Start May off right with an Omaha show by Tommy Castro & The Painkillers. The band has been on the road for a couple of months, hitting Lincoln’s Zoo Bar early in March. Showcasing new material and some fan favorites, they deliver soulful, rockin’ blues. They’ve been touring behind Tommy’s most recent Alligator Records’ release “Closer to the Bone,” produced by Christoffer “Kid” Andersen in his Greaseland Studio, where the band mixes originals with classic blues tunes from Magic Slim, Eddie Taylor and Johnny “Guitar” Watson. In press material for the record, Castro said “Here I’m not the contemporary guy, not the rock guy, not the soul guy. This is the deeper blues side of me. I know, with these songs, I am at my most authentic.”
Catch Tommy Castro & The Painkillers at Reverb Lounge in Benson, Saturday, May 9, 8 p.m. Advance tickets are available at etix.com.

Holland Music Club 
Nebraska’s own Andy William and his fantastic 12-piece Latin orchestra take the spotlight at the Holland Music Club Friday, May 8, 7:30 p.m. The emphasis is on Cuban dance music, but the assembled orchestra members each add their own cultural influences. This band is a crowd-pleaser full of high energy and music that will make you want to dance. Holland Music Club is the small venue inside the Holland Performing Arts Center.

Canadian singer-songwriter Alan Doyle brings his pop-folk to the Holland Music Club Saturday, May 9, 7:30 p.m. with opening act Bandits on the Run. Doyle was a co-founder of Canadian pop-folk band Great Big Sea and has since become an in-demand solo artist. He’s also written books, produces TV and has created a theatrical musical centered on the culture and music of the Atlantic coast of Canada. Doyle’s music is rooted in coastal Newfoundland-Celtic music traditions, and you may encounter some pub anthems and a sea shanty or two at the show. Find links to listen to Doyle online at alandoyle.ca.
Opener Bandits on the Run is an indie-pop-folk trio that emphasizes three-part harmonies and “eclectic” instrumental arrangements. The trio is on the road in advance of their forthcoming recording, “Rough Magic.” Under the Radar writes of Bandits on the Run’s music that it “feels like being enveloped in a warm, empathetic hug, the kind that draws you away from the chaos of the world and roots you back in a peaceful space.”
Check out their music at banditsontherun.com. Advance tickets for both shows are at ticketomaha.com.

Local Blues Notes
The Blues Society of Omaha (BSO) has pulled back on its sponsorship of weekly touring shows, but it’s nice to see Waiting Room and Reverb Lounge picking up popular bands like hosting the show with Tommy Castro & The Painkillers on May 9.

The BSO is co-hosting Matthew Curry Friday, May 22, 5:30 p.m. at The B. Bar. Hailing from Bloomington, Illinois, Curry began playing guitar at the age of four and was fronting his own band by the age of 11, writing songs too.  His recent release, “One for the Road” (Ruf Records), is getting great reviews that indicate his blues-rock guitar-slinging sound should connect with area blues fans. This is the first time I’ve heard of Curry, but it turns out he’s been releasing independent blues recordings for over a decade. With the guitar power and polished sound he showcases on this Ruf Records recording, he’s on an aggressive tour of the Midwest and East Coast starting at Knuckleheads on May 21. Find out more and hear his music at matthewcurry.com. True Blues, a new BluesEd youth band, opens the show.

The BSO also is bringing in San Francisco Bay area virtuoso blues guitarist Chris Cain Thursday, June 4, 6 p.m., at North Omaha Music and Arts (NOMA), 2510 N. 24th St. See chriscainmusic.com to learn more about Cain’s legendary guitar talents. Watch omahablues.com for details on tickets.

You’ll find other blues acts at The B. Bar throughout the month including popular local roots group Sailing in Soup Friday, May 15, 5:30 p.m. and Blue House with The Rent-to-Own Horns Friday, May 29, 5:30 p.m. See thebbaromaha.com for the full schedule.

Zoo Bar Blues 
Lincoln’s historic Zoo Bar is keeping the calendar full of great options. Highlights of the current Zoo Bar calendar include CJ Solar & The Old Souls with Sack of Lions Thursday, May 14, 9 p.m. If you’re an Americana/country fan, get this show on your radar, CJ Solar has written hits for Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, Justin Moore and others. Solar has been named one of Rolling Stone’s “New Artists You Need to Know,” was nominated for ASCAP’s “Artist-Writer of the Year,” and has been named Music Row’s Independent Artist of the Year. Find out more at cjsolar.com.

