February offers some good music to get out and warm up to, starting with the annual Lincoln Exposed event in Lincoln. The 21st annual event begins Wednesday, Feb. 11, with live music at The Zoo Bar, Duffy’s Tavern, Bourbon Theatre, Bodega’s Alley and the 1867 Bar, all located in the vicinity of 12th and O streets. Music begins as early as 5 p.m. at some venues and serves up a variety of genres from local talents performing in approximately 40-minute sets. It’s worth a road-trip from Omaha for the festival-style vibe of multiple acts at multiple venues for four nights. Their event page says 134 artists are scheduled. All access passes for the full schedule and day passes are available. Check out the ticket information and the full schedule here.
Homer’s & Joe Bonamassa Celebrate B.B. King
Homer’s in The Old Market has events planned for Saturday, Feb. 7, 1 p.m. to kick off the release of the new Joe Bonamassa disc celebrating B.B. King. Don’t be late, because store manager MarQ Manner says he will be doing “a big used vinyl blues drop at 1 p.m. from our storage facility including B.B. King records and much more.” The store will be playing selected tracks from the brand new “Joe Bonamassa’s B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100” which drops Friday, Feb. 6, and will have a raffle of Joe Bonamassa promo items.
The two-CD set offers 32 tracks with over 40 notable blues artists featuring icons from Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton with Chaka Khan, Jimmie Vaughan, Ivan Neville and Bobby Rush to contemporary artists like Kim Wilson, Keb’ Mo’, and Trombone Shorty with Eric Gales, along with Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks paired with Michael McDonald. Rising young artists like Marcus King, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Larkin Poe and D.K. Harrell also get their turns to pay tribute to the king.
The national promotion for the project notes that, “Bonamassa, who first opened for B.B. King at age 12, credits the blues titan with shaping his approach to music and life. ‘He mentored me,’ says Bonamassa. ‘But I wasn’t the only one. All the people in his orbit have the same story about how kind B.B. was, and how he embraced the younger generation.’”
Joe Bonamassa fans probably already know he’ll be playing Lincoln’s Pinewood Bowl Sunday, Aug. 16, 7 p.m., on a tour with another popular act, Gov’t Mule. Tickets are on sale now.
IBC Update
The Blues Foundation’s 2026 International Blues Challenge (IBC) was held in Memphis in early January. Neither of this year’s BSO representatives made it past the first rounds of play, but hats off to The Pocket Architects and Brady Wells for making the trek and playing for the international blues fans in attendance. Watch for their upcoming gigs around town.
The 2026 IBC solo/duo winner was from right next door in Iowa. The Weary Ramblers duo took home the top prize in that category, representing the Central Iowa Blues Society. The winning band was Derrick Dove & The Peacekeepers, representing Alabama’s Wiregrass Blues Society. Omaha’s own Jeff Davis was honored at The Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Awards brunch on Friday, Jan. 16, along with this year’s eight other KBA recipients.
Omaha’s own 2020 International Blues Challenge winner in the solo/duo category, Héctor Anchondo, has a solo gig Friday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m. at Barnato, 225 N. 170th St., Suite 95. Barnato has been picking up national bookings again, so keep an eye on what’s getting scheduled there. Meanwhile keep up with where you can see Anchondo playing solo and with his band around the metro, and on tour, at hectoranchondo.com.
Meanwhile the Blues Society of Omaha’s 2025 IBC representative who took home the top band honors last year, Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal, was retooled by Hoyer in the fall. The band is now a four-piece working under the name Josh Hoyer’s Colossal 4. They just returned from a week of hanging and playing on the prestigious Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise that sailed at the end of January. The band has a gig at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Thursday, Feb. 12, 10-10:40 p.m. as part of Lincoln Exposed. Hoyer is often working solo gigs locally too, with a short spring solo tour planned for some Nebraska cities along with stops in Lawrence, Kansas, and Custer, S.D. Keep up with the gig schedule at joshhoyer.com.
OEAAs
The annual Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards will be announced at the ceremony Sunday, Feb. 15, 6:30 p.m. at the Admiral Theater. It’s always a big night for music, visual arts and performing arts. Of special note among the awards are the Lifetime Achievement winners – Omaha sound engineer, musician and retired longtime owner of Ware House Productions audio studios, Tom Ware, receives the Lifetime Achievement for Music. Fun fact you may not know, Ware is a Grammy nominee for his work on engineering and mixing vocal and piano takes for Lady Gaga’s “You and I” at his Omaha studio while she was in the area. The song appeared on her second studio recording, “Born this Way.”
The Lifetime Achievement for Performing Arts goes to Camille Metoyer Moten who has also been a tremendous presence as a vocalist on the local music scene. And the John Heaston Award for Cultural Stewardship goes to Amy Ryan, whose vision and patience resulted in the planning for, acquisition of and renovation of The Benson Theatre. Ryan also was always a champion for local music and arts as the owner of former Benson hotspots The Pizza Shoppe and PS Collective. Congratulations to these major winners and to all the nominees. See etix.com for advance tickets to attend the big night.
