KZUM hosts a fundraiser, a full day of music, food and parades is going down in Benson tomorrow. Tickets for a couple big Waiting Room shows went on sale today.
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Flippin’ Awesome: a KZUM benefit goes down at The Bourbon tonight, featuring Oketo, Handsomer Jaws, Amateur Geologists and Meadow Rave.
You might be more familiar with Oketo as the Jeazlepeats, a young Lincoln band channeling Fleet Foxes and Arcade Fire. After some lineup shuffling and a new batch of songs, they’ve reemerged in their current form, the deeply strummed chords and moving melodies still populate the tracks. With a record on the horizon, Oketo appeared on Hear Nebraska FM Monday night for an acoustic performance. Listen to the tracks from that session here. KZUM, Nebraska’s only independent, community-powered radio station, is home to HNFM Monday nights from 8 to 10. So naturally, we’re big fans.
Benson Days kicks off tomorrow at 8 a.m. The community celebration features a pancake breakfast, parade and about 10 hours of live music. You can see the full lineup on Brad Hoshaw’s blog (strangely, the only place I could find the musical billing). Here are some highlights: Rebecca Lowry and Jessica Errett of All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, a ukulele-driven soul band, play at 1 p.m. Hoshaw, one of Omaha’s more prominent singer-songwriters, plays at 2. John Klemmensen and the Party, fresh off a northwestern tour and on the cusp of a new album, will surely be throwing some new material out there. They play at 7 p.m. And Her Flyaway Manner, a veteran prog-punk band from Lincoln takes the stage at 9.
Be on the lookout next week for a piece about Her Flyaway Manner and other prog-punk bands’ lasting influence on the Lincoln music scene.
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Following Benson Days tomorrow, The Waiting Room hosts A Benefit for the Child Saving Institute. Child Saving Institute, an Omaha non-profit, helps children and families through counseling, foster care and adoption to prevent child abuse and neglect. Virginia Tanous, Belles and Whistles, Sarah Benck, All Young Girls Are Machine Guns and Edge of Arbor play the show.
Benck might be best known for her blues work with the Robbers, but it seems lately she’s been increasingly appearing solo. Tomorrow’s a busy day for Jessica Errett, who plays first with Rebecca Lowry in the afternoon, then fronts her band Edge of Arbor that night, then plays guitar with Lowry and All Young Girls are Machine Guns again that night. Belles and Whistles, arguably one of Nebraska’s most popular country acts, pairs mother and daughter for a harmony-dripping contemporary country sound.
Following up on some marquee 1% show announcements, tickets for Brother Ali and Dum Dum Girls both went on sale at 10 this morning. Brother Ali, the Minnesota emcee — associated with Rhymesayers and Atmosphere — last played Nebraska at the Waiting Room about a year ago. He returns Sept. 13. Dum Dum Girls, at the Waiting Room on Oct. 20 played Maha Music Festival in 2012. The Sub Pop band has released three critically acclaimed albums in the last four years, including January’s Too True. Tickets are $15 for both shows.
As always send me any tips, advice, extra large t-shirts and Meat Loaf 8-tracks.