without the hippies. The CD's liner notes indicate the band has four members plus a cello player, but I only counted three on stage during their set, and that might account for the overall hollowness. Their sound is more pleasantly filled-out on In a Car, their self-released LP that I'm listening to as I type this. They appear to be going for a yesteryear sound that falls somewhere between Syd-era Pink Floyd and The Stooges. Frontman Joey Bonacci has a voice that fits his first name -- high, kinda quirky and unforgettable in a strange way. I would tell people who were at the show that they really need to check out the disc since it's probably a more accurate portrayal of the band, but they all got free copies at the door so they already know this. I'd like to hear how Hyannis sounds with their full contingent.

We drove over to Pizza Shoppe Saturday night for dinner, and on stage in the room next door was the gospel choir that performed at the OEA's. Unbelievably, they all fit on PS Collective's stage and didn't blow the lid off the room -- nice background music for my garlic bread. We then drove down to Saddle Creek Bar for 49 Cents (both T and I follow UNO Mavericks basketball, and former power forward Ryan Curtis is in the band), but quickly discovered that instead of being first, that they were going to be last, and I knew we'd never make it to the end. When we left after the first set, I noticed that every table in SCB was filled. I also drove by the bar last Saturday night and saw that its parking lot was jammed. Has SCB finally turned the corner in attracting a crowd?

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One Percent Productions announced a new batch of shows last night, the most interesting of which are Tricky March 15 at Slowdown, another Faint show March 31 at Sokol (come on guys, play somewhere else), and that Beep Beep release show at The Waiting Room April 4. The upcoming Conor show at Slowdown sold out over the weekend.

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Anyone know if the Tim Kasher listed with the music credit on the film My Suicide (reviewed here) is that Tim Kasher?

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

I checked out The Sydney last night for the first time since it switched over from Mick's, and I definitely give it a thumb's up. The place looks distinctively different -- more open and yet more comfortable. I walked around trying to figure out what they did other than throw up a fresh coat of paint. There are fewer tables than before, and the raised stage has been replaced with a "stage" that stands about three inches from the floor. I always thought the old stage was too high and probably added to the room's acoustic problems. One of the owners told me they wanted to take the stage out altogether until they discovered that the flooring beneath it was messed up. Overall, The Sydney feels more like a saloon than a neighborhood bar, thanks to its high ceilings and dim lighting. One somewhat strange side note -- I was there from 8:30 to around 11 and didn't see a single woman walk through the door (I described it as a "sausage party" to Teresa, who had no idea what I was talking about). I assume this will change after bar's grand opening in early March. PS: I can't wait to see the first live show there.

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Looks like Nik Fackler's debut film, Lovely, Still, has found international sales and Canadian distribution, according to this item in IndieWire. The distributor is Cinemavault, based out of Toronto. "With the producers currently in post-production on the new cut, Cinemavault is presenting the film at the European Film Market and will be premiering the final version at the Cannes Film Market," says Indiewire.

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Sarah Benck sent out an email yesterday saying that her band is dropping "...and The Robbers" portion of their name. From now on, they're simply known as Sarah Benck. People poo-poo the importance of a band's name, but the fact is it impacts everyone's first impressions. "Sarah Benck and the Robbers" had a cheesy connotation to it from the beginning; it sounded like someone you'd hear at a Holiday Inn Lounge. This name change is a long time coming.

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Lots of chatter about yesterday's column on the webboard. Check it out and add to it.

* * *

So what's going on tonight?

-- The Hyannis CD release show at Slowdown Jr. with Brimstone Howl, The Night Gallery and Outlaw Con Bandana. Everyone gets a free copy of the Hyannis CD with their $5 admission. Show starts at 9.

-- Domestica plays at O'Leaver's with Techlepathy and Wagon Blasters. $5, 9:30 p.m.

-- Brad Hoshaw and The Seven Deadlies opens for Kris Lager Band at The Waiting Room. $7, 9 p.m.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Today's column is self-explanatory. I think I've mentioned this before -- Ten years ago or so, Robb Nansel of Saddle Creek Records told me something that a major label honcho told him. He said if you're still involved with music when you're 30, you're going to be involved with music the rest of your life. Truer words were never spoken…

Column 208: Greasy Kid's Stuff
Age and music.

I was feeling just fine about everything until Barack decided to join in with his "Let us set aside childish things" rant during the inauguration. What exactly was he saying? Who was he talking to?

After awhile, it does begin to pile up. The whole age thing never occurs to me unless someone else mentions it -- directly or indirectly.

