Nebraska Public Media is reaching into its vault for the return of its concert series "33rd Street Sessions." Episodes will feature memorable performances, adding brandnew artist interviews to relive the spirit of the 1990s music scene from Nebraska's local bands. Live audiences swayed to blues, country, rock and every music genre in-between as bands played in the Ron Hull Studio at Nebraska Public Media on 33rd Street in Lincoln.
A series of television broadcasts on Nebraska Public Media includes four episodes from the original series, with new interviews from band members and previously unseen content. In addition, archival concerts will be available for streaming with the member benefit PBS Passport. The first television episode, "33rd Street Sessions: Baby Jason and the Spankers and Indigenous," will air at 8:30 p.
m. CT, Aug. 31 on Nebraska Public Media.
It features the blues-rock band Baby Jason and the Spankers. Drummer Dan Irvin and bass player Jeremy Woerner were still in high school when Jason Davis spotted them playing at a Lincoln High School talent show. The two toured with the band before they even graduated.
Music by Indigenous is up next in the episode with frontman Mato Nanji, who was raised on the Ihanktonwan (Yankton) nation in South Dakota with his family band. In 1997, the same year the band played on "33rd Street Sessions," they played at the American Indian Inaugural Ball for former President Bill Clinton. Episode two, "33rd Street Sessions: Full Choke and The Mighty Jailbreakers," airs at 9 p.
m. CT Sept. 5, on Nebraska Public Media.
It repeats at 8:30 p.m. Sept.
7 on Nebraska Public Media. The Mighty Jailbreakers blends blues, funk and soul. Keyboardist Mitch Towne is nostalgic about their 1994 concert in the Ron Hull Studio and how public television influenced him, especially the music he heard as a child on the iconic "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
" "Mister Rogers was one of the first places I got turned onto jazz. Johnny Costa playing piano on the Mister Rogers' show was an absolute monster," Towne said. Country band Full Choke started in Clearwater in the '90s when line dancing was popular.
The band played Top 40 country covers and original songs written and sung by vocalist Dave Mlnarik. "Our favorite regular stops were the ballrooms of Nebraska," Mlnarik said. Two more episodes are planned for television broadcast during fall 2024, featuring Blue House and the Rent to Own Horns, The Tablerockers, The Millions, Floating Opera and Mercy Rule.
Each broadcast program features a compilation of two to three bands, along with additional content including previously unseen material and some present-day interviews with a few of the bands' members reflecting on their experiences and the impact of their music. The series hopes to transport viewers back in time and celebrate the rich musical heritage of Nebraska. "It's really beautiful to see this as you walk down to the vaults to find these things.
This really is a kernel of our lives. This is a moment," Heidi Ore of Mercy Rule said. "It was a great time and definitely an honor to play here," said Dan Irvin, drummer for Baby Jason and the Spankers.
In addition to the television broadcasts, 16 individual concert programs will be available in their entirety for streaming with PBS Passport. To learn more, go to nebraskapublicmedia.org/passport .
For more information or to watch the broadcasts of the television episodes, go to nebraskapublicmedia.org/sessions or watch on the PBS Video App. Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
