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Omaha Artist Spotlights

Here are ways you can discover and support local artists right now.

April 23, 2020

Whether you’re randomly crooning from a balcony, having a dance party at home while your cat stares at you, or catching up with some favorite tunes, you can’t deny the importance of music during the good times and the bad. But as we all know, music communities around the country are facing huge challenges right now that won’t be solved quickly or easily, including in our own backyard. That’s why we want to talk about the people that make up our community, the individuals and the songs that keep us going and inspire us when we need it most. 

Now is a great time to show your favorite Omaha-area acts some extra love, and discover some new ones. Stream, share, and if you’re able, make a purchase to directly support local artists affected by coronavirus cancellations. 

New artists will be added to this page each week. 

 

Are you an artist that would like to be featured? Our open call ended on May 27, but you can still get in touch with Maha.

Above: Muscle Cousins at Maha Festival 2020 

Bach Mai

Indie Pop Punk

Bach Mai find their strength in song lyrics that address the highs and lows in life. Mistakes, broken hearts, love, and hope are strewn across the band’s music, highlighting a particular vulnerability in their performance. 

Check out the acoustic anthem “Daybreak” from the 2016 album We’re Gone.. We Begin.

Listen https://spoti.fi/2zlFntx

Buy https://bachmai.bandcamp.com

Merch https://bachmaimusic.com/shop

 

Bad Self Portraits

Indie Pop

Bad Self Portraits have been rocking and rolling around Omaha for several years. A product of high school friendships, the band plays songs that tackle the ups and downs of growing up and getting old. 

Full of catchy riffs, their debut album, Amsterdam, came out in October! 

Listen/Buy https://badselfportraits.bandcamp.com/

Spotify https://spoti.fi/3cSnXTG

 

Uh Oh

Rock

An essential ingredient to the Omaha rock scene, Uh Oh have been at it for about five years now. Their long-awaited first full-length album, Stay Close, is “a collection of energetic and earnest flavors of indie rock” that came out just last fall.

Listen https://spoti.fi/3aN3PB3

Buy www.uhoh.bandcamp.com

Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWNJbSx3oRY

Names Without Numbers

Indie Power Pop

This four-piece is known for their “Jimmy Eat World mixed with Dashboard Confessional”-style sound, fine-tuned on their second full-length album, Silos & Smokestacks. Songs like “The Apathy Anthem” are best cranked up to 11! 

Listen https://spoti.fi/3bQjC3t

Buy https://www.nameswithoutnumbers.com/

Merch https://nameswithoutnumbers.bandcamp.com/merch

 

The Real Zebos

Indie Pop/Rock

Genre-defying group The Real Zebos try to make every song differently. The band is “working hard to win over crowds using catchy hooks, strobe lights, and razor-sharp jawlines.” 

Their bouncy brand new single, “Nectarine,” came out in April.

Listen https://spoti.fi/3d7nfSU

Buy https://therealzebos.bandcamp.com/

Merch https://www.therealzebos.com/merch

 

Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal

Fresh Soul/Funk/R&B

Hammering keyboards, emboldened horns, and a freight train of a rhythm section all layered with Hoyer’s vocals to yield raucous funk and smooth soul. 

The band’s most recent LP, Do It Now, came out in 2019. 

Listen https://www.joshhoyer.com/music-1

Buy https://www.joshhoyer.com/merch

Spotify https://spoti.fi/2W03mHA

OJAI

Indie Pop

OJAI’s sound is a fresh and sincere mix of vocal melodies, roomy instrumentation, and the groove and punch of bass and drums. 

The trio’s third release, View from the Chandelier, just came out in April!

Listen https://spoti.fi/3bj5caO

Buy https://ojai.bandcamp.com/

Kris Lager Band

Feel Good Music

With nearly two decades of experience playing super high-energy shows in Nebraska and all around the country, Kris Lager Band is an Omaha music institution. This “joyful guitar-driven gumbo of goodness” is made for the stage, but while that’s on hold you can catch weekly live performances on the band’s Facebook page

Their most recent album, Spectrum, was released in 2019. 

Watch http://www.youtube.com/krislagerband

Listen https://spoti.fi/3dKmsr0

Buy https://www.krislagerband.com/store.html

Bailey Tamerius

Singer-songwriter

A rising songwriter on the scene since 2017, Bailey is known for playing “slow and sad love songs that will make you either want to cry or fall in love, depending on how you listen.” 

Her latest EP, Grown Up, came out last spring, with another in the works for release by the end of 2020. 

Listen https://spoti.fi/369A1xN

Buy https://baileytamerius.bandcamp.com/