Friday, June 27

Saturday, June 28

Sunday, June 29

Schedule

Tim Wildsmith

Raw sound and honest lyrics are the key ingredients in the songs from alternative pop newcomer Tim Wildsmith. The Omaha-based artist’s "A New Morning" is a refreshing mix of alternative rock and melodic pop that draws comparisons to the likes of Ryan Adams, Damien Rice, and Aqualung.

Wildsmith is quickly gaining fans and garnering critical acclaim, already becoming a staple in the Omaha music scene. He led the pack with four Omaha Entertainment Award nominations in 2007.

In 2008 Wildsmith hit the ground running, opening shows for legends like Richard Marx and Nanci Griffith. In the spring he released Hummingbird EP, a collection of stripped down acoustic songs, and joined the "You Are Home" tour with indie favorite Levi Weaver.

Listeners are sure to be drawn in by Wildsmith's natural stage presence and self-deprecating humor, but once he starts to sing the games are over. His lyrics are incredibly vulnerable, many of them telling the stories of trying to recover from a broken heart. He invites you in to take a peak at his soul, and there you find an overflow of raw emotion.

"I like to think that people are getting more that they bargained for with me," says Wildsmith. "At first glance I might seem like a fluffy pop artist, but there's something else lying just beneath the surface. That's what I want people to see."
Visit the Tim Wildsmith Band online

Griffen Alexander

To the Pop-Rock / Acoustic scene, the 20-year-old Griffen Alexander, is a proverbial breath of fresh air.  His songs about everyday feelings are sure to make their way into everyone's hearts.  Griffen captures listeners with his sincerity, emotional depth and realism.  Whether young or older, male or female, no matter what genre of music is preferred, Griffen's original music will captivate all.
Visit Griffen Alexander online

Black Squirrels

The Black Squirrels are influenced by the rich tradition of American country music, and although their reverence for the past runs deep, this is not a retro act. Black Squirrels meld a modern, literate twist onto the old forms.  Although proficient players, a premium is placed on strong songs, whether it’s a four-to-the-floor barnburner, or a gently swaying waltz.
Visit the Black Squirrels online

Scott Severin & the Milton Burlesque

Omaha’s own Scott Severin redefines eclectic.  Born "sometime during the Kennedy administration," this songwriter/performance artist has been a folkie, punk rocker, actor, street performer and published poet.  Although his musical style could nominally be defined as Indie-Rock, he manages to encompass and eviscerate musical styles from Country & Western, Americana, traditional Rock & Roll, Blues, Folk and Tom Waits-like mock opera. The only thing easily definable about Scott Severin’s sound is that it is truly original and challenging.
Visit Scott Severin & The Milton Burlesque online

Chic Gamine

For those who missed Friday night’s performance, or those who are back for a second dose, Chic Gamine will bring their unique sound back to the World Music Pavilion Stage.  With a solo percussionist as their main musical support, Chic Gamine use their voices as instruments, effortlessly launching into intricate string arrangements, bass-heavy rhythm sections and melodious harmonies.  Together, they create a sound that resounds with soul, passion and their own particular brand of humor that leaves audiences begging for more.
Visit Chic Gamine online

Brave Combo

Over the last 28 years, Brave Combo has collected a dizzying array of descriptive musical pegs, boldly going where few bands have gone before, and even fewer could (or would) dare to venture.  Succeeding in its first mission, Brave Combo is America's premier contemporary polka band, and a Grammy Award-winning one at that. In the same breath, to name some but hardly all of the colors found on Brave Combo's musical palette, one can describe them as a groundbreaking world music act, a hot jazz quintet, a rollicking Rock & Roll bar band, a Tex-Mex conjunto, a sizzling blues band, a saucy cocktail combo, a deadly serious novelty act, a Latin orchestra, and one of America's dance bands par excellence.
Visit Brave Combo online

New Orleans' Own Hot 8 Brass Band

Founded by Bennie Pete, Jerome Jones and Harry Cook in 1995, this New Orleans band has played in traditional second line parades hosted each Sunday ever since.  The Hot 8 are famous for playing all day in the sun, then hopping to a club gig and playing through the night.  But even more than their boundless energy, what makes the Hot 8 special are the sounds they coax from their well-loved, well-worn horns.  The Hot 8 Brass Band has toured both nationally and internationally and plays regularly at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.  The band was also featured in the Spike Lee film When the Levees Broke about the devastating impact and aftermath of hurricane Katrina. 
Visit Hot 8 Brass Band online