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OCTOBER 2017

Politics: Krist to follow (I) path in bid for governor

DisH: Gluten Punishment

coVER: Futures at stake for DREAMers w/DACA

coVER: The Law, A Legislator and Lives on the Line

HEaRtlanD HEaling: Nature’s Way

PicKs: Cool Things to do in October Nebraska DREAMers from Hong Kong and Kenya on CNN and in the L.A. Times

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HooDoo: Monstrous Music Choices

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CONTENTS

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9/14/17 OCTOBER 2017

8:19 AM

Omaha Jobs: Google for Jobs

A streamlined search

their specific needs and wants. Likewise, recruiters tire of sifting through professional profiles and resumes that don’t fit the bill. Google Jobs changes all this, returning pertinent results from all over the Internet. Google utilizes its impressive AI capability to make job searches more specific and intuitive. One of its most useful features is the tracking function that lets you to pick up where you last left off in your job search. This means you don’t have to sift through the same jobs you already viewed to find your way to the latest postings.

Google Jobs has the capability you naturally expect from any Google product – it can streamline a job search to return impressive, applicable results without unrelated clutter. One primary complaint of job seekers is it’s difficult to find open positions that meet

Catch the right attention Job posters can prominently display their job postings, and immediately grab the attention of prospective candidates. These featured job postings are designed to only appear in the search results of job seekers who fit the qualifications needed for

Google changed the way we get information, where we find places and how we run a business. It’s no surprise it also changed the way we look for jobs. Last year, Google released its “Google for Jobs” program, which job seekers and recruiters quickly labeled a “game changer” in the way job seekers and companies connect with one another.

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OCTOBER 2017

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OMAHA JOBS

the job. It’s one way to save time and only have conversations with people actually eligible for the job. Collaboration Google collaborated with major job search websites when it designed Google Jobs, and still utilizes information from those sites to deliver job search and candidate results. Unlike other job websites that pull from multiple sources, Google Jobs uses technology to nearly eliminate duplicate postings. This allows users to get through the listings quicker and more efficiently. It also lets job seekers look in one place instead of scouring multiple websites. And it’s desktop and mobile compatible. Using Google Jobs To use this relatively new function is as easy as conducting a typical Google search. Simply type the type of job you’re looking for into the Google Jobs search bar, and up pop pertinent and nearby jobs. The results will reveal the job, a brief description, the location and when the posting originated. It also gives you where it was originally posted, such as LinkedIn, Monster CareerBuilder, etc., and provides a link to let you to apply easily and quickly at that website. This will likely navigate you away from Google. The relevant jobs are bundled together within the Google Jobs listing. This lets you filter those jobs directly supplied by Google Jobs from those that just happened to show up in your results. As with most search results, Google Jobs cannot guarantee the legitimacy of its job postings. So just because one appears there does not mean it’s sure to be valid and still available. Tips for job seekers As with any Google search, the more information you provide, the better your results likely will be. Give Google Jobs all the qualifiers you can think of and it will return

results that significantly cut your job search time. While “accounting jobs in Omaha” might yield great results, something more specific – such as “part time accounting jobs in South Omaha” or “full time CPA accounting jobs in Papillion” – helps Google cut through jobs that don’t specifically fit what you seek. Tips for recruiters Google provides tips to hiring companies to help their job postings stand out and get noticed by the right candidates. To ensure your post is categorized as a “job posting” is one important step to get these posts noticed. Check out all of Google’s tips here for hiring companies. The future of job postings Eventually, Google Jobs will match the right jobs to the right candidates based on sophisticated algorithms and all the information to which Google has access – which is, of course, an impressive amount of information. Google Jobs will streamline the way people find open positions online. It will also alter how companies find new talent. Google and its Jobs function have changed the way things are done yet again.

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OCTOBER 2017

KRIST TO FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PATH IN BID FOR GOVERNOR BY LEO ADAM BIGA

NEWS

SENATOR BOB KRIST WITH HIS WIFE PEGGY AND FAMILY

tate Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha knows the steep climb ahead in his 2018 gubernatorial challenge. The moderate has left the Republican Party to run as an Independent against Nebraska’s deep-pocketed Trumpian incumbent, Pete Ricketts, in this Red state. The GOP’s long viewed the vote-his-own-mind Krist as a rogue. The U.S. Air Force veteran entered the Unicameral as an appointee. He twice won election to his District 10 seat. Not towing the conservative line saw him clash with Gov. Dave Heineman over prenatal care for illegal immigrants. Krist advocates state juvenile justice and adult corrections reforms and takes Gov. Ricketts to task for inaction on these issues. The state GOP crucified Krist for leaving the party and he fully expects an attack campaign. But bolting made sense for someone variously described as “passionate,” “fiery” “nonconformist,” “bulldog,” “hurricane,” “contrarian” and “vocal critic.” “Yeah, I do own all those very easily,” said Krist, who’s married with two adult children. “I’ve been accused of running with my heart on my sleeve and I do sometimes, but still I remember who I represent. For me, staying

on script, staying very to the letter is tough. It’s not the way I do business.” He ascribed his maverick ways to “a family upbringing that taught me to question and rationalize through issues” and being “educated by the Jesuits at Creighton Prep.” “Interestingly enough. my time in the military I was rewarded for thinking outside the box and solving problems. We used to say in Air Power, if you want to succeed you make a plan and that plan is something from which to deviate. So, it’s always been in my nature to look for the right answers. It’s never been what someone is going to tell me to do or what the party line or the dictate should be.” Krist, 60, retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2000. He feels his military experience prepared him to lead. “My last few years in the military my job culminated in being chief of plans and programs for the largest wing in Air Combat Command. A lot of detail, a lot of logistics. Being able to compartmentalize and working through problems and finding solutions.” continued on page 8 y

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OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS

y continued on page 6 This mission-driven approach carried over into the Nebraska Unicameral. “I like to define a problem and find a pathway to success. Sometimes you have to develop an overall strategic approach concerning your task and solving the problem to get mission success. Sometimes along the way you just have to stop, regroup and tactically change your direction.” Working across the aisle is a must in his eyes. “Understanding how people think and trying to build consensus is an art form and in order to get to that point you really have to understand the legislative process. Learning when to speak up, when not to. When to file a motion. When to do those kinds of things.” He’s critical of partisan politics. “It’s not allowing us to succeed and that’s where I believe independent leadership is so needed. I believe people honestly want a change. If you look at the last few election cycles, I think it’s proven people want to cast their vote for something that counts.” Krist wants to be evaluated on his record. he said, including “hundreds of individual bills and more I’ve spoken and voted on – you can measure, weigh and judge who I am and what I’ve done by my body of work.” Besides his wife Peggy, Krist said he sought feedback to his governor’s run from “a pretty special guy I rely on who happens to be a Catholic priest.” His clergy counsel reminded him even if he should lose, he might spark dialogue about issues important to Nebraskans. Then there’s the possibility he could win, too. “My friend ended by saying, ‘So, what have you got to lose?’ That was instrumental in solidifying my decision to run. The pathway to success for me is not relying on the Republican Party, which has been trying to kick me out since I got there, or the Democratic Party (whose pro-life stance is a non-starter for him).” “The two party system has made it very difficult for an Independent to run and succeed in this state,” he said referring to a statute requiring 5,000 signatures. “But if the climate has ever been right. probably this is it. My biggest concern right now is raising enough money to make sure people can hear what I have to say so they can make a valid decision at the polls. “It’s going to take about $3 million.” He’s scheduled a statewide listening sessions circuit. “We’ll talk to Nebraskans east to west, north to south, and see if we can’t get the message out there.” The experienced pilot will fly himself to outstate stops. A topic sure to surface is Nebraska Department of Correctional Services issues with officers’

overtime pay, inmate overcrowding. violent incidents and prisoner escapes. “We have a director (Ricketts appointee Scott Frakes) saying it’s just going to take time. Well, we don’t have any more time, we need to do something about it. I don’t know any way to solve the problem than to change the leadership and declare an emergency. We’ve done everything we can within the system and we’re going in the wrong direction. We have a director who needs to resolve the issues. “Overtime’s going up incredibly, exponentially. Mandatory overtime destroys lives and continuity because people quit. We have to keep people employed. We have to make it a profession with a merit system. I’m asking the director to negotiate again with our corrections officers. The safety of the officers and the inmates is in question. There’ve been people killed and hurt very badly, on both sides, and we know now almost every one of those issues involved someone under the influence of something.” Krist said if the state can’t fix the mess, then a federal ACLU suit could compel the U.S. Department of Justice to step in and determine what inmates get released. A new corrections facility could be mandated. “The last thing the people of Neb. want is another $400 million penal institution locking people up.” The corrections morass runs deep. “I became really involved with this issue serving on the committee that started out just looking at Nikko Jenkins (committed spree killings after early release). Preventive action should have happened when he was bouncing from foster home to foster home and coming to school with a knife and a gun. At some point, you’ve got to break the chain, because if you don’t there’s going to be a tragedy. That’s why I’ve been so active in juvenile justice. We have cut detention of kids by 50 percent. We found alternatives to detention that work. “The more testimony we heard, the more the onion was peeled back, we decided we needed to expand the investigation into all of corrections. There were too many things happening. The problem is out of control and something dramatic is going to have to happen or we’re going to have another incident, another riot, another person killed.” Krist bemoaned a lost opportunity with a justice reinvestment initiative council that pushed reforms. “We had a group of stakeholders around the table – senators, law enforcement officers, the attorney general, public defenders, judges – that worked very hard in conjunction with the Justice Center of the Council of State Governments trying to find solutions and looking forward to the kinds of changes that need to be made. When

Heineman left office and Ricketts came in, there was a lack of attention to detail, lack of focus and no fidelity to where we were going. “At a time when we most needed input from various levels, Ricketts disbanded the group, saying, ‘We don’t need you, we’ll just handle all this stuff internally.’ Well, he hasn’t done a very good job of that.” In this heavily taxed state with lagging tax revenues, Krist proposes reforms. “Business people don’t believe giving away tax base is the way to grow our economy – and you can’t keep giving things away and expect you’re gong to build an economy. Look at what happened with Conagra. We gave them everything we could and as soon as that enticement was over, they left. “Tax Incremental Financing is sometimes used effectively and sometimes misused. When you give away TIF and taxes, it affects the public education system. There are plenty of cities that have given their tax base away and seen their school districts go down.” He and Rickets both champion property tax relief. “As a state we’ve made decisions that have made us almost 100 percent reliant on property taxes to fund critical services, education. et cetera. We’ve got to stop that,” Krist said. “We’ve also

got to stop the escalation of the property tax assessment.” He said he advocates “controlling spending at the local level, controlling the levy process and most importantly the assessment process,” adding, “I believe by looking at income tex, property tax, fees for services and corporate tax loopholes we can come to a consensus that’s good for the state. We have to.” “We’re close to looking just like Kansas,” he said, referring to that state’s epic budget crisis following failed economic reforms, “and that’s not a model anybody wants to emulate.” Is he ready for the rigors of an uphill race? “Physically, I’m ready for it. Mentally, I’ve had great training being in state government 10 years and knowing the state and being involved in all the standing committees. What am I going to do different? I’m going to listen to people about what they think isn’t working. We’re going to have those discussions “I know there are some long days ahead. I get it, I’m up for it. I just want people to give me a chance to represent them. I promise there will be results.” Visit kristfornebraska.com. Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.

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NEWS

| THE READER |

OCTOBER 2017

FUTURES AT STAKE

for DREAMers with DACA in question by L e o A d a m B i g a

hen, on September 5, President Donald Trump appealed to his base by ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a generation of American strivers became immigration reform’s collateral damage. He’s given Congress six months to enact a plan reinstating DACA protection from deportation for so-called DREAMers in exchange for more robust border security. Because of DACA and the social security card that comes with it, DACA also helps provide permits for undocumented youth to work, attend school and obtain driver’s and professional licenses. Given the political divide on illegal immigrants’ rights, it’s unclear if any plan will provide DREAMers an unfettered permanent home here.

“It’s always having to live with this uncertainty that one day it could be one thing and another day something else. It can paralyze you sometimes to think you don’t know what’s going to happen next..”

Thus, the futures of some 800,000 people in America (about 3,400 Nebraskans) hang in the balance. As lawmakers decide their status, this marginalized group is left with dreams deferred and lives suspended – their tenuous fate left to the capricious whims of power. The situation’s created solidarity among DREAMers and supporters. Polls show most Ameri-

OCTOBER 2017

| THE READER |

COVER

cans sympathize with their plight. A coalition of public-private allies is staging rallies, pressing lawmakers and making themselves visible and heard to keep the issue and story alive. Alejandra Ayotitla Cortez, who was a child when her family crossed illegally from Mexico, has raised her voice whenever DACA’s under assault. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln senior and El Centro de las Americas staffer has spoken at rallies and press conferences and testified before lawmakers.