Then high-octane local blues players Josh Hoyer, Levi William, Dave Boye and Joe Gourlay tear it up as Church of Blues Friday May 15, 5:30 p.m.  Saturday, May 16, 5 p.m., Blue House with the Rent-to-Own Horns plays.

Wednesday, May 20, 6 p.m., San Francisco Bay area band The Lucky Losers takes the stage. The band is the project of vocalist Cathy Lemons and harmonica player Phil Berkowitz. Together with their band, the duo has been making a mark on the national and international blues scene for over a decade. They worked with Kid Andersen on their latest record, “Arrival” (Mojo Records/MVD). Blues News Netherlands writes, “They are polished and complex, but also addictive and musical. “Arrival” is a versatile enough album to offer something for every rhythm music listener.” Keeping the Blues Alive award recipient Vincent Zumel, programmer for Barcelona’s blues radio show “La Hora Del Blues,” says, “Cathy Lemons’ voice is superb and full of nuances, while Phil Berkowitz’s harmonica sounds elegant and just right…a tasteful, perfectly developed recording, displayed with a remarkable class and performed with extreme conviction.”

Kris Lager Band is back at the Zoo Friday, May 22, 5 p.m.  Saturday, May 23, 5 p.m., the Zoo hosts its Summer Kickoff Blue Party featuring Ghost Town Blues Band from Memphis, Josh Hoyer’s Colossal 4 and All Star City Blues for a night of great live music. The evening ends with a jam at 11 p.m. Tickets are available at ticketweb.com.

West Coast blues guitar wizard Chris Cain returns to the Zoo for an early show Wednesday, June 3, 6 p.m. Cain released his 16th album “Good Intentions Gone Bad” (Alligator Records) last year and is acclaimed for his decades of skilled blues guitar performances. Vintage Guitar magazine says of Cain, he’s “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.”
And Blues Music Magazine states that “Cain is one of the most brilliant and vital figures making music of any kind… He’s near legendary on the blues scene… an extraordinarily talented, consummate musician delivering passionate, heartfelt vocals, potent, superb playing and marvelous songs.”

The Zoo Bar also offers other various budget-friendly shows throughout the week that are FREE to attend. The free admission extends to the weekly residency shows like The Jazzocracy, Lincoln’s longest-running jazz jam session, every Tuesday at 7 p.m., or late night Tuesdays and the “Shake a Tail Feather Soul Dance Party” at 9 p.m. when the Bridge Gap  Brothers, DJ Funk Tonne & DJ Relic, lay down some deep soul and funk grooves. Most Thursdays after 9 p.m. you can sing karaoke along with a live band made up of some of Lincoln’s best players, the accomplished bandmembers in Sh*thook, another free event. On alternating Wednesdays, Miles Jasnowski leads Vibe Check, another free admission show with the band offering up soulful, danceable grooves that draw a repeat crowd. Most Mondays, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Emily Bass sits down at the old upright piano up front by the bar and puts down her soulful takes on piano with friends sitting in on acoustic instruments. The Monday happy hour is also free.

ZooFest, the Zoo’s annual street festival with music on a big outdoor stage in front of the bar is set for Friday, July 10 and Saturday, July 11. The lineup has not been announced but this will be the 53rd Anniversary and the event is always a great time, part epic blues festival and part Zoo family reunion. Watch zoobar.com and facebook.com/zoobarblues for the lineup announcement, details and any other late-breaking schedule additions.

More Holland Happenings
Legendary soul and funk vocalist Patti Labelle performs with the Omaha Symphony Wednesday, May 13, 7:30 p.m. at the Holland Performing Arts Center. The performance also features Music Director Laureate Thomas Wilkins and cellist Joshua Roman. Get tickets at ticketomaha.com.

And while it isn’t music at all, if you’re like me, you might have a great affection for the classic film, “The Princess Bride,” that combines nods to old Hollywood movies with the warmth of its message that True Love conquers all. The Holland Performing Arts Center hosts actor Cary Elwes, who played Westley, the movie’s hero, to take audiences behind the scenes with anecdotes after a special screening of the film. This event was rescheduled from an original date in December of 2025. Billed as “An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes,” tickets are available at ticketomaha.com.

Recommended Reading
Blues/roots music documentarian Robert Mugge has a new book out titled “Quotes from the Road: The Wit and Wisdom of American Musicians” (The Sager Group). It’s a companion piece to his 2023 memoir, “Notes from the Road: A Filmmaker’s Journey through American Music.” Mugge says the book “is a collection of thematically organized excerpts from 150 of the countless interviews I’ve conducted with musicians over my past five decades of mostly music-related filmmaking (as well as with people who support those musicians), and much of this material never made it into the films for which it was recorded.”  

