L. Kent Wolgamott: Best of Nebraska list doesn't mention Lincolnites

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Last month, The Boston Phoenix decided to make a list of who its writers consider the best band, best solo artist and best new band from each of the 50 states, then allow readers to add their comments/votes. When I ran across the piece on the Web, I immediately clicked on the Nebraska listing and was far from shocked to see this:

All-Time Best Band: Bright Eyes

All-Time Best Solo Artist: Elliott Smith

View Slideshow

The Boston Phoenix named Conor Oberst's band Bright Eyes the All-Time Best Band from Nebraska. (Courtesy photo)

Best New Band: Tilly and The Wall

Say what you will (and oh, you will say it) about Bright Eyes, but even if you find the outbreak of yowling boys with guitars and grand ambitions about as appealing as a brushfire, Conor Oberst remains a performer and writer of consistent passion, smarts and charisma. That he performs better with others (and because 311 is atrocious) has earned him the win in our “band” category. (We’ll go outside now and clean your tomatoes off our windows.)

“Elliott Smith might be more strongly identified with his long-time home of Portland, Oregon, but he’s actually Nebraskan. Big deal — it’s a testament to his talent that his music continues to eclipse the details of his tumultuous biography.

“We must admit, the tap-dancer-as-drummer bit set our eyebrows to auto-arch. (Boston’s most popular band, Dresden Dolls, are mimes, for God’s sake!) But after seeing Tilly and The Wall live, we’ve succumbed to their otherworldly vaudevillian peacenik disco.”

That, of course, is an all-Omaha, all-’90s and later lineup that shows the Phoenix editors have no clue about music in Nebraska, now or in the past.

It’s hard to argue too much with the selection of Bright Eyes. But I could make a case for Mercy Rule, Charlie Burton and his various bands and even 311.

Mercy Rule landed a major label deal back in the ’90s, when those things mattered, and stomped its way around the country delivering a brand of Midwest punk rock that was definitely Nebraskan.

Burton was the Nebraska artist that got national attention during the first flowering of punk rock in the late ’70s and has been consistently hailed for his songwriting and performances since then. He’s even listed in the Catalog of Cool, which is something that even wonderboy Conor can’t claim.

And, like ’em or hate ’em,  311 has been, by far, the most commercially successful band to come from Nebraska, and the members “invented” rap/rock — again, for both good and ill.

Elliott Smith, however, has zero connection with Nebraska beyond the fact that he was born in Omaha. He and his mother moved to Texas when he was a year old. I guess he’s a Nebraska musician in the same way that Ed Ruscha is a Nebraska artist or Gerald Ford is a Nebraska politician.

A far better choice would have been Matthew Sweet, the Lincoln native who released one of the most critically acclaimed records of the ’90s, “Girlfriend,” has had a long, successful career and continues to be considered a fine purveyor of power-pop/rock ’n’ roll.

As for the best new band, Tilly and the Wall wouldn’t top my list. I’m not sure what the criteria for new is, but there are plenty of candidates and they all aren’t associated with Saddle Creek Records, which seems to be the place where writers/bloggers look when they think Nebraska music.

Lincoln’s music scene, in particular, goes well beyond indie rock (which seems to be the category embraced by most who make such lists), and many of those bands are every bit as good if not better than Tilly and the Wall.

Pershing concerts coming

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. today for the Oct. 18 Dashboard Confessional/Panic at the Disco concert at Pershing Center.

With a Poison/Sebastian Bach show set for August,  Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry coming in September and the Rock Band Live concert, Pershing is getting some concerts for Lincoln.

And, notably, each of those shows aims at a different demographic — ’80s hair metal fans, hard rock aficionados and younger modern rock fans.

Contrary to some comments I received when I blogged about the shows, those concerts can only be a good thing for Lincoln, regardless of what you think of any of the artists. It is tough going in the concert biz these days, and Pershing has done well to get three decent shows for the next three months.

Rockabilly alert

There’s a fine rockabilly show that’s set for Mick’s Music Bar in beautiful downtown Benson (the Omaha neighborhood) on Aug. 18.

It will feature James Intveld, an L.A. native who’s been in The Blasters and Dwight Yoakam’s touring band, and the rockabilly filly, Rosie Flores.

Intveld is one of the last of the matinee idol rock ’n’ rollers and a singer so good that he supplied the vocals for Johnny Depp in the movie “Cry Baby.”

Flores is a great rockabilly singer who can really tear it up and has played and sung with everybody, including female rockabilly pioneer Wanda Jackson.

They’re playing as part of the monthly Sunday Roadhouse Series. Showtime is 5 p.m. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 day of show. Mick’s is at 5918 Maple St. in Omaha.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.