“As Dreamers, we have been used as a political game by either party. Meanwhile, our futures and our contributions and everything we have done and want to do are at stake,” she said. “For a lot of us, having that protection under DACA was everything. It allowed us to work, have a driver’s license, go to school and pursue whatever we’re doing. After DACA ends, it affects everything in our life. “It is frustrating. You’re trying to do things the right way. You go through the process, you pay the fees, you go to school, work, pay taxes, and then at the end of the day it’s not in your hands.” If she could, she’d give Trump an earful.

“Just like people born here are contributing to the country, so are we. It’s only a piece of paper stopping us from doing a lot of the things we want to do. As immigrants, whether brought here as an infant or at age 10, like myself, we are contributing to the nation financially, academically, culturally. All we want is to be part of our communities and give back as much as we can. It’s only fair for those who represent us to respect the contributions we have made and all the procedures we’ve followed as DACA recipients.” Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON) legal counsel Charles Shane Ellison is cautiously optimistic.

thing else,” Cortez said. “It can paralyze you sometimes to think you don’t know what’s going to happen next.” “We could have made this a priority without inserting so much apprehension into a community of really solid youth we want to try to encourage to stay,” Ellison said. To ease fears, JFON held a September 7 briefing at College of Saint Mary. “It was an effort to get information in the hands of DACA recipients and their allies,” Ellison said. “We had more than 400 people show up.” Alejandra Escobar, UNO sophomore,

Moving forward, he said, “it’s imperative” DREAMers get legal advice.

“I’m hopeful lawmakers Heartland Workers Center employee, and can do whatever negotiatcoordinator of Young Nebraskans in Action ing they need to do to come up with a common sense, bipartisan path to protect “Some studies show 20 to 30 percent of DACA these young people. It makes no sense whatsoever to youth could be potentially eligible for other forms of seek to punish these young people for actions over relief that either got missed or they’ve since become which they had no control. eligible for after obtaining DACA. If, with legal counsel, “These are, in fact, the very kinds of young people they decide to renew their Deferred Action, they have we want in our country. Hard working individuals com- until October 5 to do so. We provide pro-bono legal mitted to obtaining higher education and contributing counsel and we’ll be seeing as many people as we to their communities. It’s incumbent upon lawmakers to can.”

find a fair solution that does not create a whole category of second class individuals. Dreamers should have a pathway to obtain lawful permanent resident status and a pathway to U.S. citizenship.” Tying DACA to border control concerns many. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable if that was a compromise we had to arrive at,” Cortez said, “because it’s unnecessary to use a national security excuse and say we need increased border enforcement when in reality the border’s secure. It would be a waste of tax money and energy to implement something that isn’t necessary.” Ellison opposes attempts to connect the human rights issue of DACA with political objectives or tradeoffs. Not knowing what Trump and the GOP majority may do is stressful for those awaiting resolution. “It’s always having to live with this uncertainty that one day it could be one thing and another day some-

Ellison said nothing can be taken for granted. “It’s so important not just for DACA youth to take certain action For people who want to stand with DACA youth, now is not the time to be silent – now is the time to contact elected representatives and urge them to do the right thing.” Alejandra Escobar, a University of Nebraska at Omaha sophomore and Heartland Workers Center employee, is one of those allies. She legally emigrated to the U.S. six years ago. As coordinator of Young Nebraskans in Action, she leads advocacy efforts. “Most of my friends are DREAMers. I started getting involved with this issue because I didn’t know why my friends who were in this country for all their lives couldn’t be treated the same as I was. I didn’t think that was fair. This is their home, They’ve worked and shown they deserve to be here.

COVER

“There has been a lot of fear and this fear keeps people in a corner. I feel like what we do makes DACA recipients know they’re not alone. We’re trying to organize actions that keep emphasizing the importance of the protection for DACA recipients and a path to citizenship and that empower them.” She feels her generation must hold lawmakers accountable. “I’d like lawmakers to keep in mind that a lot of us allies protecting DREAMers are 18-19 years old that can vote and we’re going to keep civically engaged and emphasizing this issue because it’s really important.” As a UNO pre-law student who works in an Omaha firm practicing immigration law, Linda Aguilar knows the fragile legal place she and fellow DREAMers occupy. She was brought illegally to America at age 6 from Guatemala and has two younger siblings who also depend on DACA. But she’s heartened by the support that business, labor and other concerns are showing. “It has inspired me to continue being active and sharing with elected officials how much support there is for the DACA community.” She hesitated speaking at a public event making the case for DACA before realizing she didn’t stand alone. “Just knowing that behind me, around me were other DREAMers and I was there supporting them and they were there supporting me made me feel a lot stronger. Because we’re all in the same position, we all know what it feels like, we all walk in the same shoes.” Alejandra Ayotitla Cortez won’t just be waiting for whatever happens by the March 5 deadline Trump’s given Congress. tion.

“I am hoping for the best, but I am also taking ac-

It’s not only me just hoping things will get better, it’s me educating my community so they know what actions we can take, such as calling our elected representatives to take action and to listen to our story and understand how urgent this is.” Cortez, too, finds “encouraging” support “from people across the state, from leaders, from some of our state senators in Lincoln, from UNL professors and classmates.” The Nebraska Immigration Legal Assistance hotline is 1-855-307-6730.

Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at LeoAdamBiga.com

| THE READER |

OCTOBER 2017

The Law, A Legislator and Lives on the Line

Charles Shane Ellison,

legal counsel Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON)

by J O H N H E A S T O N

“I

’ve talked to some senior members [of Congress] you would know and they’ve said ‘Don, don’t they know they’re not going to be deported?’” On a Saturday morning in a south suburban Starbucks, Congressman Don Bacon is talking about DREAMers and President Trump’s Sep. 5 decision to sunset their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status in 6 months. “No, they don’t [know],” said Bacon. “I’ve talked to them. They are scared. Some of our guys don’t realize that they could be deported. Yeah, but when you hear the rhetoric, this is your life.” Lives that can only mostly remember growing up in the United States now face a much harsher reality. Established in an executive order by President Obama in 2012, the DACA program gives deferred status in immigration proceedings and work authorization to undocumented immigrants that were brought into the United States as children. They are also known as DREAMers in honor of the legislative proposal that offered them a path to citizenship, first introduced by Senators Dick Durbin (D-

OCTOBER 2017

Ill.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in 2001. Though it passed the House in 2010, it never got past a Senate filibuster to become law.

just one, but two vetoes by Nebraska Republican governor Pete Ricketts.

There’s a real possibility today that having a tail light out on a car could put a DREAMer in deportation proceedings, without a lawyer to represent them, ultimately sending them to a country they know little to nothing about.

Understanding legal distinctions are key to understanding the constitutionality of DACA and the stated basis for Trump’s decision. Legislators like Congressman Bacon face a challenge in appeasing some of their constituents and doing the right thing in their own minds. DREAMers face the loss of everything they’ve grown up with and known, feeling like political pawns by a president determined to fulfill his promise of building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Almost a half million undocumented immigrants are apprehended every year and nearly 90 percent of them are deported. In April, the Washington Post examined 675 out of 27,362 immigration apprehensions under the Trump administration. Almost half had no criminal convictions or were guilty of a traffic violation. Because deportation is a civil hearing, deportees do not have a right to a government attorney. The end of the DACA program means the loss of a Social Security card and the ability to get a job and pay taxes for DREAMers. In Nebraska, it also means the loss of a driver’s license and professional licenses. Those last two privileges DREAMers earned by working with a 2/3 majority of the Nebraska Unicameral to overturn not

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Trump’s decision to rescind DACA puts all of that in limbo.

DACA and APA Though Attorney General Sessions called DACA an “unconstitutional exercise of authority by the Executive Branch” when announcing President Trump’s decision to end the program, it has never been successfully challenged in court since its inception in 2012. It was only the threat of a challenge from ten Republican state attorney gen-

erals, including Nebraska’s Doug Peterson, which could take years to decide, that prompted Trump’s decision. The original DACA decision faced two significant legal challenges, neither of which went anywhere. “The initial legal challenges to DACA came about almost from the outset,” explained Creighton University law professor and immigration law expert David Weber, “filed by some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees who were claiming that the president was not fulfilling his constitutional obligation, to faithfully administer all the laws of the United States. That was essentially dismissed because lack of standing. This is an employer/ employee dispute and it didn’t really go anywhere.” That didn’t stop the man recently pardoned by President Trump for a contempt of court conviction for racial profiling. “Sheriff Joe Arpaio brought a challenge in the D.C. District Court and that was dismissed also right away as lacking standing,” said Weber. “I don’t think they showed that there was going to be any injury to the state by just allowing

these people to remain here temporarily. That was dismissed also right away as lacking standing.” It was Obama’s second significant executive order in late 2014, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), with a small expansion of DACA, that a federal judge in Texas stopped on procedural, not constitutional, grounds. Federal Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville, Texas heard the challenge to DAPA. His political views at the time were well-known. “That judge had been very critical of the Obama administration,” explained Justice For Our Neighbors Deputy Executive Director Shane Ellison, “very critical of unlawful immigration, had made those opinions quite vocal in decisions that were, frankly, in many ways, crossing the line in terms of questioning whether or not he was neutral about these kinds of issues.” Despite his publicly conservative views, Hanen ruled that the state of Texas had standing due to the cost of issuing drivers licenses to DAPA recipients, but stopped its implementation on procedural grounds, leaving DACA alone. “[T]his case does not involve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,” Hanen wrote early in his decision. He added later “The States do not dispute that Secretary Johnson has the legal authority to set these priorities, and this Court finds nothing unlawful about the Secretary’s priorities. The HSA’s delegation of authority may not be read, however, to delegate to the DHS the right to establish a national rule or program of awarding legal presence.” It was how the law was implemented that caused the judge to allow the injunction. “That first decision said you didn’t go through the proper steps under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) to create the DACA program,” explained Ellison, “[DACA] is more of a rule, like a

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continued on page 14 y

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OCTOBER 2017

regulatory rule, than it is a policy guiding tool. APA allows for the issuance of policy guidelines through memoranda, but highly formalized processes should be issued through [formal] regulations.”

legal aliens on a class-wide basis,” the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision reads near the start of its 70-page decision, referencing that sentence in the Johnson memo.

Ironically, according to Weber, the APA argument is the basis for several states, including Iowa, to challenge Trump’s decision to end DACA.

To understand what “lawfully present” means under immigration law, it’s important to understand “unlawful presence.”

“That’s the $64,000 question,” said Weber. “If what happened with DAPA and expanded DACA was that it was struck down on the grounds of the APA, for failure to comply with the noticeand-comment period, there’s a pretty good argument that President Trump’s recent decision to rescind DACA would also have been required to go through that same notice-and-comment period.”

“The Immigration and Naturalization Act defines unlawful presence, and it defines it in the inverse,” explained Ellison. “It doesn’t say what lawful presence is. It says what unlawful presence is. People who have entered without a visa, people who have overstayed a visa, these are the kinds of things where you’re going to be accruing unlawful presence, and then there’s a series of exceptions.

The DAPA Memo:

One of the key exceptions is for youth.

Lawfully Present versus Not Accruing Unlawful Presence

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Hanen’s decision -- 2 Republican appointees for and one Democratic appointee against -- but also added a constitutional consideration. The two judges focused on two words – “lawfully present” -- from a memorandum announcing the DAPA policy by then Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson. “Deferred action does not confer any form of legal status in this country, much less citizenship;” reads Johnson’s DAPA memo, “it simply means that, for a specified period of time, an individual is permitted to be lawfully present in the United States.” In their decision, the judges make this sentence in the 5-page memorandum a centerpiece in upholding Hanen’s injunction. “At its core, this case is about the Secretary’s decision to change the immigration classification of millions of il-

OCTOBER 2017

unlawful presence will bar re-entry for 3 years. “Secretary Johnson had a slip of the tongue, if you will, or his lawyers who wrote the memoranda,” explained Ellison, “and said something that ended up being the centerpiece of the challenge [to DAPA].” That decision faced a 4-4 tie at the Supreme Court and remained in effect. DAPA was stopped, and with it an expansion of DACA, but the original DACA program remained untouched and remained in full effect until Trump’s decision.

