By: Christina Dore

A decade ago, Omaha, Nebraska, may not have meant a whole lot to people outside the state. But the city has proven that it had and still has a flourishing music and songwriting scene. Indie folks now might associate the city with critically acclaimed musician, Conor Oberst, and the collection of artists signed to Oberst’s Omaha-based record company, Saddle Creek. The Midwestern stereotypes probably still exist in some people’s minds, yet we still remember that Omaha brought us exemplary musicians and acts like Maria Taylor, Bright Eyes, and Cursive, among others.

There’s also Dan McCarthy, 31, the front man of his band McCarthy Trenching. Although the band has its rotating members, McCarthy remains the constant, writing the songs, playing guitar and piano, and sometimes toying with bass and accordion.

Although he might not be listed on Saddle Creek’s Web site, McCarthy grew up in Omaha, immersed himself in the city’s dynamic music scene, was childhood friends with Conor Oberst and is now presently signed to Oberst’s other record company, Team Love. While speaking on a phone connection between Wilmington and Chicago, McCarthy gives me some of his background and tells me that before getting signed and even coming up with an official band name, he was playing with different bands, and performing local shows and occasionally traveling outside the state.

“Sometimes Conor and I practiced together, and he really liked my songs. It’s a long story on how I got involved with Team Love, but Conor just said to me one day, ‘I think you should put out one of your records.’ So then we got into the studio and that was when my first album was created,” McCarthy recounts.

Since that first album, the self-titled McCarthy Trenching, was made, Dan McCarthy has toured with musicians like The Good Life in 2004, Bright Eyes and M. Ward for Bright Eyes’s Cassadega tour in 2007. McCarthy also recently released his latest album, Calamity Trenching, where fans can hear McCarthy’s focused effort and light experimentation.

“The first album was basically the best of what I recorded. The new album is more of a concentrated album and is more piano driven. It might also have fewer party songs,” McCarthy says with a laugh. “I know some people want more of the barroom stomp but…”

“Oh well!” I say unintentionally finishing his sentence.

Dan McCarthy seems to approve with another humble laugh: “Yeah, oh well!”

When I conjure the description of McCarthy Trenching posted on Team Love’s Web site—”McCarthy Trenching’s latest songs tend to be centered around rejections: romantic ones, religious ones, rejections of high holidays and of higher education, the rejection that happens when a driver hits ‘eject’ on her tape player and throws the cassette out the window”—Dan McCarthy seems to muse silently for half a second and then jokingly concludes, “That makes me sound kind of sad.”

McCarthy then agrees that rejection is something he touches upon, including the profound rejections of life and also the trivial ones. While sharing our mutual Catholic upbringing, I ask McCarthy the broad question on what shapes and influences his songwriting. Citing John Prine as a musician he hopes to emulate, he then explains that a lot of songs may reflect where one is from or around what said person was exposed to.

“If you’ve lived in Los Angeles, you can’t really avoid the ocean. But you know, I am here in Chicago right now and now that I’m thinking about it, I could have easily written my last album if I was here,” McCarthy says, bringing up similar winter weather, the accessible bars and clubs, and the horse tracks.
“I just really like smart, funny, folky country songs,” McCarthy states.

While he writes about the universal feeling and act of rejection, he also scribes “songs about spending time with friends at horse races or at bars—things that you find rewarding.” He informs me the last track on Calamity Drenching, “The Song of the Four Horsemen,” is essentially an “ode to meeting up with your friends at the race track.”

Although his new album was just released this year, and he is midway through his tour, curiosity piqued as to whether he had plans on a new album, collaborations, or any other projects in general.

“When I’m on the road, I don’t get that much songwriting done, but I am hoping this winter after the touring to try and write some new material,” he assures. Likewise, he explains that he currently has no solid plans on working with fellw musicians, but if anything comes up or if anyone comes up and says they want to do something together, he will welcome the spontaneity.

McCarthy Trenching will be at the Soapbox on October 27th, appearing with Bibis Ellison and Saddle Creek Band, Neva Dinova (who McCarthy has toured with and managed to happily pile together in one touring van). Tickets are $8 and the show begins at 8pm. Pay respect to Omaha and see these talents while they’re in town.