Weekend Candy: OEA Awards, Grammys, Ranch Bowl Orphans and a ton more

I'm not going to do OEA Award predictions because I already know who's won. No, I can't tell you. It's a secret. Go to the awards and find out yourself. They're Sunday night at the Hilton Omaha. You can get tickets here.

Speaking of the Grammy Awards, I have written a whole column of predictions, which you can check out in the paper and on Omaha.com on Sunday. I also talked to Omahan Tom Ware, who's nominated to win a best album Grammy for his work on Lady Gaga's "You and I." Others nominated with Nebraska ties are jazz singer Karrin Allyson and the Chiara String Quartet. It would be great for Ware to win, but I'm guessing Adele will take home just about every trophy she's nominated for.

On Sunday night just before the Grammy telecast (it starts at 7 p.m.), I'll be doing a live chat right here on the blog and on Omaha.com/music. Tune in with me and we can talk the awards and performances. We can also mock people. It's fun.

Now, on with the shows coming this weekend:

• Tonight at the Waiting Room is a hard rock show headlined by The Wreckage. Show's at 9. $7 at the door.

• Slowdown is closed tonight, but reopens tomorrow with Pert Near Sandstone and The Big Deep. Expect a lot of banjo and toe-tapping. 9 p.m. show. $8 tickets.

• I like the lineup at O'Leaver's on Saturday night. It's Dirty Fluorescents' one-year anniversary show with Techlepathy, Comme Reel and Melissa Dundis. As usual, show starts at 9:30 p.m. with a $5 cover.

• If I were to pick a show for the weekend, I'd go to the MS Society benefit Saturday at the Waiting Room. Not only will Rock N Roll Suicide play David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" in its entirety, but a band called the Ranch Bowl Orphans will play a bunch of songs by bands that played the old bowling alley's stage a bunch of times. Bands such as Grasshopper Takeover, Clever, 5 Story Fall, The Fonzarellis and Blue Moon Ghetto are groups I saw there a lot.

• Singer-songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs plays the Waiting Room on Sunday. 9 p.m. show. $10 tickets.

• On Sunday after the OEA Awards, Slowdown also hosts an after-party. Snake Island! and BASSthoven play starting at 9:30 p.m. It's free with an OEAA ticket or $5 at the door.

OEA Awards: Comments from Marq Manner

There's been some issues with the comments system on the blog (and just problems with Blogger in general) today. Marq Manner, music man about town and an OEA Award organizer, had some comments for my blog post about the nominees and the OEA Awards in general.

Instead of hiding it on the comments section of that post, I wanted to break it out and make it bigger.

He makes lots of good points here and explains some of the ways decisions are made for the awards.

Hello Kevin,

Thank you for the announcement. I would like to comment on some points. Comments, suggestions, and perception of the awards show from both the press, public and musicians have played a huge role in shaping this event and the categories over the years.


-Until this year we have not gotten a response back from you or any OWH music reporter. I just assumed that employees of the OWH may not be able to be involved. if I missed a response back from you last year, I apologize. We still ask every year. I am glad that you will be involved this year as your opinion is valued. The nominees are decided by a small group who go over the public ballots that are compiled by an accounting firm. The full academy votes on the winners.

-There is no "alternative" category (we dropped that I think two years ago to go with just "indie" music. Adult Alternative is a radio format that six years ago was something that a lot of bands in Omaha fit into. It evolved into a songwriter category-and I will be suggesting it just be a singer-songwriter category next year. I personally am not a fan of that tag either and understand the confusion involved with it. It was skipped this year when talking about other changes that we were making.

-These are not my words-but this is what was decided by the board (of which there are more music members than ever before). "We felt that this was a way to open up the categories and competition a little more. Progressive and Funk feature tendencies that are similar in structure so we felt this would be a great combination. Again we made some changes this year that we felt would increase the interest of the awards. Moving Funk from the Soul/R&B/Gospel category into a group that we felt was a better representation of the scene seemed like a positive move. I hope this clarifies. More feedback is always appreciated."

