The Music of Nebraska
has included a variety of country, jazz, blues, ragtime, rock, and alternative rock musicians. Though many cities and towns across the state have active musical scenes, artists from Omaha and Lincoln have a particularly important musical legacy.
[1]
Omaha
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Artists on the label
Saddle Creek Records
in Omaha, such as
Bright Eyes
,
The Faint
, and
Cursive
, are nationally renowned.
[2]
The formation of the sound occurred in the mid-1990s with
Commander Venus
, Frontier Trust, Weak, and Matchbook Shannon, and clubs such as the
Cog Factory
, and
Sokol Music Hall
. The 2000s saw a rise in popularity of
Saddle Creek Records
. The label went on to build a music venue called
Slowdown
.
The Waiting Room
also opened in March 2007.
The alternative music scene has produced such popular artists as
311
, Beaver & the Hottage Cutch, Betsy Wells and
Grasshopper Takeover
, and Omaha has been a temporary home base of Midwest bands such as
Tilly and the Wall
,
Rilo Kiley
,
The Urge
,
Pomeroy
, and
Blue October
. Tim McMahan's Lazy-i and SLAMOmaha.com are the main media outlets promoting Saddle Creek and other Omaha bands.
In Omaha, a mainstay of the music scene is
Nils Anders Erickson
.
[3]
The studio houses modern equipment and has recorded with artists with local connections such as 311, but what makes the studio famous is its collection of vintage equipment. On addition to the studio, Nils heads local jam band Paddy O'Furniture. Other mainstays of the music scene in Omaha include folk artists such as
Simon Joyner
,
Kyle Knapp
, and his son, Saddle Creek artist
Joe Knapp
,
Joe Watson
,
Mike Murphy
,
Kevin Quinn
, and electronic artists
Peter None
and
Chip Davis
.
Notable jazz musicians include jazz guitarist
Dave Stryker
and drummer
Victor Lewis
.
Omaha also has many heavier rock and metal acts. In the mid to late 1990s the bands Secret Skin, Clever, and Twitch dominated the scene with their highly rhythmic and guitar-driven sound. Since the turn of the millennium, it has been a strong spot for
Metalcore
bands. A good amount have gone on to be National acts, such as Analog,
Paria
,
System Failure
, and
I Am Legend
. Also, the
Power Metal
band
Cellador
hails from Omaha. It also draws many other heavy musical acts, including many
Screamo
artists, including
Eyes of Verotika
,
Caught in the Fall
, and
Robots Don't Cry
. Other notable groups include
Noah's Ark was a Spaceship
,
Back When
, and Father.
Blues advocates including Terry O'Halloran and the Omaha Blues Society have brought world class blues to Omaha. Local artists like Satchel Grande,
Kris Lager Band
, and
Funk Trek
are examples of popular local blues artists. Their predecessors
Electric Soul Method
and Polydypsia helped set the stage for this music to grow in Omaha.
North Omaha
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From the 1920s through the early 1960s North Omaha boasted a vibrant entertainment district featuring
African American music
. The main artery of North 24th Street was the heart of the city's African-American cultural and business community with a thriving jazz and rhythm and blues scene that attracted top-flight
swing
,
blues
and
jazz
bands from across the country.
An important venue was the storied
Dreamland Ballroom
, which was opened in the Jewell Building in 1923 at 24th and Grant Streets in the
Near North Side
neighborhood. Dreamland hosted some of the greatest jazz, blues, and swing performers, including
Duke Ellington
,
Count Basie
,
Louis Armstrong
,
Lionel Hampton
, and the original
Nat King Cole Trio
.
Whitney Young
spoke there as well.
[4]
Other venues included Jim Bell's Harlem, opened in 1935 on Lake Street, west of 24th; McGill's Blue Room, located at 24th and Lake, and Allen's Showcase Lounge, which was located at 24th and Lake. Due to
racial segregation
, musicians such as
Cab Calloway
stayed at Myrtle Washington's at 22nd and Willis while others stayed at Charlie Trimble's at 22nd and Seward. The intersection of 24th and Lake was the setting of the
Big Joe Williams
song "Omaha Blues".
Notable North Omaha musicians
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North Omaha used to be a hub for black jazz musicians, 'the triple-A league' where national bands would go to find a player to fill out their ensemble. -
Preston Love
[5]
Blues singer
Wynonie Harris
was born and raised in Omaha. Early
North Omaha
bands included
Lewis' Excelsior Brass Band
,
Dan Desdunes
Band, Simon Harrold's Melody Boys, the Sam Turner Orchestra, the Ted Adams Orchestra, the Omaha Night Owls,
Red Perkins
and His Original Dixie Ramblers, and the
Lloyd Hunter Band
who became the first Omaha band to record in 1931. A
Lloyd Hunter
concert poster can be seen on display at the Community Center in nearby
Mineola
, Iowa.
[6]
North Omaha's musical culture also birthed several nationally and internationally reputable African American musicians.
Preston Love
and drummer
Buddy Miles
were friends while growing up. They collaborated throughout their lives, and while they were playing with the greatest names in rock and roll, jazz, R&B, and funk.
Big Joe Williams
and funk band leader
Lester Abrams
are also from North Omaha. Omaha-born Wynonie Harris, one of the founders of rock and roll, got his start at the North Omaha clubs and for a time lived in the now-demolished Logan Fontennelle projects at 2213 Charles Street.
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Surf
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One of Omaha's most famous exports is the influential
surf
band
The Chevrons
, who were voted Omaha's most popular band in 1966. Other 1960s bands include
The Echos
,
7 Legends
,
Velvet Haze
,
Little Denny Wonder
,
Freedom Road
and
The Beautiful People
.
Other places
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Fremont
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The earliest
rock and roll
band from
Fremont, Nebraska
was The Nomads, followed by
The Sneakers
,
The Fugitives
,
The Invaders
,
The Brakmen
and The Coachmen. The long-running popular Haywood-Wakefield Band is maybe the region's most influential.
Doug Campbell
from
Lincoln
,
Little Joe & the Ramrods
,
The Smoke Ring
,
Don Sohl & the Roadrunners
and
Ron Thompson & the Broughams
were also influential.
Lincoln
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Lincoln has had a thriving music scene since the 1950s. Lincoln's
Zager and Evans
hit #1 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
chart for six weeks with their song
In the Year 2525
from 1969. Zager and Evans met at
Nebraska Wesleyan University
. Starting in the late 1970s, with the coming of the punk movement there has been and remains an explosion in rock bands on the Lincoln scene. In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, many notable bands like 13 Nightmares, Leafy Green Things, The Gladstones, The New Brass Guns, For Against, The Millions, Charlie Burton, Sideshow, 2 Below, Matthew Sweet and Mercy Rule came from Lincoln. Current notable artists
The Brigandines
,
The JV All*Stars
, An Hobbes
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Stonebelly,
BlackDoubt
,
Ideal Cleaners
,
Straight Outta Junior High
, Nick Hardt,
Brimstone Howl
,
The Awkwords
, Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal, and
Eagle*Seagull
. Indie record labels that originated in Lincoln include Wild Records, Caulfield Records and
-ismist Recordings
. The brothers
A.J. Mogis
and
Mike Mogis
also own
Presto! Recording Studios
which is located in Lincoln.
The Zoo Bar
in Lincoln, styled around the Chicago blues clubs, brought in many popular artists from Chicago in the 1970s such as
Magic Slim
,
Bo Diddley
and
Robert Cray
. The venue celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023.
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See also
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Notes
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References
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External links
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