Omaha songwriter David Mainelli spent much of the last two years seriously ill.

When he finally started feeling well earlier this year, Mainelli dove back into writing, pursuing an MFA in the craft.

Now, with a novel in consideration for publishing and relationships with writers and publishers all over the country, the former restaurateur might be experiencing somewhat of a creative renaissance.

Mainelli’s band, Bazile Mills, began taking shape earlier this year too. The Americana band released its first EP over the weekend. Check out Burnt Red Sun here.

Mainelli told us he reconnected with Omaha show-booker MarQ Manner and ended up playing a couple shows at The Library Pub’s songwriter nights in Omaha. Soon after, he and his group of assembled players were playing The Waiting Room.

“After traveling around the world for many years, I had become very interested in writing about America and all that is good and bad about it in my work,” Mainelli says.

That intense focus on his homeland led to Mainelli discovering a ghost town in Northern Nebraska, Bazile Mills. The American-roots and suggestive mystique of the name seemed like a perfect fit for Mainelli’s music project that churns up the roots rock of Townes Van Zandt and early Wilco.

And Mainelli’s ever the fiction writer, crafting songs influenced by the world around him.

“(My good friend) told me a story about his dad being a rebel farmer and getting arrested,” Mainelli says. “That became ‘Beaten Down Man.’ I also spent time in a lot of other small towns in my travels. More songs came out of it. And the band has embraced it.”

That band includes a roster of players who, like Mainelli, have deep Nebraska music roots.

Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Laura Streeter played with Gauge in the mid-90s. Drummer Robb Clemans played with Driven, opening for Sammy Hagar. Dan Stein plays bass and lapsteel and he cut his teeth touring with Kris Lager Band in California. Mainelli also plays with guitarist Tim Rozmajzl and guitarist Sam Vetter, who Mainelli calls the band’s “mensch.”

You can catch Bazile Mills with The Talbott Brothers at Reverb Lounge on Friday. RSVP here.

* * *

Focus Mastering guru Doug Van Sloun has added his touch to everything from local names like Beep Beep, UUVVWWZ and Bright Eyes internationally known acts like Man Man, First Aid Kit and Tokyo Police Club.

This week, Van Sloun received a platinum sales award for his work on German record Mundart-Balladen by Gola. Just another feather in the cap of one of Nebraska’s most important and least visible musical figures.

The album is a collection of Americana ballads sung in German. Turn on the subtitles and learn a little more about the record in this video:

* * *

If your News Year’s Eve plans include seeing seminal Lincoln prog-rock trio The Machete Archive reunite for one evening, you might head down to Duffy’s Tavern sooner rather than later. Pre-sale for the show began yesterday afternoon. RSVP to the show here.

Pre-sale tickets are $10 and will be available at Duffy’s until they’re gone. Duffy’s opens at 4 p.m.

Each ticket comes with a Hear Nebraska sticker and The Machete Archive’s full-length CD. A selection of tickets include a CD by another local band, such as Powers, Ideal Cleaners, Jodie Loves Hinckley and Drive-By-Honky.

The Machete Archive plays with The Kickback, The Renfields and Powers.

Keep your eyes on Hear Nebraska for a forthcoming Love Drunk video that features The Machete Archive.

* * *

Omaha experimental electronic act Erinome dropped its single, “Fracture,” yesterday.

The ambient single is available on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. The eight-minute track builds at snail-pace, imperceptibly bending its own atmosphere around thick, ghost-industrial layers. As a reference point, if your interest was piqued by Bus Gas’s drone album Snake Hymns earlier this year, “Fracture” is worth checking out.

Erinome also produced a music video to accompany “Fracture.”