A Legislator

Trump’s stated intention of seeking a legislative fix requires Representative Bacon and his Congressional colleagues to Ellison act quickly provided an against a e x a m p l e. very crowd“If you’re 10 ed schedule. years old, Bacon readyou can enily admits ter [the U.S.] he’s still learnwithout a ing when visa. You stay it comes to here for two immigration, years [past not being on the time you any commitwould nortee that overmally be sees it. While allowed to not ready to say]. The commit much statute would beyond a ordinarily Don Bacon, temporar y say you have Nebraska Congressman reprieve, Baunlawful con is a copresence, but we’re not going to count any periods un- sponsor of the BRIDGE Act, essentially der which you are 18 as being unlaw- creating a 3-year DACA program. fully present. “ Bacon’s answers triangulate his feelUnlawful presence is used to determine the amount of time an individual can be barred from re-entering the country. For instance, 180 days of

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ings, his district and his colleagues.

“I am convinced – and I do a lot of events, seven events a day. I’ve done

six public town halls, but I’ve done even as many private town halls. I go out everywhere. If I come back and say we did the legal fix for DACA; we’ve done nothing over here to fix the [immigration] problem, our constituents would be mad. “The majority in our district want to support DACA, but they also want to have improvements in the immigration system so we don’t do this again next year or the next year. I really feel like I owe the district a more comprehensive deal.” He says he can’t support the DREAM Act and a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers. “Not yet. I think if we put that in there right now, we won’t solve the problem. I want these young folks to have assurance they will not be deported. I think a permanent legal status is the right way for now, with security. We’ll come back to that some day on the DREAMers.” For Bacon, a full border wall with Mexico makes little sense, but an increased focus on enforcing visas is a necessary fix. “There is a place for some walls and security in some areas that would work. Then you go to Texas, and I talked to Republicans in Texas that are on the border. They say there’s no way you can put a wall here. It won’t do any good. “I think there’s places that we could afford to put some physical security. I think there’s areas where we maybe want electronic security and more manning. We need to have a visa compliance system that helps us find somebody when they overstay their visa. I think employer enforcement is really what that leads to.” From an agricultural state, Bacon is more open to permanent residency or citizenship for farmworkers. “I am more moderate when it comes to seasonal workers or having the right

visas to allow people to come in and do it legally. I think we want to support our agriculture. Agriculture needs it, so I’m amenable to a legal process, but I think there should be legal mechanisms. Right now, it’s through Congress, I believe, and burdensome on these guys, and we should make it easier.”

60TH ANNIVERSARY

Bacon is very clear, however, about his personal feelings on DREAMers. “The ones I’ve met, there would be no way in hell you would deport them. I’ll have to say it that way. It tugs at your heart when you hear a kid say hey, I’ve been hiding my whole life. That tugs at me . . . it becomes clear and you know when you see firsthand and shake their hands that deporting’s not an option, period, to me. For someone who’s been otherwise law-abiding and someone who’s trying to be a good American – it’s what home they know.” Overall, political life has been a different transition for the former Air Force general. “I found as a commander at Ramstein [Air Force Base], I had probably a 98 percent cohesive team I’m working with. I think most people liked the work I was doing as a commander. The bottom line is you’re on a team and you’re all pulling together. “Here, obviously you’re trying to get 51% at election. It’s a different dynamic. I’m not used to people calling me [names] on social media. You didn’t get that as a general. If they were, they were probably quiet about it.” He remains hopeful he can get his new team to solve this. “In the end, we got to be above pettiness out of this stuff. We have a problem; we got to fix it. I think immigration is one area that is tailor-made for bipartisan solutions because we have folks on both sides of the aisle that want to get stuff done on this.”

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OCTOBER 2017

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GLUTEN PUNISHMENT

SARA LOCKE is the Contributing Editor for The Reader’s Food section. She is fluent in both sarcasm and pig Latin, and is definitely going to eat the contents of her to-go box in her car on her way home. Follow her restaurant reviews and weekly what-todos online at http://thereader. com/dining/crumbs . Follow @ TheReaderOmahaDish on Instagram to find out what else she’s sinking her teeth into.

OCTOBER 2017

Pause for Eyeroll. Now Read. BY SARA LOCKE

PIZZA PIE GUYS

illennials are being blamed for just about everything these days, from the fall of the chain restaurant to the price of avocados. Seriously, take a moment and Google the phrase “Millennials are Ruining” and just bask in the glory of everything that pops up. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Among the many things the generation has been saddled with is the sudden sensitivity to the standard American staple. Why are Millennials all allergic to bread? You can’t walk into a pizza shop today without hearing someone in skinny jeans inquire about a gluten free menu. Everything is being made without wheat, but why? For some, it’s about the esthetic. For followers of the latest sect of the low-carb lifestyle, Keto [The Ketogenic Diet] Spaghetti is Satan. Pasta is Pestilent. Bread is Beelzebub. You get the picture.

Paleology Still others take the lifestyle infinitely further. Paleo practitioners shun all things glutinous, as well as any plant life that contains an anti-nutrient. Cliff Notes: Foods like beans, corn, and wheat have an indigestible outer

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membrane. This protects the seed from being digested when an animal eats it, causing them to defecate it at a later time, allowing it to germinate and propagate, ensuring the survival of the species of plant. Paleo informs you that when humans consume this membrane, or process it to make it fit for consumption, it causes intestinal irritation, inflammation, and [prepare your gag reflex] leaky gut syndrome.

You Are What You Wheat And then there are the worst of the lot. The actually gluten-intolerant. A host of immune disorders and diseases have cropped up over the last few decades, literally tripling the number of people who have been diagnosed each year with an autoimmune disease. A question as to whether the influx of immune disorders is due to a change in the American diet or if Science has just advanced to make diagnosis more accessible is being debated, but one thing cannot be denied. Sandwiches are making people sick. Only 25% of immune disorders are the product of genetics, while 75% are the product of environment. Do you remember when it used to be fun to tease someone for ordering

a diet soda with their 3 course fatburger? Then one fast food worker takes it upon himself to switch diets for regulars, [not realizing it was the sugar, not the calories being avoided] and when the diabetic coma ensued, lawsuits were filed. Now, people wanting to prove to the gluten intolerant that they aren’t actually intolerant enjoy playing a game of “will he notice that isn’t almond flour?” The effects of gluten exposure can take hours to become apparent, while the sufferer may have been experiencing invisible symptoms before they finished their last bite. Swelling and inflammation sets in once the body recognizes the offending foods and causes an immune overreaction. Sometimes it manifests as fatigue [which is not the same thing as being sleepy] or brain fog. An inability to connect thoughts or finish sentences. Sometimes it’s intense abdominal pain as the gut literally leaks into the body. Nutrients are leached from the body as the gut tries to rid itself of the allergen. By the next day, you may notice fluid in the lungs. Acne, eczema, or rosacea may be present in the face, while tiny white bumps called Keratosis Pilaris climb the back of your arms and dry, scaly patches appear. Joints may ache as they swell. The initial fatigue gives way to a lasting lethargy, as your body becomes anemic. Your vision may be affected. Recently, intense mood swings and depression have also been linked to this autoimmune response. And somewhere out there, some smirking smart aleck is snickering about how you couldn’t even tell they used flour in the gravy. Chrohn’s Disease, Celiac, Hashimoto, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, and Scleroderma are immune diseases whose sufferers are negatively impacted by the consumption of gluten. We didn’t ruin sandwiches, guys. The way food has been altered has ruined us.

The Culinary Cure The biggest names in Omaha food didn’t get that way just by being excellent chefs or fantastic at business. While they are both, they are a walking buddy-movie with their patrons. They are fully tapped into their client (fan)base and they recognize the need as it arises. 5 years ago, dining out while gluten intolerant was a terrifying juggling act. It required a call in advance to explain your sensitivity, which could very easily be met with a simple “we cannot accommodate you”. If the chef was willing to set aside a special work area in his kitchen to prepare your food, your options were usually pretty limited. Today, your favorite dining establishment very likely has its own gluten free menu. Via Farina

has perfected the 3 day crust, but sees no reason why their gluten intolerant friends should not partake. While many chains will offer a gluten free crust, it often tastes pretty similar to the box it came in. Via Farina takes special care of each client, ensuring that every bite reminds you why you love being alive. Pitch couldn’t be the go-to après work hangout for Millennials if Millennials are allergic to the menu. Usually, ordering gluten free means sacrificing flavor, but the buttery crust leaves nothing to be desired, and the creative toppings and local sourcing make Pitch a Millennial hotspot.Biaggi’s gluten free pasta dishes taste so good you’ll spend the next day waiting for your gluten response to arrive. Rest easy, the staff is actually very accommodating to those with sensitivities, and the pasta really is that good. While it seems like a no-brainer to order a steak and mashed potatoes (we’re in Nebraska, after all) many places create a roux in the same pan your meat may be seared in. In case you didn’t know, that means you may have flour on anything billed as “pan-seared”. Suddenly Ahi becomes off-limits and a steak may as well be a sandwich. Over Easy, Dugger’s Café, Mark’s Bistro, and Greenbelly know that food sensitivity shouldn’t get in the way of a stellar meal. Taco Juan’s in Flagship Commons, Freshii, and SPIN! all have expertly crafted options on their menu. At Pizza Pie Guys at 5138 N 156th St, gluten free is the rule, not the exception. Everything from their pizza crusts to their meatballs is from-scratch, gluten free, and when possible, locally sourced. Bruno’s Pasta Co doesn’t treat gluten sensitivity lightly, and picked up where its predecessor Salt 88 left off, offering an exceptional selection to all patrons. Even long-established Omaha icons are on board. You know the smell of Rotella’s a mile away from the factory churning out the warm gluteny goodness, and the smell hits you like a bear hug to your soul. The family knows that warm, fresh bread is the ultimate comfort food, and after decades as Omaha’s favorite carb dealer, Rotella’s now offers a gluten free line of breads and crusts. Apps like Find Me Gluten Free can be updated by users to include details and menu items from restaurants and caterers who offer services to food-sensitive diners. While Millennials may have ruined everything from Applebees to Avocado toast, they are paving the way for people with food allergies to live safer, healthier lives among the general population.

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HEARTLAND HEALING

NATURE’S WAY

HEARTLAND HEALING is a metaphysically-based polemic describing alternatives to conventional methods of healing the body, mind and planet by MICHAEL BRAUNSTEIN. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. Important to remember and pass on to others: for a weekly dose of Heartland Healing, visit HeartlandHealing.com and like us on Facebook. .

OCTOBER 2017

Controversial Project Threatens Dundee Greenspace BY MICHAEL BRAUNSTEIN

ature deficit disorder” is the phrase Richard Louv coined in his best seller, Last Child in the Woods. Without dispute, it’s an apt description of the malady suffered by today’s children. The more we isolate kids from the challenges that nature provides — a little dirt under the fingernails, a skinned knee now and then, exposure to different bugs, bacteria and viruses — the more asthma, flu, illness, allergies we see. The fact is that adults, too, suffer from nature deficit disorder. The more exposure adults have to nature, the more productive they are, the healthier they are and the happier they are. So let’s get one thing straight: trees, grass, green space — those are nature. Cement, electric lighting, irrigation systems, pergolas and concrete benches? Not so much. History. Omaha is a lucky city. Somehow we drew the attention of some real forward-thinkers in our nascent years of the 1800s. One of our luck-outs was connecting with a guy named H.W.S. Cleveland, a visionary landscape architect of the late 19th Century. Cleveland believed in green space. He knew that encroaching urbanization led to air pollution and disconnection from the health benefits of nature. Cleveland designed city plans and knew that green spaces, trees and plants cleaned the air, provided soil for water drainage and offered respite from the chaos of “civilized” life. Omaha hired him to design and layout an ambitious system of parks, linked by boulevards. That system still exists and is listed as a National Historic Place. It’s important to note that the original purpose of those parks and boulevards was to provide passive relief from the rigors of city life, a buffer that allowed nature to be nature. Even in the growth period of the 1800s, people realized that the more macadam, pavement and buildings you erect the less opportunity the earth has to protect itself from deluge, a lesson Houston admits it ignored. Cleveland himself was an adherent to the philosophies of the acknowledged Father of Landscape Architecture, Frederick Law Olmstead. Olmstead pioneered the idea of the modern urban park all the way back in the 1850s. His most famous designs are New York’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Plain and simple, Olmstead saw the urban park as a retreat from development, citing healthfulness. He wrote that urban residents needed to “escape at frequent intervals from the confined and vitiated air of the commercial quarter and supply the lungs with air screened and purified by trees…” Olmstead and Cleveland after him recognized that the best purpose of urban parks and boulevards was the green space they gave. Boulevards were never meant to be parks. As society became even more urban, leaving behind the physical exercise of rural life, formal recreational opportunities became necessary and parks did evolve to include some structures like ball fields and pergolas. But in the grand scheme, the role of boulevard parkways remained as green-space links to those parks, not centers of activity, but rather a peaceful green place of retreat ensuring a buffer. That is the true history of the design. Along comes a bad idea. Barely a dozen years ago, Dundee was still an actual business district and neighborhood that had evolved organically — not by city fundings, TIFs or monster development companies. It became trendy because it was organic and outsiders saw opportunity. Only a few short years ago, the mainstreet area of Dundee featured a full-service drug store (with a soda fountain), a large hardware store (Steve and Mary sold us our gas grill during a snow storm one winter), a Hinky-Dinky grocery store, a gas station with an

