The weekend’s looking a bit sparse, though there’s one show that stands out tomorrow night (Saturday) at The Waiting Room:
I admit to never being much of a Ben Kweller fan. No question he’s a super-talented songwriter. His breakthrough album, 2002’s Sha Sha, released when he was just 21, landed him on Austin City Limits. Kweller would go on to collaborate with a number of artists, including Ben Folds and Guster, whose music is similar to Kweller’s. Throughout the years, he’s always made an effort to make Omaha a tour stop, playing Slowdown back in 2008 and performing at the second-ever Maha Festival in 2010, among other Omaha dates.
I forgot about Kweller until this past spring with the release of his latest LP, Cover the Mirrors (The Noise Company). The 12-song collection includes collaborations with Waxahatchee, The Flaming Lips, MJ Lenderman and Jason Schwartzman. I later discovered the songs are about his teenaged son, Dorian, who died in a car crash in 2023. Despite that, the album is far from maudlin and has been in my earbuds all summer….