Nebrascore

Nebrascore is the name given to a musical genre originating from the state of Nebraska in the United States of America. Whilst the term can arguably be applied to describe any musical artists originating from the state, in practice, it is typically used in reference to the thriving indie scene emanating out of the “telephone call centre capital of America” and Nebraska’s largest city, Omaha.

At the heart of the Nebrascore scene are the two Omaha based record labels, Saddle Creek Records, founded in 1993 by Mike Mogis and Robb Nansel, and Conor Oberst’s Team Love, founded in 2004.

Notable Nebrascore bands have included Bright Eyes, The Faint, Cursive, Broken Spindles, Beep Beep, and Tilly and the Wall. Whilst Nebrascore purists often insist that, in order to be a true artist of the genre, one actually has to hail from the state itself; other, more pragmatic, commentators have suggested that artists originating from outside of the state but attached to a Nebraska based label can also be included within the genre. Examples of such “Nebrascore lite” artists include the Two Gallants from San Francisco and the Canadian based Tokyo Police Club.

Whilst the origin of the term “Nebrascore” is shrouded in mystery, most musical historians agree that the earliest known reference to the genre was made by popular UK recording artist and sometime music promoter Ken Eakins; best known as founding member and driving force behind the influential 21st Century math rock combo Escanna. It has been argued, however, that whilst Eakins was pivotal in popularising the term, it was another, as yet unknown individual, that first coined the phrase in an unrecorded conversation with the singer, and other leading luminaries of the Guildford post rock music scene, in mid 2004.

Whilst never shy of courting controversy, the Nebrascore music scene was recently rocked by unfounded allegations that the AK47 abusing Omaha teenager, Robert A. Hawkins, was influenced by the anti-consumerist diatribes of the popular Nebrascore band The Desaparecidos. However, no creditable evidence has yet been found linking Mr Hawkins to The Desaparecidos, and neither Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) nor Denver Dally (Statistics, Intramural) of the band have been available to comment (or, as far as I am aware, have they been asked to comment).

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