Silver Street Studios teams up with Josh Hoyer for emotional studio track; Sleep Sinatra releases another Lincoln-Omaha collaboration; Thirst Things First tells origin story in video series

Silver Street teams up with Josh Hoyer for emotional studio track

Licensing music for film, advertising and television use can be a valuable moneymaker for any studio. Silver Street Records has started a songwriting project that aims to build an original library of songs for that purpose, featuring a rotating cast of local musicians.

Silver Street released “Mercy” yesterday, written and recorded by studio boss Charlie Hull and performed by members of Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal. They include Hoyer, drummer Memphis Shepherd and trombone player Tommy Van Den Berg.

Hull says that “Mercy” is the first in a line of songs marked specifically for licensing. Hoyer’s thick soulful vocals lend themselves to contrition, as the narrator literally begs for mercy from a loved one. Shepherd adds his own percussive flair, while horns accent the track.

Soul Colossal is currently on tour, playing a string of Colorado dates this weekend on the way back to their live album release next weekend (RSVP here).

Hear “Mercy” below via its lyric video:

Lyrics and Music By Charles Hull
Arranged by Charles Hull and James Fleege
Produced and Engineered By James Fleege
Recorded at Silver Street Sound, Ashland NE
Mastered by Doug Van Sloun

Vocals – Josh Hoyer
Guitar – James Fleege
Wurlitzer – Charles Hull and Jon Coleman
Hammond B3 – Jon Coleman
Bass – James Fleege
Drums – Memphis Shepherd
Trombone – Tommy Van Den Berg
Saxophone – Elektra Wrenholt

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Sleep Sinatra releases collaborative track with Omaha’s VERZE

Rapper Sleep Sinatra continues his (unofficial) series of Lincoln-Omaha collaboration with “Yasuke’s Betrayal,” which features Omaha emcee VERZE, who heads A.R.T. Collective. Produced by Lincoln-based CrooksDaKid, the track is signature Sleep Sinatra, with the Lincoln emcee’s tempered yet confident delivery and a retro soul/funk feel. VERZE adds a dash of dark energy for his turn at the mic.

Hear the “Yasuke’s Betrayal” below:

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Thirst Things First tells origin story through video series

If you’re unfamiliar with the Thirst Things First background story, in which no-name human telemarketers are recruited by the transmission BOOT:\\ to fill his propagandizing band, frontman Mikey Elfers is telling the story in a new web series.

The second installment of TTF OILIGINS, “No Name Telemarketers,” debuted yesterday. In this episode, we meet deadbeats Al (Alec Wise) and Mikey (Elfers) as they stumble through their jobs and are ridden by their boss, Jarsh (Josh Miller, who recently joined TTF). The series — releasing out of chronological order Tarantino-style — began a month ago with episode V, in which we meet Laser, a professional wrestler who lives in his basement.

It’s a silly story that promises to get even weirder as more videos are released. Credit Elfers devotion to the gimmick; in addition, the band plans to release new EP J.O.R.D. Don’t Play sometime over the next few months.

See Episode II of OILIGINS below, and catch up with the first installment here.

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Concert Round-up

Tonight, GrownKidz hip-hop collective releases its debut album #ImaGrownKid at The Waiting Room with fellow Omaha artists TKO, Greco, Phillup Banks, & Big Mista. The album contains a five-part collaborative effort “Omaha vs Everybody,” featuring a different set of Omaha emcees on each track. #ImaGrownKid was produced by Omaha emcee Menace. RSVP to the show here.

Tonight in Lincoln, Denver hard-rock trio BANDITS plays Duffy’s Tavern with Lincoln’s Night Push and South Dakota hardcore band Earth Groans. BANDITS plays a breakneck melodic brand of hard rock, distilled on its recently released Change EP. Listen in here. RSVP to the 9 p.m. show here.

And back in Omaha, Saintseneca plays Reverb Lounge with band-member side projects The Sidekicks and Yowler. Saintseneca released its third LP Such Things October 9 on ANTI- Records. Read our review of the new album, which was recorded at ARC Studios, here. RSVP to the 9 p.m. show here.

As always, head to our statewide calendar at hearnebraska.org/events for a fuller listing of shows. If you do not see your show or one you plan to attend, email us at news@hearnebraska.org, or add it yourself. And keep those song submissions, story ideas and news tips coming.