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HEARTLAND HEALING

actual mechanic and service bay, a bookstore, a bank, a dinner theatre, a framing store, a candlemaker, a legendary Italian restaurant (Trovato’s), a convenience store (Gramp’s) and… Lady Caroline’s Tea Shoppe. All of that is gone. Now Dundee business district has more liquor licenses than cottonwood trees. It’s mostly restaurants and bars fighting it out for the disposable entertainment dollar. Now more than ever, the tradition of Dundee needs defense. Revisionist? A group of business people and real estate developers have taken it upon themselves to further the “improvement” of Dundee by taking away the last remaining green space in the neighborhood. It’s an area along Happy Hollow Boulevard that was set aside over a century ago to provide just that kind of green, quiet respite its designers envisioned. Between Underwood Ave. on the south and roughly Western on the north, the green space is part of the boulevard system. Its very designers emphasized that trees, plant and greenery are its essence. Even the city’s own park department has continually said that removing even one tree would be a detriment. But this new group wants to pave, build a pergola, place sidewalks, lighting, planters, trashcans and even an irrigation system in where one has never been needed before. It’s a 2 million dollar project that should never have commenced. But commenced, it has. They even call it a “restoration”. It is hardly that. That’s “fake news.” There never was a pergola. There never was irrigation. There never were sidewalks down there; never lighting or planters. Just green space. Still she persisted… Now the Big Wheels are rolling forward having convinced the city to earmark tax money to be spent in contradiction to its own evaluations. It may be too late to stop. Let’s hope not. It’s the last little part of Dundee that is left to the imagination of the kids who play down there all the time. It’s naught but green and that’s the kind of green we need, not a 2 million dollar mistake. If you look closely, you may see the last child in the woods down there actually using her imagination, hanging out with Mother Nature. Be well. Heartland Healing is a metaphysically based polemic describing alternatives to conventional methods of healing the body, mind and planet. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. Important to remember and pass on to others: for a weekly dose of Heartland Healing, visit HeartlandHealing.com. and like us on Facebook.

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OCTOBER 2017

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OCTOBER 2017

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posters and the like. Then they cut them up and create multilayered collages that variously reconstruct, reimagine or even completely upend the original context of their sources.

October 5

Screaming Females O’Leaver’s BrownPaperTickets.com New Jersey punk rockers Screaming Females return to Nebraska for the third time in 12 months, this time bringing their refreshingly forceful riffing to O’Leaver’s. The band’s last LP, Rose Mountain, came in 2015, but tracks like “Empty Head” and “Triumph” hit just as hard two years later. And despite the lull in releases, frontwoman Marissa Paternoster makes every Screaming Females show worth seeing. With her Stratocaster strapped around her waist, Paternoster, standing at 5’2”, blasts through off-the-cuff soloing while her vibrato vocals beg for intense attention. Oakland garage punks Street Eaters and Omaha femme punks The Boner Killerz open Screaming Females’ Omaha show. Tickets are $10. Purchase them at brownpapertickets.com. ~Sam Crisler

October 5, 6:30 - 9 p.m.

Hendrikje Kühne/Beat Klein Garden of the Zodiac, 1042 Howard Street fb.com/TheGardenOfTheZodiac Take a trip in your mind’s eye to an art museum. Works by which storied western landscape painters would you hope to see there? Some by the C’s: Cezanne, Constable, Courbet, Corot? Perhaps Monet’s impressionist sunscapes or Van Gogh’s expressionistic reveries? Or dig deeper into history—maybe Dürer’s naturalism, Titian’s pastorales or Bosch’s visionary surrealism? The Swiss artist duo Hendrikje Kühne and Beat Klein have seen such landscapes and much more, and share a devotee’s passion for collecting reproductions of museum masterpieces—postcards,

Their work is variously intricate, obsessive, curious and humorous. And some of it was created in Omaha, as the pair were Bemis Center residents in 2012. As often happens with this program, there is seldom any additional opportunity to exhibit, short of inclusion in its annual auctions. The Moving Gallery’s commitment to showing the work of international artists and fostering such ongoing connections results in welcome exhibitions such as this. The Moving Gallery’s Hendrikje Kühne/Beat Klein is on view at the Garden of the Zodiac beginning Thursday, October 5 from 6:30-9pm and runs through December 3. The gallery, located at 1042 Howard Street in the Old Market Passageway, is open Tues-Sat from noon-8pm and on Sun from noon-6pm. ~Janet L. Farber

October 6

Triple Feature: 3 Galleries 3 Shows University of Nebraska Omaha, Weber Fine Arts Building (6001 Dodge) artgallery.unomaha.edu

Georgiades exhibits public art as well as smallerscale sculptures using salvaged building materials and objects. His works relate to issues of adaptability and the changing nature of work, and ask questions about usefulness and ambition. In the middle gallery, Joel S. Allen’s offers Hooked on Svelte, a collection of large and small fiber sculptures. Allen’s fiber works have gained national and international attention. Showing in the hexagon gallery is State of the Union, a socially charged art exhibition addressing politics, mental health issues, and various social (in) justice issues curated by seven UNO art students – Kealinn Peterson, Lauren Doeschot, Laura Simpson, Ruby Kelley, Elisa Wolcott, Nicole Robinson, and Katherine Scarpello. Two lectures are scheduled during these exhibitions: Joel S. Allen will speak at noon on Monday, October 9, and Gail Simpson and Aristotle Gerogiades will talk about their work at noon on Thursday, November 9. Both talks take place in the UNO Art Gallery and are sponsored by UNO’s Friends of Art Willson Lecture Series. 3 Galleries 3 Shows runs through Nov. 9. For more details and gallery hours, contact 402.554.2796, unoartgallery@unomaha.edu. ~Michael Krainak

October 6, 6 p.m.

Stories: Mine, Theirs, Ours. Modern Arts Midtown modernartsmidtown.com The University of Nebraska at Omaha Art Gallery will open three separate and distinct exhibitions in beginning Friday, October 6th with a public reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Bygone by Gail Simpson and Aristotle Georgiades, sculptors and public artists currently teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will fill the back gallery space. Simpson’s sculptures are made of plastic toys and lawn ornaments of the type that appear in peoples’ yards and basements, reminiscent of an idealized, carefree childhood that is always better in an unreliable memory.

Artist Culver riffs on ‘picture within a frame’ ideal in exhibit at Moderns Arts Midtown Painter, dedicated arts advocate, and business owner Robert H. (Bob) Culver will present his richly detailed, iconographic paintings and portraits at Modern Arts Midtown opening October 6th, with Stories: Mine, Theirs, Ours. Culver’s style is one of marrying graphic, commercial advertising-like illustration and symbolism with an editorial flair and an adventurous, and sometimes humorous revamping of the “picture within a frame” ideal.

pickS

Much of his work is an excursion into relief and depth, bringing his detailed and realistic imagery out of the confines of edges and frames into the room for a three dimensional effect. Some of his richly-detailed portraits and narrative paintings are interactive works called automata, wherein the viewer is invited to work for their enjoyment by turning a hand crank or moving a lever. Much of the new work is the culmination of two years of extensive studio work, and includes newer portraits of local arts community leaders. Culver has served on many boards and won much recognition in both the business and arts community. He serves on the board for the Bemis Center and is the President-elect of the Board or Directors of the Museum of Nebraska Art. Join Bob Culver and Modern Arts Midtown for an artist’s reception on Friday, October 6th, at 6 p.m. Modern Arts Midtown is located at 3615 Dodge. Further information is available by phone 402-502-8737, or through the gallery website modernartsmidtown.com, or the artists websites nebraskakid.tumblr.com, or culver.com.

| THE READER |

~Kent Behrens

OCTOBER 2017

October 6

Toadies with Local H The Waiting Room Lounge WaitingRoomLounge.com

October 7

porcelain tea bowls, wood-fired jars and bowls for daily use, expressionistic and brightly colored earthenware teapots and mugs, contemporarystyled pitcher and creamer sets, and deeply textured slab-built bowls, vases and wall plaques.

Queerfest The Bay, Lincoln, NE

Two alt-rock heavyweights are bound for Omaha when Toadies and Local H hit the Waiting Room this month. Though both bands are best known for huge mid-’90s post-grunge singles — Toadies with “Possum Kingdom” and Local H with “Bound for the Floor” — the two bands have continued touring and releasing records into the present. On Toadies’ latest record, The Lower Side of Uptown, the band still carries a youthful energy with the relentless palm-muting on “Take Me Alive” and the pronounced guitar feedback sprinkled throughout the LP. The same can be said for Local H, whose 2015 release Hey, Killer combines grunge guitars with structural experimentation and frontman Scott Lucas’s esoteric lyrics. Tickets are $20, and more information can be found at waitingroomlounge.com. ~Sam Crisler

In June, The Bay hosted Queerfest: A Summer Benefit Show, which featured hours of queer art, music and poetry to highlight the talented artists in Nebraska’s LGBTQA+ community. But that show only hinted at what’s on tap this month at Queerfest — the culmination of the fundraising efforts at June’s event. From 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., six slam poets, a youth drag show, and six bands, including Once A Pawn, Plack Blague and Histrionic, will come together at The Bay to celebrate and provide a platform for the queer community. Search “Queerfest” on Facebook for more information. Admission is free and open to all ages. ~Sam Crisler

October 7-8

Clay Harvest: Omaha

North Hills Pottery Tour Multiple Locations listed online OmahaNorthHillsPotteryTour.com

October 7 Joslyn Museum joslyn.org

~JoAnna LeFlore

OCTOBER 2017

Here, fish and lizards ornament rake-fired vessels, wood ash touches are fixed on hourglass vases, clay see pods vibrate with color, geometric wall plaques reflect a focus on architecture and sculptural masks explore light and dark themes. Salt and wood fire methods distinguish the work of potters Travis Hinton and Eric Knoche at Too Far North. Tour visitors will see funky flowered pots that reflect the meshing of wood ash glazes, colored clays and salt firings as well as abstract sculptures that explore the human figure. At Big Table Studios, resident potters Liz Vercruysse and John Martelle host Amy Nelson, and Doug Schroder from Omaha, Zac Spates from Hudson, WI, and Jonathan Walburg, from Washburn, WI. Also, Anne Meyer from St. Joe, MN, joins the tour this year. Wood-fire potters make up the majority here and tour guests can even explore the Anagamalike kiln on-site. Two potters also show examples of electric and gas-fired work. Flame paths and ash blushes float on dinner plates and floor vases alike, figurative sculptures reflect a printmaker’s use of line while totems accent the studio grounds.

~Sam Crisler

October 12

Wynonna Judd & The Big Noise

Holland Performing Arts Center TicketOmaha.com/Productions

Each stop offers their own brand of homemade hospitality: some soup, some jazz, some pizza, some wine tasting and, surprise, surprise the smoke of burning fires. Tour hours are 10AM-7 PM on Saturday and 10AM-5 PM on Sunday. Download a tour map and meet the artists at www.omahanorthhillspotterytour.com.

Two Exhibition Features This month the Joslyn features two intriguing exhibitions with visual artist Svenja Deininger and Marks of Genius: 100 Extraordinary Drawings from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The ‘Marks of Genius’ exhibition will be on view from October 7-January 7, 2018 and is a collection of drawings, watercolors, pastels and other styles spanning five centuries from the Middle Ages to the present. Various drawing subjects include the exploration of the creative process, narrative notions, landscapes and abstract. Deininger’s work envelopes elegant abstractions using oil on canvas and layering techniques. The artist’s work is a part of the Riley Contemporary Artists Project (CAP) Gallery exhibition. To view these exhibitions, admission is $10 per person (ages 18 and up), but half the price on Thursday evenings. College students with an ID are always $5 and members are free. Visit the website link above for general gallery hours.

