* The Omaha Girls Rock Camp is looking for instruments for their weeklong music camp, running from July 30th to August 3rd. Musicians are invited to loan or donate equipment, including amplifiers, cables, microphones, PA systems and more. All loaned equipment will be insured for the full price of the gear. The equipment may also be used at the camp’s showcase performance Saturday, August 4th at the Slowdown, 729 North 14th St. To express interest in helping out, visit omahagirlsrock.com.
* Icky Blossoms‘ self-titled album is now in stores and online retailers everywhere and the band’s promotion machine is in high gear. The local indie dance rockers hit up the Rock Island, Ill. (Ambien) -based Daytrotter.com to record a three-song session, which went online Monday, July 16th. At the same time, the band unveiled the video for “Perfect Vision”, the final track on their Saddle Creek Records debut. The black-and-white clip serves as a mini-movie to accompany the six-and-a-half minute song.
* Digital Leather continues rolling out small scale releases on a host of labels across the country. Oakland, Calif.’s Southpaw Records is releasing the cassette Yes Please Thank You in late July, though they are taking pre-orders now on southpawdistro.bigcartel.com. Meanwhile, garage punk stalwart Floridas Dying released the single “Assault”, which already seems to be sold out.
* Prior to the demise of Annamarie McClellan’s band Howard, McClellan and Yuppies‘ Jack Begley teamed up for a one-off recording session of sparse electronic, gothy lo-fi as Holy Sequence. The only release is a six-song cassette and a digital download available at holysequence.bandcamp.com.
* Jamey Johnson spent the majority of his Friday, July 13th show at Harrah’s Stir Cove, 1 Harrah’s Blvd. in Council Bluffs out to prove his classic country credentials, playing songs by Hank Williams and Willie Nelson during a set that last more than two hours. The first 45 minutes pasted briskly, as Johnson and his band leaned more into their Southern rock side conjuring up images of the Allman Brothers Band. Once the second hour commenced, Johnson leaned too heavily into the ballads, dragging down the crowd’s energy. Still, those ballads had a definite high point, when Johnson previewed material from his forthcoming LP of Hank Cochran-penned country standards.