Marcus Lewis at NOMA
NOMA (North Omaha Music and Arts) at 24th and Lake streets continues to host great music throughout the month with the focus on jazz, including the Monday night NOMA Sessions that offer a band set followed by an open jazz jam. See the organization’s event listings on facebook.com/northomahamusic or visit northomahamusic.org for more details. A big show of note is the appearance of the Marcus Lewis Big Band, Brass and Boujee Saturday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m.
Based in Kansas City, Lewis is a monster jazz and instrumental trombone performer, with credits including work with Prince, Janelle Monáe and Bruno Mars. The Brass and Boujee project is a recent collaboration between Lewis and emcees Kemet the Phantom and Kadesh Flow, combining hip-hop with big-band jazz. Their 2018 debut album charted at #15 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and peaked at #1 on the iTunes Jazz Charts.
Zoo Bar Blues
Big shows at Lincoln’s historic Zoo Bar include a special show Sunday, Feb. 15, 5 p.m. with spectacular West Coast blues artist Chris Cain. In 2024, Cain released his 16th album, “Good Intentions Gone Bad” (Alligator Records).
Vintage Guitar Magazine says of Cain, “One of the truly great blues guitarists of his generation. Chris Cain is the most important blues player you need to hear. Marvelous and irresistible…He unleashes unadulterated fretboard genius.”
Zoo owner Pete Watters has often put Cain on his list of top artists. Advance tickets for this show are available at the bar or on ticketweb.com.
Mark your calendar, Lincoln music fans, for Friday, Feb. 27, 5 p.m. at The Zoo Bar for one of my personal favorite local bands, Matt Cox & The Marauders, a powerhouse Americana band playing largely Cox’s fine original music. They don’t play Lincoln very often, so Zoo Bar folks, make your plans to attend now. A long-running Omaha blues band, Blue House with The Rent to Own Horns, takes the stage at The Zoo Bar Saturday, Feb. 28, 5-8 p.m. The band mixes original tunes with classic covers and they’ve got a fine horn section.
Zoo Bar “early warning” shows for March include some that advance tickets are recommended for, if there are shows you don’t want to miss. Kris Lager Band returns with Lager’s funky music that celebrates life Wednesday, March 4, 6 p.m. Tinsley Ellis plays a solo acoustic show Thursday, March 5, 6 p.m. Extremely popular national blues-rocker, vocalist and guitar star Tommy Castro and his band The Painkillers take the spotlight Tuesday, March 10, 6 p.m. And later in the month, up and coming blues guitarist Eddie 9V plugs on Tuesday, March 31, 6 p.m. The venue website is zoobar.com and you can keep up with late-breaking happenings at The Zoo Bar at facebook.com/zoobarblues.
Hot Notes
If you’re reading this the day it posts, you can still catch Wayne Hancock, who plays at Buck’s Bar & Gril Thursday, Feb. 5, 8 p.m. Nashville’s Nicky Diamonds opens the show. Diamonds is busy tonight because he’s also on the bill for a special performance at Omaha’s Church Arthouse, 3101 S 20th, Thursday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m., with Aly Peeler and Héctor Anchondo playing opening sets. See facebook.com/thechurcharthouse. Look Nicky Diamonds up on YouTube, he’s got some guitar chops and a distinctive style.
Each year the Central Iowa Blues Society’s Winter Blues Fest gets bigger. The event happens Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-14, at the downtown Marriott in Des Moines. Iowa.
Hotel rooms at the host hotel may be hard to come by, but their event page also lists other nearby hotel options. Day or weekend festival passes are still available. Acts performing include Nikki Hill featuring Laura Chavez, Chris Cain, GA-20, Brandon Santini, Andrew Duncanson, Too Slim & The Taildraggers and Kevin Burt. See cibs.org for all the details.
In addition to NOMA, remember you can find live jazz at the Jewell on Capitol and at the Red Lion in the Blackstone District. Check their respective social media and websites for schedules.
A couple of other ‘early warnings” of note include a rather swift return by Bob Dylan to the Orpheum on Saturday, March 21, after a recent 2025 performance. Blues multi-instrumentalist Vanessa Collier plays at the Holland Music Club in the Holland Performing Arts Center Friday, April 10.
Legendary Americana singer-songwriter James McMurtry hits The Waiting Room Thursday, April 30, 8 p.m. Austin’s BettySoo, often a touring partner with McMurtry these days, opens the show.
Dropkick Murphys fans can catch the band at The Admiral with two other acts on Thursday, Feb. 26. Or mark your calendar to check them out at The Zoo Bar on Saturday, March 14, 9 p.m.
Remember the Blues Society of Omaha maintains a curated listing of area shows at omahablues.com. You can also find their social posts on Facebook at facebook.com/bluessocietyofomaha.