For more about Mugge’s books and his many music-oriented documentary films (spotlighting artists as diverse as Sun Ra, Sonny Rollins, Gil Scott-Heron, Al Green and many traditional and contemporary blues artists) see robertmugge.com. The book can be ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, and all your favorite independent bookstores (via Ingram).

In the Market for Blues
The Blues Society of Omaha’s annual In the Market for Blues event returns on Saturday, Aug. 1, for the big 12-hour schedule of music. Tickets purchased at the VIP level include a private concert Friday, July 31, spotlighting Chicago’s acclaimed Nick Moss Band and a blues brunch with musical artists to be announced on Sunday, Aug. 2. For details and all the ticket pricing see omahablues.com and eventbrite.com.

The main event is Saturday’s 30-plus bands at approximately 10 venues in The Old Market and the Capitol District from noon til midnight. Admission to Saturday’s shows is a single price for an all-access wristband. Early bird one-day passes are currently posted at $38.09. Featured artists include Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, Alistair Greene, Brandon Santini, Polly O’Keary, Gary Hoey, Kris Lager, Heather Newman and Mathias Lattin.

The event is the brainchild of Omaha’s Héctor Anchondo, who will open up for headliners the Texas Headhunters Saturday, Aug. 1. The Texas Headhunters are a new supergroup featuring solo guitarists in their own rights: Ian Moore, Jesse Dayton and Johnny Moeller. Blues Blast magazine writes of their self-titled debut CD, “Moore, Moeller and Dayton are amongst the last generation of musicians taken under the wing of the late, great Clifford Antone. As a result, they know both how to lay down blazing solos, but also how to play to the song…”Texas Headhunters” is a love letter to Texas and the musicians who inspired the band. It is also a simply fabulous album in its own right. Gritty, dirty, muscular and quite superb.”

Hot Notes
George Thorogood & The Destroyers with special guests The Marshall Tucker Band are up at The Astro Sunday, May 17, 7 p.m. The Destroyers lineup still features local audience favorite Jim Suhler on guitar as one of The Destroyers backing up Thorogood. The Astro’s website says this show is in the Astro Theater and not the outdoor Amphitheater. For tickets see onepercentproductions.com.

The Sunday Roadhouse series is back in action with the first scheduled show happening at The B. Bar. Texas folk/Americana singer-songwriter Jack Barksdale plays Friday, June 5, 7:30 p.m. at The B. Bar. At 18 years old, Premier Guitar has said, “Barksdale’s talent is rare. He shines with earnest, unjaded passion on a foundation of will and an ability to connect.” As the summer continues, the Sunday Roadhouse heads back to Benson with shows featuring The Lowest Pair on June 24, and later, Gabe Stillman on Aug. 16, at Reverb Lounge. Mark your calendar now for a special show with iconic Americana artist Robbie Fulks at Waiting Room for a “seated show” Thursday, Aug. 6, 7:30 p.m. Find all the details and purchase advance tickets at sundayroadhouse.com

Lincoln’s free Jazz in June concerts on the UNL grounds of the Sheldon Art Museum have been announced with Grammy-winning trumpeter Terell Stafford kicking off the series Tuesday, June 2, 7 p.m. See jazzinjune.com for the full schedule.

Omaha band The Pocket Architects, who represented the BSO in the 2026 International Blues Challenge (IBC), are staging a live album recording May 30, 7:30 p.m., at the Benson Theatre with Brady Wells opening. Wells was the BSO IBC representative in the 2026 solo/duo category. See bensontheatre.org for advance tickets.

Brokedown Palace at 8805 Maple St. presents their 8th Annual “Run for the Roses Music & Arts Festival” May 14-16. The event presents three days of live music on two stages plus local vendors. The weekend caught my attention because Hoodoo favorites Matt Cox & The Marauders play their original Americana/folk musoc Saturday, May 16, 6-8 p.m. on the outside stage. Other artists performing include Peach Truckin’ Co., San Leandro, Colt Ball & The Get Down, The Bramblers, Reddy Kilowatt and Eva Blue Band. Tickets are available for each day or you can get a three-day pass. See the full line up and ticket information at the Facebook event link.

Don’t forget the three-night August Playing With Fire concerts happen Thursday, Aug. 13 – Saturday, Aug. 15, in the air-conditioned comfort of Slowdown. Scheduled performers include King King from Scotland, Meena Cryle & Chris Filmore from Austria, Rozedale from France and American artists Anne Harris’ and Markus James’ amazing band Halo Rider. Find all the details at playingwithfireomaha.net.