Jazz Artist Visits Omaha, Happy Birthday Stateleigh, New Album From Viscerous and a Blues Sendoff

Friday Night Live Music Lineup

Happy New Year! I hope it has all started off well for you. Looking forward to getting back into the swing here on Omaha Buzz. There will not be a new album release post this Sunday, but the following week they will finally get back up and running again, and I am already into four albums coming out that week that I can’t wait to talk about. Other than that, I think we will have enough stuff happening to get back to regular posts. I have news items coming up next week, and I think we will see a rush of show announcements also. Here is the Friday show list. If you want to get a preview of the rest of the weekend, you can do so HERE. If you want to check out the January Live Music Preview (which isn’t actually a preview anymore), you can do so HERE.

This past week, I caught Scott Severin and Stateleigh Holmes (with Ash Sharp) at Reverb Lounge opening the Jeremy Mercy CD release party. I have been watching Severin and have known him as a close friend for many years now, and I have been watching this duo and trio together for some time now also. I have to say they have not been resting on their collective experience to easily throw out a performance that would be satisfactory. They continue to challenge themselves musically, bringing new elements to their show and new songs, and it’s really clicking. You can see what I am talking about this evening as the trio performs at Hub Cafe in Lincoln for an early show. This show is for Stateleigh Holmes birthday (they even named a pizza after her) and should be quite the celebratory affair.

Tonight at The Jewell on Capitol is the Mitch Towne Trio featuring Ryan Kisor. Towne is a longtime musician based out of Omaha who performs regularly around the Midwest and internationally as a member of SRT. He is a Grammy-nominated artist for his work on Terrace Martin’s “Velvet Portraits” album. Kisor is from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in New York City. He has performed with the Mingus Big Band, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. I caught Towne and Kisor some time back together at The Jewell, and it was a fantastic performance that found me digging into and purchasing some of Kisor’s recorded work. In 2024 he released Live At Smalls with his quintet.

This weekend there are two shows that will send Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal to Memphis for next week's International Blues Challenge. The IBC is a big deal in the blues music world and can mean a lot of opportunities for the winners. Each year, area blues societies and associations send solo artists and bands to the event. This year The Blues Society of Omaha is sending Steve Lovett and Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal. The first send-off and fundraising party is at The Zoo Bar today and will feature Hoyer and the band. The second is on Sunday at B. Bar in Omaha and will feature Hoyer and Lovett.

Omaha metal band Viscerous call themselves “twisted metal” and are set to release their new album, Eviscerate, today at the Waiting Room. You will not be able to purchase the CD tonight as they sold out during the pre-order process. They state they have more on the way, but until then you will have to check it out on streaming. I was going to listen to it this morning but am not seeing it anywhere yet, but the video for “Eviscerate” dropped overnight, and you can see that HERE . The video is directed by Dan Mecek and has a large body count. The show tonight will also have Reign of Eris, Ungoliant, and Molten on the bill.

Here are the rest of your live music options for this evening.

Friday January 3rd

Viscerous, Reign of Eris, Ungoliant, Molten at Waiting Room 8PM (Omaha)

Scott Severin and Stateleigh Holmes at Hub Cafe 6PM (Lincoln)

Head Change, Mack Daddy and The Dents, FAHR at Reverb Lounge 8PM (Omaha)

Swampboy Blues Band at B. Bar 5:30PM (Omaha)

Mitch Towne Trio with Ryan Kisor at Jewell on Capitol 7:30PM (Omaha)

Josh Hoyer and Soul Colossal at The Zoo Bar 5PM (Lincoln)

Standed In The City at The Zoo Bar 9PM (Lincoln)

Joseph Hall a Tribute To Elvis at The Dock 8PM (Council Bluffs)

CA Waller at Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso-7PM (Lincoln)

Lisa Lisa and Acoustic Jam at Rusty Nail 6:30PM (Omaha)

King of Diamonds at Beach House Bar and Grill 7PM (Omaha)

Sweet Addiction at Bogies West 8:30PM (Omaha)

Al Anderson Band at Gorats 6PM (Omaha)

Dynamic Air DJ’s at Whiskey Roadhouse 9PM (Council Bluffs)