Last week a friend who works at The City Weekly pointed out that Mike Fratt "went after me" in his column. Really? By name? No, he never used your name, my friend said. He merely referenced "Omaha's own aging indie-hipster blogger street weekly writer..." I was flattered that Mike would think anyone would even know who he was talking about (and without that knowledge, a reader would think Fratt was being self-deprecating instead of just snarky -- he is, after all, considerably older than I am).

A week before that, I was at a local watering hole listening to a band when one of the city's better musicians said, not off-handedly, "Why would a 20-year-old want to know what a 40-year-old guy thinks about new music?" He was making a point about himself, of course; about how he thinks no one cares what his favorite music was from 2008 (but we do). I'm sure the fact that I'm in my 40s and still write about indie music never crossed his mind. Did it?

And then there was the time I was speaking in front of a class alongside a former mover-and-shaker in local music retail. I asked him what he thought of Saddle Creek Records. He said he only listens to blues these days. "I outgrew that stuff a long time ago."

It comes down to the notion that rock music -- specifically new rock music -- should only be enjoyed by young people. That people beyond their 20s (some say beyond their teens) should have moved on from listening to rock or any music for that matter.

I remember as a teen-ager listening to albums with my headphones on, wondering how much I'd miss it when I got older because, well, "old people" don't listen to music. Certainly my dad didn't.

That same backward thinking applies to rock shows -- when are you too old to go see a band (other than a dinosaur act at the Qwest Center)? Is it when your friends quit going to shows? Or when you have kids and reprioritize your life so that music no longer plays a role? I can't speak to the issue of getting married and having a family. I can say that a lot of people I know put music away when their children arrived, and use their family life as an excuse for not going out any more (or doing anything creative, for that matter). And that's fine. Chances are even if they didn't have kids they would have quit going to shows anyway. Rare is the person who can continue to "get into" new music after they reach their 30s. That's just the way it is.

I made that point on my blog, and one reader took offense. He said he used to go to shows at The Cog Factory and Kilgore's before moving to Chicago and getting involved in the music business himself. He ended up in California "…and then, I had kids. Now you can chalk it up as an 'excuse' to 'quit' the pursuit of music-passion (or other cultural endeavors), but I actually blame it as much on not only a re-prioritizing of priorities as I do finances," he said in an email. "When you’ve got a young mouth (or in my case two young mouths) to feed, given the choice between buying groceries or going out to a club to see a band play and then proceed to spend $25 on drinks….well, the choice should be pretty clear."

I guess it's like those commercial say: "Having a baby changes everything." I don't doubt that. Still, this guy said he continues to subscribe to Magnet and The Big Takeover, and makes notes about bands that might interest him. That alone makes him a rarity. Because most people that I know who have kids go home after work and sit in front of the TV for five hours and then go to sleep. Every night. They feel entitled. They've worked hard all day, they want to come home and "unwind." These are people in their late 20s and 30s (and 40s). And before they know it, they're in their 50s and 60s and then they're dead. But, dammit, they accomplished something. They raised those kids. And that's more than I can say for myself.

Would I still be going to shows if I had kids? Well, not 80 to 100 shows a year, but yeah, I'd like to think that I'd definitely make it out at least a couple times a month. But we'll never know.

Age isn't so much a state of mind as it is surrendering to a state of mind. I don't think my personal writing guru, former Village Voice columnist and now Rolling Stone critic Robert Christgau, who'll turn 67 in April, thought for a second about what was appropriate for someone his age to listen to when he was reviewing the latest albums by Glasvegas (which he gave in A) or Jay Reatard (which he gave an A-). Is he worried that a 20-year-old might scoff at his opinion? I don't think it crossed his mind. It certainly doesn't cross mine when I'm writing about the new Animal Collective or Ladyfinger CDs or watching Stolen Kisses or Perry H. Matthews.

Nor should it. Rock was never meant to be only a young man's game. Just ask this aging indie-hipster blogger street weekly writer.

There's a show tonight at the Waiting Room worth checking out: Landing on the Moon and Anniversaire opening for The Envy Corps. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, folkie balladeer (when he's not shredding in Techlepathy) Lincoln Dickison is opening for Son of 76 and the Watchmen tonight at The Barley St. Tavern. Techlepathy will be on stage tomorrow night at O'Leaver's along with Domestica and Wagon Blasters.