-Every year things evolve in the Omaha music scene and we try to evolve with it. We also listen to comments from the press, public, and musicians and take those comments seriously. Some other changes that we have made this year based on suggestions/complaints are that we "dropped" easy listening from the Jazz category. This is in response to members of the jazz community and because a "vocal standards/easy listening" contingent is not making an impact in Omaha at this time. We have dropped best "Christian" and moved gospel into the soul category. We added EDM (Electronic Dance Music) to the DJ category to try an represent more of the dance music scene in Omaha. We also shortened the Country/Americana category from four words to two. :)

-Some nominees are public nominees. Some bands and artists get their fan bases active and thus you may see some bands and artists on the list that many might not be familiar with. In the past some names have come out of the public nominees that might have fallen under the radar had it not been for the top public nominee. I would love to say that I know everything happening in every age group or scene in town-but I do not. People like Daniel Christian, Ember Schrag, and others have come out of these nominations. Both of those artists tour more and are/were more active in their "scenes" than many of the nominated bands by the academy in those given years.

-The OEEA's are about the region. A band like the Minnahoonies play many shows in Omaha proper and have played OEAA showcases. We do not feel it is fair to exclude bands from the area. Shenandoah, Iowa is not going to have a music awards show nor is any other town around them. The closest one is Omaha and this is where they play.

-Many city and state awards shows around the country recognize artists after they have "made it". We choose to do so as well. The Minnesota Music Awards always did (I think this is defunct), The Minnesota Black Music Awards do this, The Boston Music Awards do this (heck they named the ancient Peter Wolf of the J. Geils band as album of the year last year), City of Music (Seattle) awards major artists (Brandi Carlisle, Fleet Foxes, etc. though it is a different format than ours), as does the Austin Music Awards.

I appreciate the announcement andyou having a section where are able to comment. Thank you.

MarQ Manner
Music Nominating Co-Chair Omaha Entertainment And Arts Awards

OEAA's announces music nominees

It's time to name the best in Omaha music. At least, that's the intention of the Omaha Entertainment And Arts Awards.

On Saturday, the nominations were released. And, after some voting, the winners will be picked in February.

While I think this is one of the better nomination lists I've ever seen from the OEA Awards, it's still flawed.

Why is "best adult" combined with "alternative" and "songwriter? And why is there a category that just says "indie?" Those bands would fit under rock, alternative and singer/songwriter. Why is "funk" paired with "prog" and "experimental?" And who are the Minnahoonies and why are they voted one of the best rock bands? I've never heard of them. (Upon further research, they're from Shenandoah, which should also disqualify them.)

Most pressing of all, why are Bright Eyes and Tim Kasher even in this fight? Yes, they are two of the biggest names in Omaha music, but they're not in the same league as these other guys (nor are Emphatic, which released a major-label album).

Putting those guys in the same category as Matt Cox Band and Galvanized Tron is like nominating the Yankees and the Omaha Stormchasers for "best baseball team." They're not on the same level. I think I know who's going to win.

Also, when Bright Eyes wins best artist, will Conor Oberst finally show up to pick it up his award?

Of course, it comes from the process by which nominees are picked. Nominations are submitted by the public. Then "the academy" votes on the nominees to choose the winners.

(Note: I'm supposedly an academy member, but I've never voted. I've also never received a ballot to vote, so that explains that. Hopefully, this year I'll be able to participate.)

Still, the nominees are mostly right. There's a lot of good music on that list. And it's a great starting point for someone not familiar with the scene to maybe familiarize themselves.

Anyway, the 2012 awards show will go down on Feb. 12 at Harrah's sometime in February. The awards are moving back to Omaha (they've been in CB in recent years), but the venue hasn't yet been decided.

You probably want to see the nominees. Check them out after the jump.

Read them and let me know what you think in the comments.

OEAA summer showcase lineup announced

Once again, the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards summer showcase is upon us. Over two nights and five venues in Benson, 58 bands will perform.

You get to see them for $10/night or $15 for both nights.

While you're there, vote for your favorite band. Voting boxes will be at each venue and the band with the most votes will get to perform at Maha Music Festival.

Tons of good bands are on the bill and pretty much every genre is represented, so there's a little something for everyone.

Check out the schedule:

Friday, July 8

Waiting Room Lounge
8:00-8:40 - The Abstract
8:55-9:35 - Jerry Pranksters
9:50-10:30 - Dirtfedd
10:45-11:25 - Rock Paper Dynamite
11:40-12:20 - InDreama
12:35-1:05 - Somasphere
1:15-2:00 - BASSthoven

The Sydney
8:00-8:40 - Kansville Boys
8:55-9:35 - Syke
9:50-10:30 - Mitch Gettman Band
10:45-11:25 -The Seen
11:40-12:20 - Lonely Estates
12:35-1:05 - We Be Lions

Barley Street Tavern
8:55-9:35 - The Cards
9:50-10:30 - Betties
10:45-11:25 - K. Bandit
11:40-12:20 - Cannonista
12:35-1:05 - Big Deep

