GJX Daily

My biggest enjoyment these days is live music. It doesn’t matter if it’s jazz, blues, rock, or “americana” – I love good live music. And the quality of entertainment we get through the Omaha area is incredible. National acts playing small venues, and interacting with the audience. It’s great. I have to admit, the jazz scene in Omaha is not what it was, but indie, blues and americana are very strong in this area. By americana I mean a loosely defined genre that encompasses music that isn’t easy to box – potpourris of blues, country, folk, tex-mex, cajun, and so forth. You have to actively seek it out, it’s nothing you are going to hear on commercial radio. But I haven’t (willingly) listened to commercial radio for many years. It’s either NPR in the vehicle, or you can find such great independent radio stations and music on-line there’s not much reason to stoop to corporate radio. But I digress…

Friday night my 21 year old son took me to a show to see a particular favorite artist, Robert Earl Keen. Robert Earl Keen is a Texas songwiter, and one of the best. He’s right up there with Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett (he and Lyle were college roomates), Joe Ely, and others. A step below Townes Van Zandt, but who isn’t. It was a great time.

The opening act was a band called Cross Canadian Ragweed, out of Oklahoma. I have a few of their albums, and they play solid bar-rock, southern rock, and country-tinged rock. Most of the crowd was twenty-something, and they all seemed to know this band. I assumed they were all there to see The Boys From Oklahoma, as they’re called. By the time the set was over, the crowd was primed. By primed, I mean downright drunk. But that was OK, they were having fun and it was a fun crowd.

We were right up front. We got there early with our lawn chairs (it was an outdoor show) and set up in the front row. I love to be close, I like to watch the interplay between the musicians. Some bands are rehearsed to the point that they need very little on-stage communication. But some bands are loose – impromptu solos, set lists that change based on the crowd, and so forth. I enjoy watching how those bands communicate. By the time the show started, people were crowding in front of the front row of chairs, so we were forced to stand – but no big deal, we were in front, and were one of several hundred people up close.

After the first act, people didn’t disperse like I thought they would. The kid next to me turned to me and said “dude! Are you primed? I asked him if he knew who Robert Early Keen was, and he gave me an incredulous look, started trying to sing a song, attempted to knuckle me, and missed. I deduced he was a fan, but figured there couldn’t be many fans. After all, Robert Earl Keen was in his fifties, NOT a commercial artist played on the radio, so where would a twenty-something ever hear of REK?

The band came out, and the crowd went wild. I’m puzzled by the response, but pleased the band is getting a good reception. They started to play, and the entire audience was singing along. Every word. This went on through the entire show, the audience knew every song. I was amazed, but excited. It gives a person hope to know that people can seek out and enjoy music outside the realm of a Clear Channel corporate radio station. That they have the intelligence to recognize and appreciate a good song. It warmed my heart.

If our area can keep turning out good audiences to appreciate these musicians we’ll guarantee a good live music scene in the future. We have some aggressive and innovative bar owners booking music, like Terry O’Halleron, who will bring in a wide variety of artists, all great entertainment. All-in-all, Omaha’s a pretty decent place to live right now for a music lover.