LEMCY
NateWagner/DN
JeffBoehmer,
TimBoehmer
and Pete
Watters shares
drink to toast
becoming the
the Zoo Bar.
Larry Boehmer
passed the torch
on to Ms sons,
Jeff and Tim,
andbarmanag
er waiters after
the Zoo Bar cele
brated Its 27*
anniversary this
year. The Zoo Bar
has been bring
ing Lincoln
some of the best
bines acts from
around the
country since it
opened When
asked what he
wanted to
the place, Jeff
said,'We want
to keep it the
SMie**
■
New owners promise to keep storied Zoo Bar atmosphere
' BY EMILY PYbATT
There are many, many bars in Lincoln.
They all serve booze, and many provide live
music.
But how many of them offer different styles of
music from bands all across the country seven
nights a week?
How many have been doing this for 27 years
and have gained national recognition because of
it?
There’s only one.
It’s a tiny, smoky bar at 136 N. 14th St The front
window is always filled with promotional posters
for coming shows.
The posters hang under a red and bluish purple
sign that reads, “The Zoo Bar."
This bar is Nebraska’s only internationally
known music venue, and it is packed with 27 years
of tradition and history.
One family’s history in particular lies within the
Zoo Bar’s walls.
And now, the family-owned bar is being passed
from one generation to the next.
Larry Boehmer, owner for the past 27 years, is
turning over the bar to his sons, Jeff and Tim, and
manager of 14 years, Pete Watters.
Although a change in ownership is occurring,
the three men promise the bar will stay the same
for its customers.
The sounds of live blues, reggae, rock and soul
will still pour out the door of the Zoo Bar seven
nights a week.
We are going to do our best to keep the bar
how it has been for 27 years,” Jeff Boehmer said.
“The traditions ofthe bar, the music and (treat cus
tomers have kept this bar how it is.”
Larry Boehmer, the man who made the Zoo Bar
what it is today, graduated from the University of
Nebraska in 1969 with a bachelor's degree of fine
arts in education.
While pursuing his master’s degree, Boehmer
became a regular at the Zoo Bar.
He soon became a bartender and in i973
became the bar manager. ,
With aspirations to take off to New York to paint
after working a few years in the bar, Boehmer’s
plans soon changed.
He reu in love witn me place ana estaousnea
the music scene that has set the Zoo Bar apart from
other bars in Lincoln.
While college bars, clubs and pubs are popping
up all around Lincoln, the Zoo Bar has stayed true
to its roots.
“It won't be the same without him sitting at the
end of the bar, but we don’t plan on making any
drastic changes,” Tim Boehmer said.
Also, there is no need to worry about a drop off
in the quality of music because Boehmer hasn't
totally left the Zoo Bar behind.
He will still handle the booking of all the groups
brought to the bar.
“People are going to be looking for changes, I’m
sure, but we are only considering slight changes
like beginning a merchandise market,” Tim
Boehmer said.
iearningtrlthast TO are going to do
running a bar is our best tO keep the
no small a tittle far how it has beqn
scary because for twenty-seven
there is so much \,pnr* "
to do. I can’t r*44'*’
understand how
he did it all by tofr
himself,” Tim , ■W€Bm€r
Boehmersaid. _new Zoo Bar co-owner
”This is an old
building, and something is always wrong or bro
ken.”
While maintenance and band bookings will
keep the whole group occupied, Watters and Jeff
Boehmer also have other obligations.
Watters is going to have to balance his book
work with taxes and payroll, and Jeff Boehmer will
be playing bass and touring with Lil’ Slim and the
Back-Alley Blues Band, who will play this Saturday
night at the Zoo Bar.
There is a little irony in Jeff Boehmer’s playing
in a blues band.
Growing up, he wasn’t a fan of the blues played
in his dad’s bar, but he said listening to music like
Jimi Hendrix turned him on to the music that fuels
the Zoo Bar today.
It is the soul and the energy of blues that Larry
Boehmer captured in the Zoo Bar's early years, and
it is that same soul and energy the three new own
ers say they plan to carry into the future.
Theater melds with rock sound at Duffy's
■Joe West and the Sinners
showcase theatrical off-off
Broadway sound tonight.
BY EMILY PYEATT
In decades past, the theater
has taken rock music and trans
ferred it to the theatrical stage.
Now, a former off-off
Broadway music composer has
taken the narrative, theatrical
sound and transformed it into a
pop rock sound.
Tonight at Duffy’s Tavern,
Joe West and the Sinners bring a
quirky, theatrical sound to the
st&ge
"The band is kind of Hee
Haw meets the X-Files,” said
Andy Sairbairn, who booked
tonight's show.
Joe West is a singer/song
writer from Santa Fe, N.M.
in iron, ne moved 10 Austin,
Texas, to start a band with a
sound that he described as “psy
chedelic-folk music.”