Raku, electric or wood kilns are the firing methods chosen by the potters at Dennison Pottery. Host John Dennison welcomes Bill Gossman of New London, MN, Mike Bose from Bedford, IA, Naomi Keller from Sunrise Beach, MO, and new to the tour this year, Andy Rogers from Omaha

Five years removed from their critically heralded third LP, On The Impossible Past, Scranton, Pennsylvania pop punk band The Menzingers are back with After the Party. The band’s 2014 followup to Impossible Past, Rented World, hinted at a preservation of the urgent but ardent hopelessness of the former, but it wasn’t fully rechanneled until After the Party. From the outset, After the Party challenges that hopelessness, kicking things off with the lyric “Oh yeah, everything is terrible” on “Tellin’ Lies.” In effect, the album serves as a sober look back on the band’s youth, and as it pleads with the future to hold off, there’s no denying its pit-in-the-stomach mood as the band’s return to form. In support of the new record, The Menzingers play at Sokol Underground on October 11, and a pair of Nebraska bands, Salt Creek and Centerpiece — both of whom released debut EPs this year — open the show. Head over to thirdstringproductions.com for more information. Tickets are $18.

When it comes to pottery, it’s the fire that’s the mojo behind a pot’s color, texture, and durability. Nineteen regional potters are stoked to share their work and their creative processes during the annual Omaha North Hills Pottery Tour October 7-8. This free, self-guided tour along Hwy 75 stretches thirty miles between Omaha and Herman, NE and includes four stops: The Florence Mill located at I-680 and 30th Street, Dennison Pottery in Ponca Hills, Too Far North Wine Tasting in Ft. Calhoun, and Big Table Studios south of Herman. Each location features potters with a wide range of clay styles. The Florence Mill will host five potters in all, four from Nebraska: Tom Quest, Tim Reese, Amy Smith and Susan McGilvrey, plus Tara Dawley from Kansas City. Their work includes pastel-colored

| THE READER |

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~ Michael Krainak

October 11

The Menzingers with Salt Creek and Centerpiece

Sokol Underground thirdstringproductions.com

Wynonna Judd and her band, The Big Noise, are making a stop in Omaha as part of their Roots & Revival Tour. Highlighting a 33-year long career, the tour will glimpse into the past and future of Wynonna’s music. The Omaha Performing Arts will be hosting the group at the Holland Performing Arts Center on October 12. The Roots & Revival Tour aims to gives audiences a dose of nostalgia, comedy, and heartfelt music. Tickets start at $35, and are available at TicketOmaha.com. ~Will Patterson

October 12, 8-11 p.m.

The Legendary Mudd Club HiFi House 38

food security through a holistic approach. Is it a weird combination? Sure. Will it be a great time? Definitely. ~Houston Wiltsey

hifi.house/events-calendar

October 14

Bemis Benefit Art auction preview opens to public Bemiscenter.org For 5 years, during the prime artistic era of 1979-1983 in New York, the legendary Mudd Club existed to either ruin your social status and career or birth it. If you got into this nightclub, with the likes of Basquiat, Rolling Stones wives and Keith Haring, you were privileged to witness historical moments that are now being told by the one man responsible for securing the door, Richard Boch. On October 12, Boch will discuss some of these monumental stories from the punk and experimental art era of the early 80’s. Moderated by Scott Severin, a Nebraskan transplant who was a young artist at the time and allowed entry despite his young age. Hifi house calls this “the greatest club in the universe,” welcoming the public to experience an intimate conversation, for free. Registration is highly encouraged via their website above. Don’t get stuck outside looking in; Your name must definitely be on the list. ~JoAnna LeFlore

October 13, 6-9 p.m.

Soul Food II: Rastakura and Wakanda One Malcolm X Memorial Foundation (3448 Evans Street) Soulfoodii.eventbrite.com

The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts has a 36-year tradition of supporting artists through their artist and curator-in residence programs, exhibitions, and public engagement to bridge Omaha to a global discourse on cultural production. To benefit this mission, the Bemis Center will once again host their highly anticipated art auction Friday, October 27 to raise critical funds by uniting local and national artists with the community.

October 19

Local Filmmakers Showcase

October 15

Iron & Wine Rococo Theatre rococotheatre.com Following a pair of collaborative albums, one with Band of Horses’ frontman Ben Bridwell and another with singersongwriter Jesca Hoop, Sam Beam has returned his focus to Iron & Wine, and in August he released

TedxOmaha:

Everything Changes Creighton University Harper Center TedxOmaha.com

36 TEDx Omaha, the independently organized local branch under the TED umbrella, will hold its eighth annual speaking engagement at Creighton University’s Harper Center. The theme for the latest iteration of the event is Everything Changes and its lineup of speakers is as diverse as ever: a former press secretary to the Afghanistan president, a software developer, and the leader of a choir for African refugees. Visit tedxomaha.com to get details on all the speakers and purchase tickets.

October 20

Boris The Waiting Room waitingroomlounge.com

~Houston Wiltsey

October 20 & 21

Omaha Symphony Masterworks Concert

This year Bemis has partnered with Maha Music Festival for an After Party Concert featuring the Cults, with Closeness across the street at the Okada Sculpture and Ceramics Facility following the auction at 9:30. Tickets to the Benefit Art Auction at $100 and the After Party Concert at $27 are available at bemiscenter.org/benefit through October 26. Tickets purchased on Benefit night increase to $125 and $32.10, respectively. The Bemis Art Auction begins at 5:30pm on Friday, October 27 at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts at 724 S. 12th Street. For more information about the Bemis Center, visit bemiscenter.org.

October 21

~Sam Crisler

Bemis members will have an opportunity for an exclusive preview of the original work that will be available through silent and live auction at an artist and member’s reception on October 13, which opens to the public beginning October 14.

~Mike Krainak

Have you ever had the craving to watch dub poetry and eat soul food at the same time? Probably not. But even if you haven’t, the second iteration Soul Food festival by Wakanda Arts is definitely worth checking out. The event, located at the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, will feature Jamaican poet RasTakura along with special performances by Wakanda One, Shanketta Newsom, and MrDame Poetry. Food will be available for purchase on site with vegan options. According the organizer, this event is about feeding the mind as well as developing an understanding about

his sixth studio album under the pseudonym, Beast Epic. Despite its title, the record strips Iron & Wine’s instrumentation back from the more grandiose arrangements of albums like 2013’s Ghost on Ghost to just its bare bones, with acoustic guitar, bass and drums dominating most songs. In support of Beast Epic, Beam brings his tour to the Rococo Theatre on October 15. Tickets range from $35 to $69, and seating information is available at rococotheatre.com.

Kiewit Hall, Holland Center omahasymphony.org

There’s really no appropriate term to pigeonhole Japanese trio Boris into a genre other than simply “experimental.” Since the band formed in 1992 in Tokyo, they’ve covered sounds from doom metal to shoegaze, and J-pop to crust punk. This year, Boris released its 23rd studio album Dear, which marked the band’s 25th year of genrebending and playing whatever kind of music they feel like. On Dear, Boris alludes to the Melvins-y sludge metal and doom metal that inspired them in the first place. But it wouldn’t be a Boris album without mixing in a cocktail of other musical styles — this time adding spacey atmosphere on cuts like “Biotope” and slow-building post-rock on “Beyond.” Catch Boris at The Waiting Room when they stop in Omaha on October 20. Tickets are $17, and more information can be found at waitingroomlounge.com. ~Sam Crisler

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29 year old conductor Teddy Abrams (“one of the bright lights of his podium generation” Chicago Tribune) is on hand to conduct much-beloved music by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. Drama and joy swirl. Pianist Fabio Bedini takes on Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto confronting its many technical challenges while aiming to make the soul sing. Bedini was a finalist in Van Cliburn Piano Competitions and this work has a linked intimidating history. It was one of the two concertos that made Cliburn a star in the U.S.S.R. and everywhere else during Cold War days. Bedini, FYI, has had a major recording career, 14 CDs.

| THE READER |

OCTOBER 2017

Abrams aims to bring out the charm and warmth of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2. “The Little Russian,” as it’s known, spins off Ukrainian (“Little Russian” folksongs. The conductor has major credits, e.g. leading the Houston, San Francisco, Indianapolis and Detroit Symphonies. Major music making ahead. ~Gordon Spencer

October 22

RENAISSANCE, JAZZ, HUMOR-St. Louis Brass VESPER CONCERT SERIES Presbyterian Church of the Cross 1517 South 114th Street vesperconcerts.org

Pulses, rhythms and harmonies of our time resonate in this percussion event. Six players play six numbers, spanning from 1957 to 2017 plus Cuban folkloric pieces. Introduced are two new members of the Omaha Symphony, Jack Rago, Principal Percussionist and Assistant Principal Percussionist Derek Dreier. Dreier’s new year here pairs with 2017’s “Snap Crackle,” not, as you might suppose, inspired by breakfast cereal but rather by the continuing crispness of Roy Haynes, to whom it’s dedicated. No surprise there; Dreier has had a major career in jazz circles. He also grooves on non-Western traditions, including those of the African diaspora.

~Jeff Turner

October 27

~Gordon Spencer

October 23

Step In Four:

RHYTHM IN MOTION Eko Nova | Kaneko www.omahachambermusic.org

OCTOBER 2017

The Boner Killerz EP Release Show Brothers Lounge

Coming up the wide Missouri in a spirit of joy, Saint Louis Brass arrives. The five players offer, not surprisingly, a version of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues,” plus plenty of other Americana too.

Gogol Bordello The Bourbon bourbontheatre.com

O’Leavers fb.com/oleavers

~Gordon Spencer

Lookout Lounge

Sure, this is in a church. Why not? Such music celebrates life.

Primitive Man, Bell Witch, Vickers and Houma

Among the other composers, expect two selections by Boston-born Steven Snowden, “Left of the Dial” and “Long Distance” suggesting his ongoing lean towards electronic manipulations. The other composers: William Kraft, Alan Keown and Sarah Wald. Eight more hands play, those of Matt Andreini, James Dreier, Spencer Jones and Scott Shinbara. The beat goes on.

Remo Drive and Diners

Dances steps kick off as well. They come from Renaissance composer Michael Pretorius and from Astor Piazzolla. Brass trumpet player Allan Dean arranged those.

October 28

Primitive Man, along with Bell Witch, Vickers, and Houma, will be playing at O’Leavers, which will be hosting the next Milk Run show on the 26th of October. Primitive Man, as described on their site, are “a nihilistic trio offering soul crushing blackened doom and noise-ridden claustrophobia.” Bell Witch, touring their third album, is a doom metal act from Seattle. Vickers are a noise band out of Lincoln, Nebraska and Houma are a noise-sludge based in Omaha. The show promptly starts at 9 and the tickets are $8. Bell Witch and Primitive Man have their own bandcamps where their music is available for listening and purchase.

October 24

There’s a suite by 27-year-old Joshua Hobbs and a quintet by Anthony Plog based on Ogden Nash poems about animals in which each performer narrates. Add to them Wayne Scott’s “Divertimento for Neglected(?) Musical(?) Instruments(?)” wherein he quotes opera arias, songs by George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, and so much more that you might want to keep score. You’re also bound to recognize the tunes in Joey Sellers’ “Tribute to Pops,” an arranged medley of Louis Armstrong hits.

