Park & Go

Nebraska has produced some great bands over the past few decades—311, Bright Eyes, Cursive—but something’s been missing from its energetic music scene. Something feels unsettled. There’s a fissure in our ability to showcase Nebraska’s music to the rest of the world in vivacious solidarity.  Instead of cohesion, we exude division. It’s Omaha, Lincoln and all other Nebraskan cities battling to be the state’s musical mecca. Is this really “the good life?”

Fear not music lovers; a solution is already in the works. This solution is
Hear Nebraska, a nonprofit organization that aims to unify Nebraska’s music scene and provide resources for Nebraskan bands to promote their work.

The organization just launched their website, HearNebraska.org, last month so that it can serve as a state-wide hub for bands, photographers, venue owners and concertgoers to check out articles, pictures, videos, band bios, upcoming concerts and forums discussing all things music in Nebraska. The website is intended to be entirely user-oriented so that anyone can post their thoughts or reviews on local music and upload their own multimedia content as well.

Andrew Norman, founder of Hear Nebraska with his wife, Angie, started the organization last summer as his master’s degree project while at Michigan State University.

“I’m a journalist, and I love Nebraskan music,” the Imperial native said. “I’ve been working on a master’s project trying to find something that I’d like to be a part of and realized there’s a big void in Nebraska music coverage. There are a few publications that cover it, but not nearly enough; so that’s what we try to do.”

Norman, who attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to earn his bachelor’s in journalism, said the ultimate goal of the organization is to promote Nebraska’s music as one solidified scene, not as a stratified one.

“We want Lincoln and Omaha bands to come together as a state, not just separately. We should all be proud of what the state’s producing. Our potential to have a larger presence nationally is going to depend on building the scene as one.”

The organization consists of familiar downtown Lincoln faces like Jeremy Buckley, Lincoln Calling Coordinator, Scott Hatfield, owner of Duffy’s Tavern and Tim McMahan, founder of Lazy-I, as well as roughly two dozen other contributors. Also on the team are programmer Ian Hewlett, listings editor John Wenz, and editorial intern Jordan Minnick.

Along with providing local bands with the resources they need to make themselves known, the website also offers a look into Nebraska’s rich musical history by exposing some prominent Nebraskan bands from the embryonic years of our state’s music scene in a column entitled “Echoes.” The column offers a rare glimpse at a time period often forgotten and dusts off those melodies that once enlivened Nebraska’s streets.

“We’re trying to document in real time the cultural history and trying to expose some of what is forgotten in Nebraska music history,” Norman said.  “The Echoes column is highlighting some really awesome bands. It’s fun; people might find someone they like in there.”

After achieving their nonprofit status in December, Hear Nebraska is looking forward to creating ample opportunities for bands and concertgoers to connect, as well as to illustrate what makes Nebraska music so great. Being a nonprofit, Norman encourages the community to support the arts and help the organization become the best outlet for local music.

“We’re accepting donations to help us keep working on our programs; 100% of the donations go directly to our programming,” he said.

Hear Nebraska is the genesis of something precious and something that’s immensely valuable for our state. It’s beginning to fill the voids of Nebraska music coverage, suture the disconnects between cities and bands and restore those evocative feelings of “the good life” that reside within us all. 

To learn more about Hear Nebraska’s efforts and how you can support this local organization, visit their website and Facebook page.