Which reminds me, a reader commented on yesterday's blog entry, telling me that record label Speed! Nebraska has Lincoln bands on its roster that play in Omaha all the time, including Domestica, Brimstone Howl, Ideal Cleaners and the Mezcal Bros. This reader also included The Wagon Blasters (whose members include Lincolnite Bill Thornton), but I'm not aware of any Wagon Blasters releases on Speed! Nebraska Records. Something tells me that that's gonna change…

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

A few weeks ago I was asked some questions about Benson from Daily Nebraskan reporter Jeremy Buckley. You might also know Jeremy as the organizer of the wildly successful Lincoln Calling festival. I've been asking Jeremy for a few years to put together a similar festival called Lincoln Invasion, where he brings all the hot Lincoln bands to Omaha for a night or two. We don’t get enough exposure to Lincoln's music here in Omaha, which makes no sense to me at all. Come on, Jeremy, let's get this done.

Anyway, I asked Jeremy last night what happened to that article, and he finally sent me a link. Also interviewed was Homer's general manager and Benson resident Mike Fratt, and the proprietor of One Percent Productions and The Waiting Room, Marc Leibowitz. Take a look.

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Saddle Creek Records announced yesterday that the new album by Beep Beep, Enchanted Islands, is slated for release on March 24. Says Saddle Creek: "We guarantee you one of the most interesting listens of your young year. Enchanted Islands will blow your mind in different ways...from insane guitar playing to soon-to-be-classic melody to just plain oddness. It's the whole package." Creek also announced Beep Beep's spring tour, which includes a show at The Waiting Room April 4. They'll also be playing at South by Southwest this year.

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And speaking of SXSW, I'll be attending my first SXSW Festival this March. As a result, you'll be seeing full coverage before, during and after the festival right here at Lazy-i. It'll be just like being there...

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Ladyfinger's new LP, Dusk, dropped today on Saddle Creek Records. The CD is more up-tempo, more "tuneful" than Heavy Hands, which on some level, was actually a bit, well, heavy handed. What a difference dynamics makes. Take "Little Things," for instance, a track that bleeds to nothing before blowing up in your face. "Read the Will" simmers until it reaches a boiling point halfway through then spills all over the floor. So does "Plans," which would be my pick as the album single. Ladyfinger may have sounded like two feral cats in a burlap sack before, now they sound like indie buzzsaw-rock pioneers. Omaha's version of Helmet or Queens of the Stone Age? I don't know about that.

The question is what will it take for this record to break through to an audience that eluded Heavy Hands? A brief tour with Little Brazil is a fun start, though you could argue that neither band is building on the other's "big following." They're slated to play with Cursive in Tempe in March. I'm guessing that they'll be at SXSW. What they need is a few months on tour opening for someone that's huge in a Foo Fighters sort of way. How does that happen? It doesn't, not for an indie band. In lieu of that, Ladyfinger will have to hit the road for months and months and miles and miles at a time this year. Are they up to the challenge?

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Saddle Creek Records, Cursive and their publicist finally have given details on Mama, I'm Swollen, the band's new full length. The release date is March 10 on Saddle Creek, of course (did you ever doubt?). The album was recorded last summer at ARC. According to the press release: "Wrestling with life's miseries and mysteries, Mama, I'm Swollen is an album brimming with the universal, questioning the human condition, social morality, and the 'Peter Pan Syndrome' of grown men." Not sure what that last part means, but I assume it's PR-speak for "It rocks!" The band's headed back to NYC in early March and then out west for a few shows, and of course, SXSW.

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My thoughts on the Super Bowl: Arizona's defense choked on that last drive; and the bizarre pick for a touchdown at the end of the first half was nothing less than the Hand of the Football Gods making their wishes known.

As for halftime, I thought Bruce's performance was fine, a bit cheesy, but fine. I would have placed "Working on a Dream" in the middle and closed with "Born to Run," but Bruce seemed to know what he was doing (I also could have done without "It's Boss time!" but that's quibbling). So the list goes, Springsteen this year, before that, Tom Petty, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and then the infamous Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson's tit debacle. U2 played it in 2002 (the Super Bowl, not Janet's nipple). The full list is here.

Who's left? Well, there's Dylan -- imagine how that would go over with the Super Bowl crowd. Zeppelin would be a natural, but that's out. That leaves Elton John/Billy Joel, Madonna, AC/DC, Metallica or someone from the C&W world. My suggestion: The Flaming Lips -- though completely unknown to the average football fan, Wayne Coyne could put on a spectacle that would never be forgotten. Instead, if Fox is broadcasting the game next year (I'm not sure who has the rights), look for an American Idol medley of "stars." Ugh.

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