October 26

Less than a year after stopping at the Slowdown, New York-based gypsy punk outfit Gogol Bordello comes back to Nebraska for a show October 28 at The Bourbon. And the quick return really is nothing to marvel at, given the band’s reputation for relentless touring. Take their current U.S. outing, which runs from early September until Nov. 2. The band then wastes no time before heading to Europe until the end of the year. With such ceaseless touring, the band’s live show must be something to behold, right? Right. Any fan attending a Gogol Bordello show can expect to see a healthy dose of cross-stage bounding, gypsy dancers and, at some point near the beginning, frontman Eugene Hütz removing his shirt. The latest tour comes on the strength of the band’s first LP in four years, Seekers and Finders. Tickets are $29, and visit bourbontheatre.com for more information. ~Sam Crisler

November 3

Festival of South African Dance Holland Performing Arts Center Kiewit Hall TicketOmaha.com/Productions It’s been quite the year for Minneapolis DIY punks Remo Drive, who caught their big break back in February when YouTube music critic Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop co-signed the band’s single “Yer Killin’ Me.” Since then, the song’s music video has garnered nearly one million views on YouTube, and the band has toured with indie rock up-and-comers Hippo Campus and McCafferty. Diners, Remo Drive’s tourmates and the prolific solo project of Tyler Broderick, dropped its EP A Soft Day in February, documenting Broderick’s skepticism of people and relationships through seven tracks over lo-fi guitars and breezy percussion. The show was initially booked for Omaha DIY space Milk Run but was moved to Lookout Lounge while Milk Run hunts for a new location. Tickets are $10. Search “Remo Drive // Diners” on Facebook more more information. ~Sam Crisler

| THE READER |

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Since forming in early 2016, Omaha feminist punk trio The Boner Killerz have become one of the Nebraska underground scene’s most visible bands combating sexism and trans discrimination. Led by guitarist Eris Koleszar, the band takes influence from the ‘90s riot grrl movement, balancing Bikini Kill rage with playful intensity, often performing a punk-influenced rendition of Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” at live shows. Later this month, The Boner Killerz are celebrating their first album, the EP All Boner Killerz / No Boner Fillerz, with a release show at Brothers Lounge. The Morbs, Muscle Cousins, Domestica, Cool Schmool and Zero Trick Pony open the show. Find more information by searching “Boner Killerz CD Release Show” on Facebook. ~Sam Crisler

The Festival of South African Dance will be performing in Omaha as part of their debut United States tour. With more the 20 dancers and musicians, the show will explore two high-energy ensembles—Panstula and Gumboot. Both dancing styles feature rhythmic stomping and fast-paced movements. The Festival of South African Dance lets audiences see a slice of culture that formed during the Apartheid era of South Africa. Following their historic roots, the performance brings awareness to socioeconomic and political change. Tickets start at $15 and are available at TicketOmaha.com. ~Will Patterson

OMAHA’S PREMIER LIVE MUSIC VENUE

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LIVE MUSIC SCHEDULE - OCTOBER, 2017. MONDAY, OCTOBER 2 Gooch And His Big Las Vegas Band 6:30 to 9:30 pm TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3 Billy Troy 6:30 to 9:30 pm

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13 Soul Dawg 9:00 to 1:00 am SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14 Joystick 9:00 to 1:00 am

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25 Bill Chrastil 6:30 to 9:30 pm THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26 Anthony’s 50Th Anniversary 6:30 to 9:30 pm

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4 The 70’S Band 6:30 to 9:30 pm

MONDAY, OCTOBER 16 Gooch And His Big Las Vegas Band 6:30 to 9:30 pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5 Mighty Jailbreakers 6:30 to 9:30 pm

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17 Billy Troy 6:30 to 9:30 pm

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27 Charm School Dropouts 9:00 to 1:00 am

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18 Persuaders 6:30 to 9:30 pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28 Eckophonic 9:00 to 1:00 am

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 Dance Hott To Trot 9:00 to 1:00 am SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 Dance The Confidentials 9:00 to 1:00 am MONDAY, OCTOBER 9 Las Vegas Band 6:30 to 9:30 pm TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10 Scott Evans 6:30 to 9:30 pm WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11 Bozak & Morrissey 6:30 to 9:30 pm THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12 Stan Spurgeon & The Chain Gang 6:30 to 9:30 pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 Gooch’s Birthday Band 6:30 to 9:30 pm FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20 The Six 9:00 to 1:00 am SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 Taxi Driver 9:00 to 1:00 am

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 30 Gooch And His Big Las Vegas Band 6:30 to 9:30 pm TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31 Halloween No Band 6:30 to 9:30 pm

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24 Spontaneous Combustion 6:30 to 9:30 pm

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OCTOBER 2017

MOVEABLE FEAST

Sculptor Buck display highlights Kaneko’s very “Kinetic” exhibition BY KENT BEHRENS

BLUE COVFEFE BY TOM SITZMAN

YELLOW PERCH BY LAWRENCE A. SOSSO

ART

OCTOBER 2017

inetic, The Kaneko’s four-month exhibit extraordinaire about the art and technology of movement, is winding down to its last three weeks. Make your own move to see it before it passes by and you miss seeing one of the most compelling visual art exhibitions of the year. The exhibit features nine artists in total--two from Omaha--but the main component is the considerable assemblage of work by artist and sculptor John Buck. This is the largest exhibit of his work ever assembled, a worldclass presentation. Three main galleries are all devoted to Buck’s woodblock prints, wallhung relief/dioramas and 13 huge, complex mechanical installations. Buck was born in Ames, Iowa but lives now with his wife, artist Deborah Butterfield, in Montana. Events at the Kaneko are free. You can expect to be greeted by a pleasant and friendly face at the front desk, and for this show, an initially bothersome creaking noise coming from high overhead. Looking up, you’ll come to realize this groan/squeak is a fittingly funny

| THE READER |

ART

effect of the motion of sculptor Larry Sasso’s enormous “Channel Swimmer,” his prodigious, mechanical, if somewhat arthritic, wire sculpture/mobile. Surrounded by “Yellow Perch” of golden brass plated steel wire, the persistent swimmer strokes his way nowhere, seemingly held back by his suit, bowtie and his 8 to 5 job, kicking up an invisible wake in a desperate attempt to get on with real life. Sasso is one of two Omaha artists with work in the show. Proceeding to the main gallery section, you first come to Buck’s spinning globe, “Omnibus” 2004, its wooden drive gear clacking quietly, introducing the viewer to Buck’s extensive use of symbols both recognizable and mysterious. The new visitor should note: if the globe is not spinning, look for a small disk on the floor attached by wire to the sculpture. If this foot switch is available, step on it to get the sculpture started. You might as well get used to this, as several of Buck’s sculptures require activation. Some of the more fragile sculptures are only available to operate during organized tours. Please heed the signage. On your right are two of Deborah Butterfield’s horse sculptures, “Isabelle” 2001, and “Hawaii”, 2001. Although these are not actively (or passively)

moving pieces, the sinuousness of the cast bronze materials and structure take a back seat to the “driftwood” implies the musculature and bridled art of the motion. He works with simple shapes power of the majestic species, even in repose. and materials that were only utilitarian to him. The definition of kinetic art has over the years With this in mind, the placement of these two been expanded to include impressions and wind-activated sculptures depend on the large suggestions of movement, so Butterfield’s pieces ceiling fans being turned on. If not, they are fit well within the show. Plus, married to John diminished by the Bloomen Lumen installation Buck, she can be in the show if she wants. and can seem out of place, out of mind. Moving left to enter the large, main space, After its first favorable impression, Kinetic the Bow Truss Gallery, it is easy to miss the two can seem a little underwhelming as It lacks woodblock prints on the wall, a fine introduction many examples by the masters such Calder or to Buck’s expertise in this medium. Like a child’s Tinguely. The one exception being the two pieces first visit to the carnival, the spectacle of the by George Rickey. intricate and spinning carved wood sculptures is There is no representation by more current curious and inviting. His multicolored prints are innovators like Thor Jansen, or Pekka and Teija sprinkled throughout the other two gallery spaces Isorattya or Anthony Howe. In addition, much of devoted to his work. what is presented, save for John Buck, is meant “Tableaux vivants” is the best way to describe to be outside, where the wind driven machines these maquettes. Carved of jelutong wood, the can find purchase, where the monumental can same tree from which we get latex, these are be experienced. conceived, created and engineered all by the That said there are several smaller pieces in artist himself without blueprints. a second-floor gallery, sharing space with an A reportedly voracious reader, Buck’s method is impressive UNO Biomechanics exhibit. Since to take a serious philosophical or cultural concept, the Biomechanics extension is educational, it is or a politically charged or historical interaction or necessary and rewarding to watch the videos (or event, and turn it into a (sometimes) funny and join an organized tour) to get the full effect. usually poignant, animated machine that does In addition, in the center of the room you will find nothing more than turn, rotate, spin and rock. two of Tom Sitzman’s entries. Sitzman, an Omaha Almost all of Buck’s choreography, however, sculptor, has made two self-leveling “Covfefe” for is pointless other than for presentation. Unlike those still wondering what that actually is. These Rube Goldberg’s contraptions, Buck’s machines large steel hoops, looking like some sort of physical do not have a final pragmatic result. Instead, therapy contraptions, are an interactive statement the movements are simple animation, changing of balance witnessed by a simple push. relationships, opening and closing doors, to Lastly, we see a tabletop version of a 60bring the sculpture alive, waving at you to get foot wind-driven segmented serpentine tower, your attention and amusement. “Dance with the Wind,” by Ralfanso Gschwend, They also creak, squeal or clack. Most of Buck’s aka Ralfanso. A Swiss sculptor, Ralfanso is one kinetic sculptures make noise; a deliberate, folksy of the most active and prolific kinetic sculptors and unassuming accompaniment that helps living today. make these looming and busy wooden constructs He is the first and still-serving President of curious and accessible. the Kinetic Art Organization, an international The repetitious and proud groan of a belt society founded to preserve and promote kinetic going around a pulley, the clack of wood on art. He has two pieces in the show, the other wood, each works together in a style resembling is “Ex,” a wind driven, seven-foot-tall, stainless both a cartoon and ballet to ease any harsh steel exclamation point. Impressive in their social or political commentary. It is difficult not to engineering, it was disappointing to see these smile when viewing these in action. impotently stuck in a room. The first floor then is devoted primarily to Buck. Because of the fragile nature of many of the Moving upstairs, the first gallery features “Blumen sculptures and displays, some are only available Lumen” by the group Foldhaus. The San Franciscan for “participation” or function during organized designers and engineers produce moving and supervised tours. This is an unfortunate, but “botanical” sculptures operated by motion detectors. necessary, and makes some of the displays a The “flowers” have been a regular installation little inaccessible and therefore somewhat less for years at Burning Man festivals and various interesting. concerts and events worldwide. Although they The entire Kinetic extravaganza started back are beginning to show some wear, these Audrey- in early June, and you can still enjoy the main esque blooms are still surprising and fun. exhibit. The show runs through October 14th. The Foldhaus installation is joined by two Tours are Tuesdays, from 5:30PM to 6:30 PM, George Rickey sculptures and a Mark di Suvero Fridays from 12PM -1 PM, and Saturdays 11 piece (this was recently replaced with two am-12 PM, and 3PM-4PM. For more show Fletcher Benton works) Rickey preferred the details go to thekaneko.org.

THREE SISTERS BY JOHN BUCK

VR EXPERIENCE FOR UNO BIOMECHANICS ART

| THE READER |

OCTOBER 2017

BACKBEAT COLUMN BY SAM CRISLER

MESONJIXXMARY ELIZABETH - PHOTO BY BRIDGET MCQUILLAN

MUSIC

This column is part of an ongoing collaboration between The Reader and Hear Nebraska, a music journalism and production nonprofit seeking to engage and cultivate Nebraska’s music scene. Here, we’ll break down the biggest Nebraska music news from the last month.

OCTOBER 2017

et’s start with the first two days of the month, when Benson crawled with music fans and dozens of bands performed at six venues for Benson First Friday Femme Fest. Performances from FREAKABOUT, Edem Soul Music and Domestica highlighted the festival, but the real triumph was in the fact that such a festival exists in Nebraska. It was the fact that so many bands wanted to be involved, and it was the fact that hundreds of fans support an event with female empowerment as its foundation. While the growth of Nebraska music festivals is nothing new (see Maha Music Festival and Lincoln Calling’s year-over-year expansion), it’s particularly encouraging to watch as an event with the purpose of BFFFF thrives. That same weekend, another festival raged on the eastern edge of Midtown. DIY venue Milk Run welcomed the eighth Nebraska Hardcore Showcase on Sept. 2, where seventeen heavy acts were slated to perform 20 minute sets throughout the day. Hundreds of punks, clad in all black,

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crowded Milk Run’s graffiti-covered basement to catch sets by bands like the oddball hardcore quartet Suzi Q, sludge metal five-piece High Ruler and classic Omaha punk band RAF. Following each set, fans filtered out to the alleyway behind Midtown Art Supply to catch a breather from the basement humidity. Then, as the sounds of the next band’s bashing instruments careened outside, everyone followed their cue to return to the basement for the next set. For most of the day, things ran smoothly. That is until an anonymous phone call brought four police cars to Milk Run around 6 p.m. as feminist punks Crease wrapped up their set. The police said they had been tipped off about a rave with underage drinking and narcotics, although nothing of the sort was happening. Police also said that the building’s owner was unaware of any such music venue and that the building was to be used for storage purposes only — all of which was news to Milk Run’s staff. Eventually, the festival continued at Lookout Lounge with Lincoln garage punk band Death Cow resuming the music around 9:30 p.m. and with room-filling sets from BIB and Powerslop coming later on. The Nebraska Hardcore Showcase recovered from the obstacles, but the run-in with OPD ended Milk Run’s tenure at 2578 Harney St. It’s the second time in as many years the DIY space has been forced to relocate. But since opening in Fall 2015, Milk Run has quickly become one of the go-to Nebraska venues for out-of-state bands to book shows and has played host to up-and-coming acts like Pinegrove, The Hotelier and (Sandy) Alex G. With a strong support system of local bands and fans, Milk Run operators say they’re confident they will be up and running soon at a new venue. As one Omaha music resource and venue closes their doors, another opens theirs. In mid-September, the long-touted Hi-Fi House at 3724 Farnam St. began accepting membership orders for yearly access to its extensive collection of thousands of records and its state-of-the-art sound system. Since early 2016, Hi-Fi House has operated under the radar, privately offering its library to select listeners, staging shows for acts like Omaha native and Kendrick Lamar collaborator Terrace Martin, and interviewing touring bands like Big Thief. But after going public, Hi-Fi House intends to foster a community where friends can gather to experience recorded music in the best setting and discuss what they hear. Memberships range from $300-$1,000 per year, and more information on events, membership and Hi-Fi House’s library is available at www.hifi.house. A number of local acts put out new records in September, and we’ll break them down here. First, Lincoln folk-rock troubadour Evan Bartels and his band The Stoney Lonesomes’ debut LP The Devil, God & Me released on Lincoln folk and roots label Sower Records. The record boasts steady percussion and the occasional wail of an overdriven guitar solo. But much of the LP can be reduced to Bartels’ acoustic guitar plucking, his gravelly, stirring voice and his Dylan-esque narrations on songs like “The Fine Things,” on which he sings “I’ll take me a ladder to the top of a mountain/just so I can climb good and high.” On The Devil, God & Me, Bartels sounds like a man beyond his years with the earnest skepticism of faith and existence felt by many a twenty-something. Bartels rang in the album’s release with an album release show at The Bay with Jack Hotel and Mike Semrad & The River Hawks.

