20 acts on Hear Grand Island; Crom Comedy Fest coverage; Bib in Noisey (new vinyl, tour dates); Belles & Whistles premiere lyric video; Photos of Thick Paint and BOTH at Duffy’s; Sebastian Bach at Vega; Leon Bridges at SumTur Amphitheater; Wheeler Walker Jr. at Bourbon

20 acts on Hear Grand Island lineup

We are excited to announce the 20-act lineup for Hear Grand Island, a 10-week summer concert series in the state’s third largest city, happening June 24 Aug. 26. Hear GI features all original Nebraska musical acts, 10 of them including Grand Island-area natives, who will perform free, all-ages sets each Friday evening in downtown Grand Island’s newly developed Railside Plaza.

Hear GI is made possible by our sponsors, Eagle Distributing, The Independent and The Grand Theatre, in addition to Grand Island business owners Sharena Anson and Brent Lindner. The events include food and drink vendors starting at 6 p.m., with bands playing from 7-9 p.m. See the lineup below and RSVP to the free concert series here.

* Indicates one or more band members native to Grand Island.

Friday, June 24

*Field Club (indie rock)

Kait Berreckman (rock)

Friday, July 1

*FREAKABOUT (rock)

Eric in Outerspace (heavy pop/garage rock)

Friday, July 8

*Parallel Paths (electronic)

Dominique Morgan (R&B)

Friday, July 15

*Briner (indie rock)

A Ferocious Jungle Cat (funk)

Friday, July 22

*Bedrest (rock)

The Dilla Kids (hip-hop)

Friday, July 29

Bien Fang (grunge pop)

*Manny Coon (folk)

Friday, August 5

*Cruz Control (reggae)

Commander Kilroy (rock)

Friday, August 12

*For The Birds (punk)

All Young Girls Are Machine Guns (soul)

Friday, August 19

Oquoa (rock)

*The Lupines (rock)

Friday, August 26

*The Killigans (folk punk)

E Rawq (R&B)

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Crom Comedy Fest coverage 

words and photos by Omaha comedian and first-time HN contributor Winslow Dumaine

Omaha comedy fans came out in droves over Memorial Day weekend to take part in the Crom Comedy Festival. The Crom Comedy Festival is a yearly alternative stand-up comedy festival curated by Ian Douglas Terry, a founding member of Omaha’s own comedy group OK Party Comedy. Though the festival began in Omaha, over four years Crom has expanded to include Denver and Atlanta, bringing to each city up to 16 unique and exceptionally entertaining comedy shows, games, and events over a three day weekend.

Crom embraces the DIY, punk rock philosophies of independence, acceptance, and challenging the status quo of comedy. That means no uncomfortable, alienating, and artlessly offensive comedians were selected by the festival, favoring a broader panoply of genders, races, sexualities, cultures, and upbringings brought together in a similar passion for stand up comedy. Past performers have included Dave Ross, Megan Koester, Eric Dadourian, Rory Scovel, and the legendary Kyle Kinane.

For the fourth year, Crom saw the inclusion of Lucha Libre and Laughs, where high-energy professional wrestling matches are narrated by comedians, and Late Late Breakfast, where each performer is given a bizarre challenge they must abide by during their set. This show included festival headliner Bobcat Goldthwait, who was dressed as a hunter and made to perform while the audience pelted him with rubber bands. The final city of Crom 2016 is Denver, with shows on June 3-5.

Andy Sandford April Richardson Bobcat Goldthwait Rhea Butcher Ryan Singer Dave RossAdrienne Airhart Ahamed Sultan Weinberg Andrew Bueno Anne Victoria Clark Blair Socci Brandon Cordes Brodie Reed Caitlin Gill Cameron Scott Logsdon

Charlie Bury

Cleveland Anderson Courtney Maginnis

Danny Felts Danny Maupin Dash Kwiatkowski Ella Gale Gena Gephart Ian Aber Ian Douglas Terry James Draper James Isaiah Munoz

Jessica Michelle Singleton John F O’Donnel (left)John Thomas Jordan Casner Josh Wesson

Kaitlin MaroneKatherine Jessup Kathryn Aagesen Kyle O’Reilly Madeleine Russell Marlena Rodriguez Matt Fernandez Matt Monroe Mike Carrozza Mike Lebovitz Mike Lester

Mike Vamosi Mollie Bartlett Nicole Conlan Omar Shaukat Paul Danke Preston Tompkins Rachel Weeks Rana May Remi Treuer Ryan de la Garza Sara June

Sam Tallent

Scott Luhrs

Sean Jordan Shane Lucas Price Sofiya Alexandra Teresa Lee Terrence Newman Timmy Williams Tom Brady Tyler Jackson Wanjiko Eke

