by Jeremy Buckley
The word "Nebraska" comes from the Otoe Indian word meaning "flat water." But regardless of tired generalizations that still frame the state as having a slow, dusty, backwards environment with as few ripples as the Platte River, we at Hear Nebraska see a diverse culture stirring in the good life.
It's interesting to see Nebraska in names of a restaurant in Spain (the owners reportedly just liked the word) and bands like simply, Nebraska (London).
(Check out the Hear Nebraska forum thread about songs that reference Nebraska.)
I’m a big fan of The Hype Machine, a website blog that aggregates MP3s from other sites. It’s a great place to get remixes, alternate versions and mash-ups. A search for "Nebraska" revealed a band called The Coast of Nebraska.
The band's bio states: “The Coast of Nebraska washed up on the languid shores of Upstate New York armed with a dripping pen, a satchel of sinewy melodies, and an unquenchable lust for pop euphoria.”
The band's drummer, Will Hoback, was kind enough to reply to a quick list of questions about his band’s association with the word and our fair state.
Hear Nebraska: There are a lot of references locally to not having coasts, sounds like you're doing something similar. A lot of states don't have coasts. Why Nebraska for the band name?
Will Hoback: The band name was inspired by the Pavement song "Starlings in the Slipstream.” The lyrics go “there’s no women in Alaska / theres no creoles in Vermont / theres no coast of Nebraska / my mother I forgot.”
HN: Do you have any ties to the state? If not, what do you know about the state?
WH: I don't believe we have any real ties to the state. Although, one of our good friends, Ruthie Johnson, is from Omaha and is a die-hard Cornhuskers fan as well as a Coast of Nebraska fan.
HN: Should we expect to see you guys live in Nebraska anytime soon?
WH: We don't have anything planned at the moment, although we would love to visit! We're looking into the feasibility of an "up Cali down the middle US" tour for summer, which would definitely include a stop or two in Nebraska.
*****
Another band that popped up during my search was Frontier Folk Nebraska, based out of Covington, Ky. Travis Talbert, lead guitarist for the band, had this to say about the band’s moniker:
“Frontier Folk Nebraska was a jam up of two people's ideas. One member of the band had the phrase "frontier folk" and the other had the word "Nebraska." Nebraska, the part you are interested in, was at first a pretty naked homage to the Bruce Springsteen album of the same name.
"The band started out as a lo-fi folk sort of sound, but was never intended to be just one thing or sound.
"Frontier Folk Nebraska is about just what it says, the frontier. The band started in a sparse single layer, tipping its hat to the sounds of the Boss's most intimate album, and has grown into something much more raucous and textured, but still solely rooted in simple song structures.
"We're certainly not a folk band in the sense of folk purists, but we will always be a folk band in the spirit of playing songs of the common people in an attempt to give a voice to anyone that is trying to find one."
The London electronic band called Nebraska has a knack for creating infectious disco tunes. Listen to a few tracks via Daylight Proper.
In addition to the bands with "Nebraska" in the name, I found a number of songs with "Nebraska" in the title. Here’s a quick list:
• Dan Bern begins his Feb. 20, 2011, set at the Highline Ballroom in New York with a cover of the Boss’s “Nebraska.” Listen to his version streaming here.
• Deer Tick’s cover of the same song here.
• The Sad Bastard Book Club penned a song called Eviction Party in the United State of Nebraska!
• Shawn Lee and Clutchy Hopkins have a song called 70 MPH Isn’t Fast Enough To Get Out of Nebraska.
• And as a bonus, here’s a live recording from Morrissey called “The Boy With A Thorn On His Side” from when he performed at the Orpheum Theatre in Omaha on May 11, 2007.
Jeremy Buckley is Hear Nebraska's managing editor. He promotes shows for the Bourbon Theatre and books them at many venues through Poster Child Productions. Contact him at jeremyb@hearnebraska.org.