Another Lincoln artist, the prolific experimenter John Freidel, dropped Entrancer, a sonic barrage of synthesizers creating otherworldly soundscapes over danceable electronic beats. Much of the album sports an accessibility provided by major key fluttering synths, but songs like the title track haunt with a fearsome urgency not unlike that of the theme song in John Carpenter’s “Halloween” franchise. Entrancer comes on the heels of Freidel’s A Rose In The Glass, which appeared just as the calendar turned to January 2017. Then there was the office job-themed rock opera, Business, which Freidel headed with his power pop project Green Trees in June. It’s a wonder Freidel can produce so much music in a single year, and what’s more is the music is consistently good. Entrancer was celebrated at an album release show at 1867 Bar with Universe Contest and Effluvium. Next, Ashland, Nebraska, indie rock quartet The Way Out released its debut LP Automatic Writing at the beginning of the month. The record serves as a significant sonic maturation from the band’s 2016 EP Good Grief, taking the latter’s teenage angst and fusing it with densely calculated rock instrumentals owing as much to the Pixies as My Chemical Romance. Rather than letting her vocals simply accompany the music — as was occasionally the case on Good Grief — frontwoman Mari Crisler’s vocals tower over many tracks here, forcing listeners to feel the weight of her post-relationship woes throughout. The band celebrated the record on Sept. 9 at a birthday party-themed release show at The Bay. Uh Oh, Centerpiece and Mad Dog and the 20/20s opened the show. Finally, perhaps one of Nebraska’s most instrumentally talented bands, Mesonjixx, dropped its debut EP In The Middle last month, combining old-school blues guitar licks with sexy funk-driven rhythms. And speaking of towering vocals, frontwoman Mary Lawson adds to the already-sonically sweeping mix her soulful but lush and breezy voice, which would easily hold its own to modern R&B stars like SZA and Jhené Aiko. Not once in the EP’s four tracks does Lawson’s voice command attention, but every note she hits earns it. In The Middle is a promising debut years in the making, which only hints at the band’s potential. The EP came out on Sept. 22 at a release show at The Zoo Bar with Omaha hip-hop duo BOTH. Make sure to check out our Backbeat Column again next month when we talk Lincoln Calling, reflect on The Boner Killerz new EP and more. Of course, this isn’t all of what happened in Nebraska music over the last month. Head over to hearnebraska.org for our tri-weekly news column, and keep up with music scene events and news all year round.

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OCTOBER 2017

MONSTROUS MUSIC CHOICES BY B.J. HUCHTEMANN

HOODOO

HOODOO focuses on blues, roots, Americana and occasional other music styles with an emphasis on live music performances. Hoodoo columnist B.J. Huchtemann is a senior contributing writer and veteran music journalist who received the Blues Foundation’s 2015 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Journalism. Follow her blog at hoodoorootsblues.blogspot.com and on www.thereader.com.

OCTOBER 2017

SO Presents and Chrome Lounge shows of note start off Oct. 6, 6-9 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 7, 5-7 p.m. Bacon and company also with this year’s Nebraska Blues Challenge, which will select play Saturday, Oct. 8, but it’s a Husker game day, so watch zoobar. one band to represent the Blues Society of Omaha at the com for the official show start time. East Coast rock-blues guitarist Popa Chubby takes the Zoo Stage prestigious International Blues Challenge. The IBCs take place in Memphis in January 2018, sponsored by the Blues Foundation. Tuesday, Oct. 10, 6-9 p.m. His new disc, Two Dogs, officially drops The Nebraska Blues Challenge is Sunday, Oct. 8, 4 p.m., at Chrome. Nov. 3. Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal play a double header, performing Only four bands entered the open competition this year, so there were no preliminary rounds. Participants will play an approximate Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-14, both shows start at 9 p.m. Mark 45 minute set. Performers in order of appearance are Big Daddy Stuart & The Bastard Sons are back Wednesday, Oct. 18, 6-9 Caleb & The Chargers, Steve Lovett Blues Band, Normal p.m. K.C.’s Nick Schnebelen plugs in Wednesday, Oct. 25, 6-9 Blvd., and Rex Granite Band featuring Sarah Benck p.m. Tardy. The winner as chosen by judges following the IBC criteria will represent the BSO in Memphis next January. The winner as chosen by Chris Meck & The Guilty Birds Guitar fans will want to give a listen to K.C.’s Chris Meck. His wife judges following the IBC criteria will represent the BSO in Memphis and musical partner Abigail Henderson lost a warrior’s battle with next January. The Thursday early blues shows offer great touring acts including Mark breast cancer, but before she passed, Henderson and Meck formed a Hummel’s Golden State – Lone Star Revue Thursday, Oct. 12. foundation to help local musicians. See midwestmusicfoundation.org. The Revue now features guitarist Mike Keller from Doyle Bramhall, After Henderson’s passing, he began writing songs and Chris Meck Marcia Ball and Fabulous Thunderbirds. Keller joints the original band & the Guilty Birds were born. The mix of driving rock, roots and soul members, the great Texas guitarist Anson Funderburgh and the in their debut disc has received airplay on more than 60 radio stations across North America and Europe. See chrismeckandtheguiltybirds. rhythm section of R.W. Grigsby and Wes Starr. Dance-floor filling favorites The Bel Airs are up Thursday, Oct. com and check them out at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Saturday, Oct. 21, 9 p.m. 19. The Paul Nelson Band performs Thursday, Oct. 26. Guitar World magazine says Grammy-winner Nelson has “chops deluxe.” Roadhouse Steps It Up Curtis McMurtry, James’ son and an up and coming songwriter Newly formed Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations make their Omaha debut Thursday, Nov. 2. The band is lead by Kansas-bred himself, performs Tuesday, Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m. at Reverb Lounge. Arbuckle, formerly of the disbanded Moreland & Arbuckle. Expect James McMurtry and his band will be up next month, Wednesday, music that is still rooted in the blues but influenced by other American November 15, 8 p.m. at Waiting Room. The Sunday Roadhouse hosts a Canadian duo recognized with musical styles. All Thursday shows are 6-9 p.m. multiple prestigious award nominations in their own country, folk ukulele player Hill and classically trained cellist James Hill and Toronzo Cannon Ignites There is a special show on Saturday, Oct. 21, 6-9 p.m., to Anne Janelle, Sunday, Oct. 29, 5 p.m. at Reverb Lounge. See accommodate the bus-driving bluesman, Toronzo Cannon. Cannon jameshillannejanelle.com. Check sundayroadhouse.com for more and is an engaging showman and a rising star on the national blues scene also the coming November shows. with a 2016 disc, The Chicago Way, out on Alligator records. The 49-year-old Cannon only tours on weekends because he still does his Hot notes Big Al’s Free Music Festival Food Drive happens Saturday, day job, working as a bus driver for Chicago Transit Authority. Mojo magazine named Cannon’s disc the #1 Best Blues Album of 2016 as Oct. 7 at O’Leaver’s, 5 p.m. Look up the event on Facebook for details. Bloodshot Records’ The Yawpers have been praised for their did the Living Blues magazine’s annual reader’s poll. Cannon was also nominated for four 2017 Blues Music Awards. See toronzocannon.com. sound “full of fuzzy slide guitar with one ear towards 1970s rock and roll and another towards 1960s Delta blues.” Catch The Yawpers with the Filter Kings and Clarence Tilton Thursday, Nov. 2, 9 p.m., at Zoo Bar Blues You can also catch guitarist Toronzo Cannon at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar O’Leaver’s. Lilly Hiatt, daughter of John Hiatt, is making a name for herself on Friday, Oct. 20, 5-7 p.m. as part of his weekend tour. The literal five-star show of Mark Hummel, Anson Funderburgh, Mike as a singer-songwriter. She is scheduled for Lincoln’s Bourbon Keller, R.W. Grigsby and Wes Starr and the Golden State Theatre Friday, Oct. 10. Gogol Bordello rock the Bourbon Theatre – Lone Star Revue hits the Zoo Wednesday, Oct. 11, 6-9 p.m. See Saturday, Oct. 28. Regina Spektor plays Lincoln’s Rococo Theatre Wednesday, Nov. 1. facebook.com/goldenstatelonestar. Two American masters Bob Dylan and Mavis Staples, are Other highlights on the Zoo schedule include Texas’ roots musician Billy Bacon with his Nebraska band The Linkin’ Logs Thursday, scheduled for CenturyLink Monday, Oct. 23.

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OCTOBER 2017

LET’S GET DIG-I-TAL, DIG-I-TAL!  Filmmaking and Distributing in the Digital Age

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B Y R YA N S Y R E K

For better or worse, depending on who you ask, senior contributing writer RYAN SYREK has been reviewing movies and writing about popular culture for more than 15 years. In print, on social media (twitter.com/thereaderfilm), on the radio (CD1059.com) and on his podcast, Movieha! (movieha.biz), Ryan tries to critically engage pop content while not boring anybody. Send him hate, love or local movie news items at film@thereader.com.

OCTOBER 2017

t the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Quentin Tarantino, world-renowned for his even-keeled temper and responsible rhetoric, calmly declared “Cinema is dead.” Surprisingly, this was not a reference to his then-upcoming 2015 film, The Hateful Eight. Instead, he was referring to digital projection, which is also not a reference to the projected middle digits on my hands that I wished to show him after seeing The Hateful Eight. It’s not only the foremost filmmaking foot fetishist who feels that recording and displaying movies digitally is weaksauce; Richard Linklater, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese and countless others have demonstrated a continued passion for shooting on film, although most have done so with more restraint than the paragon-of-self-control that is Quentin Tarantino. Technological advancements and filmmaking have been and will be as intertwined as the NRA and the stoking of irrational fears or Bill Clinton and literally any woman within his line of sight. Arguably, the bedrock of filmmaking and movie consumption is currently undergoing a foundational, fundamental seismic shift. Digital quakes are shaking and rearranging every layer of how movies are made and released. So let’s take a look at the cultural Richter scale as we assess the affected areas.