Burke's Pub
8:55-9:35 - Kyle Harvey
9:50-10:30 - Andrew Bailie as The Moscow Mule
10:45-11:25 - All Young Girls Are Machine Guns
11:40-12:20 - Enjoli
12:35-1:05 - Matt Whipkey

The Pizza Shoppe Collective
8:55-9:35 - Family Picnic
9:50-10:30 - Pharmacy Spirits
10:45-11:25 - Midland Band
11:40-12:20 - Vibenhai
12:35-1:05 - Edge of Arbor

Saturday, July 9

Waiting Room Lounge
8:00-8:40 - Broken Crown
8:55-9:35 - Skypiper
9:50-10:30 - Galvanized Tron
10:45-11:25 - Sister Soliel
11:40-12:20 - Funk Trek
12:35-1:05 - Blue Martian Tribe
1:15-2:00 am - $pencelove

The Sydney
8:00-8:40 - Fizzle Like A Flood
8:55-9:35 - Lepers
9:50-10:30 - Dim Light
10:45-11:25 - Machete Archive
11:40-12:20 - Witness Tree
12:35-1:05 - End In Red

Barley Street Tavern
8:00-8:40 - Dive Kings
8:55-9:35 - Millions Of Boys
9:50-10:30 - Blue Rosa
10:45-11:25 - Scru Face Jean
11:40-12:20 - Bloodcow
12:35-1:05 - The Answer Team

Burke's Pub
8:00-8:40 - 24 Hour Cardlock
8:55-9:35 - Daniel Christian
9:50-10:30 - Tara Vaughan
10:45-11:25 - Manny Coon
11:40-12:20 - E-Rawq
12:35-1:05 - Vago

The Pizza Shoppe Collective
8:55-9:35 - Jus. B
9:50-10:30 - Naked Plywood
10:45-11:25 - Citizen Band
11:40-12:20 - DamonThe Torpedoes: A Tom Petty Tribute
12:35-1:05 - Young Pflames

Mike Mogis has been busy; OEA showcase on Friday

It seems like everywhere I turn, I keep hearing about Mike Mogis.

Lately, he's been a busy guy. Last year, he recorded, produced and performed with the Monsters of Folk.

Pete Yorn's album, which dropped last year, was recorded at ARC and produced by Mogis and so was the solo album by Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, which was also out in 2009..

News today was that The Low Anthem is having their new record mixed by Mogis. Their previous effort, "Oh My God Charlie Darwin," is fantastic and they actually played at Slowdown on Sunday night. Frontman Ben Knox Miller told Paste Magazine that Bright Eyes' "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" absolutely blew them away.

The new Low Anthem record, their third, is due in September.

Lately, a lot of folks have been talking about how Mogis and Conor Oberst have been working on some new Bright Eyes stuff over the past few months, which would make sense. He told Spinner that BE would probably get together after Monsters of Folk concluded its tour, which happened months ago.

ARC Studios is basically at Mogis' house and was built by he and neighbor Conor for them to record Bright Eyes, even though he said last September that they had yet to do so. But Mogis said having the studio right next to their homes has its advantages.

"We text, 'Do you want to come and listen to this guitar part,' and he'll come up," Mogis told Spinner.

Wonder what else we'll see from Mogis and friends in the near future.

* * *

Anybody going to the OEA Award showcase this weekend? Yes, it's in Council Bluffs, which a lot of people are fretting about.

But I like the idea of moving it out of Benson from time to time. And it's not like Council Bluffs artists aren't eligible for the OEAs.

Anyway, a $10 wristband gets you into all five venues. Looks like we have 22 artists on tap for Friday. Happy hunting.

Here's the schedule, taken right from oea-awards.com.

Barleys
8 p.m. — Clock Tease
9  — Minnaoonies
10 — Thousand Houses
11 — Fino
midnight — Dive Kings

The Venue
9 — Shine
10 — Strap On Halo
11 — Whipkey/Zimmerman
midnight —   Dielated

Fiddlin Monkey
8:40 — All Young Girls Are Machine Guns
9:40 — Kyle Harvey
10:40 — Jaymie Jones
11:40 — Platte River Rain

Glory Days
7:30 — Fork In The Road
8:20 — Chantilly Reign
9:20 — Love Technicians
10:20 — Manna
11:20 — Mr. Important

T’Z
8:40 — Benn Seiff
9:40 — Scott Severin
10:40 — MC DL
11:40 — Black On High