“It is a term I like that takes
the folk roots of story telling and
combines them with a real con
temporary sound,” he said.
"We have sort of an alterna
tive-country vein that is really
pretty quirky pop-rock,” West
said.
Similar to Lou Reed and the
Violent Femmes, the band is
proud of its contemporary vibe,
yet personalizes its sound by
theatrics.
The theatrical influences
stem from West’s years in New
York.
He spent a few years writing
and performing music for off
off Broadway theater produc
tions while also performing at
venues such as the infamous
Hr **
CBGB’s.
“We do goofy things and
each tour we do something dif
ferent,” West said.
Fog machines, interpretative
preacher performances and
disco modes are a few examples
of theatrics used in the past.
Perhaps the most vital ele
ment of Joe West and the
Sinners’ music is their story
telling.
“The songs are very narra
tive and are about characters in
my life,” West said.
“One song tells of Jamie, the
girl from Sioux Falls, S.D., who
has had a bad marriage and a
serious need for the antidepres
sant, Prozac.
ane waxes up one morning
and finally gets the punch line to
life’s big joke.
She packs her bags, burns
her trailer down and moves to
St. Paul, Minn., where she
becomes a folk singer. She drops
her need for Prozac and lives
happily ever after.”
Another song, he said, tells
of “Rehab Girl.”
“She is the girl that works at
the drug and alcohol recovery
clinic that likes her men shady. It
is a love song,” West said.
Some of the songs are a bit
tragic or funny about being
down and out, but all have a
good message to keep up the
spirit and a sense of humor,
West said.
Joe West and the Sinners are
still a fairly new band.
The guitar player, Andy
McWilliams, has been perform
ing with the band for two years,
while the drummer, Paul
Schlickting has been with the
band a month.
Bass player Nick Fontaine
, j
Courtesy Photo
Joe West and
the Sinners from
Austin, Texas, is
known for its
theatrical music
performances.
The group per
forms with the
Mezcai Brothers
tonight at
Duffy’s Tavern.
“We have sort of an
alternative-country
vein that is really
pretty quirky
pop-rock."
Joe West
singer/songwriter
has been playing for about six
months.
West pulls out some har
monica ditties and plays the
guitar.
Lincoln’s own Mezcal
Brothers will open for Joe West
and the Sinners.
“We offer authentic rocka
billy," band member Gerardo
Meza said.
The band’s sound is close to
early roots rock-n-roll, and the
sound composed by the broth
r
Joe West and
the Sinners,
Mezcal Brothers
ers is reminiscent of early rock
such as Buddy Holly, Meza said.
The brothers’ debut CD
"Hold on Tight" will be released
Sept. 6.
In the meantime, The
Mezcal Brothers will continue to
play local shows "that are hill of
energy," Meza said.
*
'East Autumn Grin'
1 - ™ *, li]
frowns on emotion
BY KEN MORTON
Matthew Ryan has the voice of
a troubador and the potential to
be an excellent songwriter.
Although powerful in spots,
on "East Autumn Grin,” Ryan fails
to capture any sort of emotional
momentum. The songs sound flat
and tend to fall into the same
melodic patterns.
Ryan’s voice falls somewhere
between Bruce Springsteen and
Bob Dylan - gruff and sincere but
conveying a world-weary souL On
songs such as "Me and My Lover"
and "Time and Time Only,” Ryan
sounds as if life has chewed him
up and spit him out but still he has
the strength to go oa
nyan nas a unu ui a regumi
guy” sound, but he also can use
his voice to convey power in his
songs.Ryan, like many songwrit
ers, can turn a good phrase, as
well. On “I Hear a Symphony,”
Ryan’s Dylanesque is perhaps at
its best: “Every time I watch the
news/I hear a symphony/ Every
time you cough up a noose/I hear
a symphony.”
Ryan’s songs are mostly about
his personal life, but he doesn't fall
into familiar phrases and words.
Whatever accolades Ryan has
received for his songwriting are
well deserved. On the other hand,
his producer’s abilities have to be
seriously questioned.
Ryan co-produced the album
with Trina Shoemaker, and nei
ther one of them are able to cap
ture the potential many of these
songs have.
Songs such as “3rd of October”
and “The World Is On Fire" sound
like generic, early U2. The closest
r.
me aiDum comes to real reeling is
on “Heartache Weather” and
“Ballad ofa Limping Man.” On the
latter, Ryan adds mandolin and
horns to give the song the flavor
the whole album needed.
A good songwriter knows how
much control he needs to have
and how much he can afford to
give up.
Ryan’s songs would probably
have been better served by some
one such as Daniel Lanois or Eric
“Roscoe” Ambel, who are known
for helping to breathe life and
emotion into songs.
Ryan may have a knack for
telling a tale, but that may be
where his talent ends.
► W