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Epicenter One: Stock-zilla vs Camera Cinematographers, the people who work stupid hard to make a film look beautiful only to have everyone misguidedly give the director sole credit for it, have had a wide-ranging reaction to the shift from film stock to digital recording and projection. In 2015, Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar) told Hitfix.com “The debate itself [film vs digital] is just stupid, you know?” His thought, understandably, is that the choice to shoot on film or digital is solely about artists determining the right tools for their specific project. Or, as he much more eloquently put it, “Some people like painting with oil paint and other people like painting with acrylic paint and other people like painting with cow shit, you know?” Finally, some good press for bovinefeces enthusiasts. As a lot, filmmakers are generally early adopters of tech, endowed with a pioneering willingness to hobble together whatever tools are available to MacGyver whatever is in their head into the eyeballs of others. From greenscreens to CGI to whatever holographic tomfoolery is next, cinema and innovation are not the antonyms Tarantino pretends them to be. Listening to genius artists like Bradford Young (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Selma, Arrival) talk about how digital recording allows for “radical” visual

approaches sure makes it sound like the sturm-und-drang wailing and gnashing of teeth from certain artists is about something else… What if I told you it—gasp!—is really about something else, at least somewhat. The digital revolution is a democratic one, something we’ll talk more about in terms of distribution below. The loudest voices lamenting the digital revolution are, unsurprisingly, wealthy white men. That is, in part, because Hollywood operates under a “fallacy of merit” that pretends women and people of color have yet to earn their place in the industry when they’re actually barred by an invisible wall that would make Trump salivate. Digital filmmaking is cheap. Anyone can do it. You can do it on a phone. Hell, you can do it well on a phone (see Tangerine). Film stock is expensive. The production surrounding film stock is expensive. Projecting film stock is expensive. I have no doubt that the most vocal detractors of digital production do not see their support of celluloid as coming from a position of privilege, but it absolutely does. Demeaning movies that are shot on digital as glorified TV, as Tarantino explicitly does, is essentially telling creators unfairly boxed out of lavish studio funding that they can’t make “real” movies. Luckily, the digital revolution is an unstoppable juggernaut, bitch. Various theaters, like The Alamo Drafthouse, will always provide havens for celluloid-only obsessives to show their work. The only actual losers in this game-changing shattering of film’s Pangea into digital continents are whiny man-babies who have the mental space to consider this a meaningful issue when it isn’t.

Epicenter Two: Every Movie Has a Red Carpet Premiere if Your Carpet is Red I sincerely promise, this whole thing isn’t a long, angry screed against Christopher Nolan. He just says a lot of dumb shit is all. During the press designed to whip up attention for the just-okay Dunkirk, Nolan trashed the Netflix strategy of releasing movies on their service without a specific time carved out for a theatrical run. Speaking to IndieWire, he described Netflix’s strategy of immediately making the films that they pay increasingly gigantic piles of money in order to distribute as “mindless.” The Atlantic was super-duper nice to Nolan, representing his argument that same-day digital distribution is dumb and bad as him “arguing for a model that’s inclusive of both [theatrical and home video] experiences.” Yeah, that ain’t what he said though… Nolan praised Amazon’s practice of offering a 90-day window, in which theaters only are able to show a movie, as “a perfectly usable model” and “terrific.” It is categorically wrong to see that as him suggesting theatrical and home video experiences are both valuable. He was explicitly praising only the part with the theaters. Filmmakers like Nolan and buttloads of critics—yes, that is the scientific name for a group of film reviewers—believe seeing a movie in a theater is literally the only “real” way to see a movie. You think I’m kidding? Folks like IndieWire’s David Ehrlich have twisted themselves existential about this nonsense. Ehrlich asked, “If a movie premieres on Netflix, is it still even a movie?” Ehrlich then also answered himself, stating “Movies—at least for the time being—are simply things that play in movie theaters. It may seem like a matter of semantics, but I think we’re talking about qualitatively different experiences.” You’re right, David, it’s not just a matter of semantics; it’s a matter of privileged semantics. As someone whose tush imprint is etched in countless local theaters, it’s safe to assume I prefer watching movies with an audience in an auditorium. But that’s a personal preference I am lucky enough to be able to afford, both financially and time-wise. The divine Ava DuVernay tweeted at Nolan after his poo-pooing of Netflix, asking “But, what if there’s no movie theater in your neighborhood?” She could have also asked “What if you work so much, you don’t have time to see movies in the theater?” or “What if you can’t afford tickets?” The streaming services are, again, soldiers on the frontlines of digital democratization. They make it so that cinematic art is affordable and available. Is it the same, glorious experience as watching something in a theater? Nah. But just as the impoverished in Shakespeare’s era were permitted to at least partake in the blockbusters of their time by snapping up shitty groundling tickets, digital outlets reduce the time and burden of traveling to a theater (something able-bodied folks rarely factor into the movie-watching equation) and financial cost. I respect artists who desperately want their messages to be heard. I struggle with artists who only want their messages to be heard by those who can afford to do so. The more digital distributors, the more films get purchased, the more options for young and diverse filmmakers, the more opportunities to hear and see a variety of voices you’d never have otherwise been exposed to. The move from film stock to digital devices and the new digital distribution system are not the “death of cinema.” They’re the death of old, exclusive cinema. They’re the death of exclusionary, privileged, gate-kept cinema. They’re the death of outdated ways of thinking about cinema. Cinema is dead. Long live cinema.

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• It’s that time of year again: Time to get mad at tossed chalk, yelling “I love fall!” To be clear, I will terrible moment for me, but please go see this the people who are mad at the people who love yell “I love fall!” LeBron never yelled that. That we movie he’s in. Don’t let my pain hold you back any longer. Finally, Film Streams has two fall series: the fall and fall-related fun! It’s also time for The know of. Alamo Drafthouse’s “Drafthouse of Horrors • Film Streams has also really “stuffed the Forever Young Family & Children Series Fall 2017!” Throughout October, Omaha’s Alamo will pumpkin” this October. Please help that phrase 2017 (Sept 30 – Dec 31) and Restorations and “remember the horror” by showing 31 classics of for copious fall activities catch on. First up, the Revivals Fall 2017 (Oct 10 – Dec 14). The first the genre. This year’s films are stupendously well- 2017 Local Filmmakers Showcase is here! It’s one has Halloween fare like Beetlejuice and Teen selected. Vampire Hunter D (Oct 15), The Craft 123-minute program carefully curated by the bad- Witch along with the holiday epic The Muppet (Oct 22), The Babadook (Oct 21) and Shaun asses at Hello Holiday. A record 66 submissions Christmas Carol, which is the only telling of that of the Dead (Oct 26) are among the impossibly was cut down to 12 shorts from artists who live story I acknowledge. The latter series has recently great choices included in this year’s crop. Also, around these parts, including a Student Spotlight restored classics like Night of the Living Dead, there’s an attendance program: Five visits get you film. The premiere is Oct 19 at 7 pm, with a post- The Graduate and a documentary on tap dancing, free popcorn and 2 tickets, 9 visits gets you a free party to let the filmmakers sniff that Hollywood which seems strange paired with a zombie movie. shake and 2 tickets, 12 visits gets you a free entrée spotlight feel. Regular showings will happen on Although, now I really want to see a tap-dancing and 4 tickets, 15 visits gets you entered into a Oct 22 and Oct 25, but you’ll have to provide zombie movie… Enjoy stuffing your pumpkins! raffle for passes for a future festival and 25+ visits your own post-party. Then, on Oct 12 at 7 pm, gets you a customized “I Survived Drafthouse of Nik Fackler will introduce a special screening of Cutting Room provides breaking local and Horrors 2017” T-shirt and a mention in the 2017 Lovely, Still in memory of its lead actor, Martin national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to recap. Also, 25+ visits presumably gets you letters Landau, who died this past July. It was shot in film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on from your friends and family saying “We miss Omaha and also features Elizabeth Banks and Movieha!, a weekly podcast, catch him on you. Please either skip a movie or invite us.” With Adam Scott. I only just now realize this means the radio on CD 105.9 on Fridays at around no less than a dozen flicks I absolutely love, I’ll be that Adam Scott was in Omaha, and I missed 7:40 a.m. and on KVNO 90.7 at 8:30 a.m. on tossing pumpkin spice like LeBron James once my chance to become his best friend. This is a Fridays and follow him on Twitter.

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OCTOBER 2017

OVER THE EDGE OVER THE EDGE

is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Tim has been writing about Omaha and the local indie music scene for more than two decades. Catch his daily music reporting at Lazy-i.com, the city’s longest-running blog. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com.

OCTOBER 2017

TUNING INTO HI-FI HOUSE The hush-hush private music club finally goes public. BY TIM MCMAHAN

n the surface, it seems difficult to explain the concept Fees start at $75 a year for a “lab membership” that allows behind Hi-Fi House, a private club that charges members access to Hi-Fi House during daytime hours. In the evenings, Hianywhere from $75 to $1,000 a year for the privilege of Fi House turns into a private club whose membership fees (which cover one person and a significant other) range from $300 a year playing its record collection on its stereo systems. You might naturally say to yourself, “I could buy a whole bunch for musicians to $600 a year for members of “the industry” — a of records for $1,000 that I could play whenever I want to in the broad category that includes any career that touches music, from privacy of my own home,” but you’d be missing the point. The club, journalists to studio employees to club owners to people involved located at 3724 Farnam St. in the Blackstone District, has been with music-related nonprofits. Finally, there’s the general public membership at a cost of $1,000 operating privately for more than a year. I first stepped foot in Hi-Fi House last year during a Record Store Day event where the public was per year. Dussault doesn’t sound like she expects to sell many of allowed a sneak peek. The facility is first class all the way — a huge those, but with the venue’s capacity rated at only 125, she doesn’t open, carpeted space with comfortable furniture arranged in circles want to oversell memberships, anyway. She said she’s already sold throughout, centered around stereo equipment set-ups, including one a few hundred memberships, with all the money received channeled back into covering facility costs, which include constantly buying new I was told cost $80,000. Behind the big room is a couple smaller rooms. Inside the first is records for the club’s ever-growing collection. In addition to access to that collection, members are invited to Hi-Fi House’s massive album collection — more than 10,000 vinyl records. A glance at the titles indicates the music touches all genres, attend special night-time programming that includes exclusive album with issue dates ranging from the 1940s to present. Some of albums listening parties, chats with artists and industry professionals, and look unplayed and are still sealed. On display are a number of intimate performances, such as a private concert last year by The interesting music-related items, like a Patti Smith edition of a Pono Replacements’ Tommy Stinson. With its heavy music education focus, you’d assume Hi-Fi House Music Player — something I’d never seen in real life. On the afternoon of that sneak peek, local bands performed in the would consider becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity, but Dussault space, including an early incarnation of the progressive jazz combo wants to steer clear from that for now. “The truth is most nonprofits Chemicals. A small crowd watched the performance while enjoying have to scrap and re-raise their operating money every year,” she said. “It’s difficult, and they are at the whims of, in some cases, the beer and wine served at a bar near the club’s front door. For reasons I never understood, Hi-Fi House was hush-hush back same very few people who are supporting everything else. It doesn’t then. At the time, owner/operator Kate Dussault wouldn’t give me give you a chance to break out and invite new people to the party.” So sure is she of the Hi-Fi House concept, she’s already planning to an interview on the record, though the club had been operating for expand to other cities. After spending the next three months working months, including offering special music programming for children. Well, the cloak of secrecy finally was lifted from Hi-Fi House last alongside Ochsner, Dussault will move to New York City where she’ll month when the organization launched a website — www.hifi.house spend three months with lawyers and other associates to review — and began actively soliciting memberships. Dussault, now on the expansion plans. “We’ll be solidifying New York, and then I’ll be traveling to Boston record, explained why the club operated in secrecy for so long. “One reason was that we really wanted to experiment with all the and other nearby cities,” she said, adding that there’s already programming,” she said, seated at one of the club’s large tables “movement” for clubs in Denver, Des Moines and Chicago. “We’re alongside Hi-Fi House General Manager (a title made up on the spot) talking to people in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Portland Jon Ochsner while that $80,000 stereo system quietly played some and Seattle, as well as five different Los Angeles locations.” Surely Dussault must be a wealthy woman to make all of this happen. funky jazz sides. “The other reason was to really let the music community have the She just laughs at the suggestion. “This is a labor of love,” she said. “I work two full-time jobs while space pretty much to themselves for a period of time. We were able to have a lot of conversations with local artists and people who work in I do this. I have a medical house-call company in New York that I the industry to find out how we could best live in this community and spend a good six hours on a day on and I do some work for a music supervision firm in New York. If I weren’t doing those things, we serve it.” In a nutshell, Dussault said, Hi-Fi House was built “so musicians wouldn’t be alive.“Everything doesn’t have to be a nonprofit,” she could have their own private club. We’re offering a place where they added. “Some people have to take their own money and get out there and gamble it on making changes. I’m willing to live or die based on can communicate with each other.” She said musicians often don’t have time to chat when they’re at what I can deliver these people, and whether they’re happy with the venues performing, “but when they come over here, they can really experience.” sit down, share music and listen to music together, and a lot of them Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing really love that experience.” Think of it like The Omaha Press Club, but instead of focusing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and on journalism and public relations, Hi-Fi House focuses on music. the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com

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