Winslow Dumaine

Zach Noe Towers Zach Peterson

Photos by Winslow Dumaine 

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Bib demo gets vinyl release; tour dates announced

Omaha hardcore group Bib was featured in Vice Noisey this week, which streamed its 7-inch demo. The album, formerly available in cassette, is being pressed by Deranged Records for a vinyl release in July. Based in Roberts Creek, BC, the Canadian punk record label Deranged has put out albums by bands such as Fucked Up, Brutal Knights and Career Suicide. In a Q&A with Bib’s Brock Stephens, the Noisey blog post encompasses Bib’s out-of-placement as a sweaty hardcore basement band in the midst of Nebraska’s “fresh and wholesome” good folk. But as Noisey writer Tim Scott puts it, “there’s nothing wholesome about Bib, a hardcore punk band who many Omaha locals feel should remain in the basement of that sketchy punk house down the street.”

Listen to Bib’s demo and see a full list of the group’s upcoming tour dates below:

June 11: Springfield at Dumb Fest

June 12: Omaha at Slowdown w/ Culture Abuse

June 14:  Omaha at Milk Run w/ Waveless

June 19: Omaha at Milk Run w/ Weakwick

June 24: Omaha at West Wing w/ OAF

July 13:  Hammond at Rancho Relaxo w/ 86 Gemini

July 15:  Toronto at Faith / Void

July 16:  Montreal at Loud House

July 17: Ottawa at Pressed Cafe

July 24: Omaha at Milk Run w/ Warm Bodies & The Brain

July 29: Omaha at Reverb Lounge w/ Bent Life, Spine & Weekend Nachos  

Aug 27:  St Louis at PU Fest

Sep 2:  On an actual moving boat on the Missouri River

Sep 3:  Omaha at Nebraska Hardcore Showcase 7

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Belles & Whistles premiere “Fire” lyric video

Omaha country mother-daughter duo Belles & Whistles releases its lyric video today that serves as a preview for its upcoming summer EP release. Belles & Whistles wrote “Fire” last October in Nashville with the creative assistance of Nashville country songwriters Jay Brunswick and Josh Dunne, and recorded it alongside five other songs at Nashville’s Legends Studio (Lee Brice, American Young). In a recent exchange of emails, Jaymie Jones nonchalantly told me the group had just finished band rehearsal for its opening set for Lee Brice at Stir Cove on June 9. This is just one of many waves Jaymie and Kelli Jones have been making in the recent months. 

The reverse-effect lyric video “Fire” was filmed in the Jones backyard with help from Kelli’s friend and University of Nebraska-Omaha art student, Emily Troe. Jaymie says “Fire” is an indicative introduction to the new EP, and that the group has been working on developing a more organic sound down in Nashville.

The organic nature of “Fire” was planted by daughter Kelli during the songwriting process.

“What inspired the song was a line Kelli had, “Mama said never play with fire,’” Jaymie said. “From there we all sat around and talked about difficult relationships we’d been in, and got inspired with the metaphor of how fire can burn you, and how toxic relationships burn you.” Watch “Fire” below, and catch Belles & Whistles with Matthew Scott and Sam Ayer & The Love Affair in Sidney, Neb., Aug. 5 for the Good Living Tour. RSVP here.

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Thick Paint and BOTH at Duffy’s

HN multimedia intern Lauren Farris went to Duffy’s last night to cover experimental synth project Thick Paint (Graham Ulicny) and Omaha hip-hop duo BOTH.

See Farris’ photos of the show below:

BOTH Thick Paint

 

 

 

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Concert Round-Up

Canadian heavy metal singer/songwriter and former frontman of the popular ’80s group Skid Row, Sebastian Bach is coming to Vega tonight. Opening acts include Finland heavy metal band Santa Cruz and Lincoln groove group AM/FM. RSVP to the $25 show here.  

Also tonight, soulful singer-songwriter Leon Bridges plays SumTur Amphitheatre in Papillion, alongside opening retro-soul solo artist Andra Day. Bridges, a Fort Worth, Texas, native and Columbia Records artist embodies sounds of ’50s and ’60s soul with a hint of modern swing. Watch the official music video for his 2015 debut single “Coming Home” below and RSVP to the $25 show here.

Raunchy country-rock singer/songwriter Wheeler Walker Jr. plays the Bourbon tonight. The Lexington, Kentucky-native is best known for his live performances and often vulgar lyricism that can be heard in “Drop Em Out” from Walker’s newest release Redneck Shit. RSVP to the $18 show here.

For a full list of concerts happening this week, head to our statewide calendar. If you do not see your show or one you plan to attend, add it yourself here. This week, send your news tips, story ideas and song submissions to former editorial intern Gabriella Parsons, who will be running HN’s website through June 1. Reach her at gabriellap@hearnebraska.org