Hear Nebraska

by Chance Solem-Pfeifer | Photo by Daniel Muller There is a version of Omaha music history that says Simon Joyner started a movement of singer-songwriters, but reaped none of the rewards. It’s a whispered narrative that says maybe his folk music was a shade too dissonant or experimental to capture a large national audience. Or that he laid earnest, musical groundwork for the Saddle Creek boom, but missed the elevator to the top by playing the field when it came to record labels. Only Joyner has never bought into those secondhand accounts. He disagrees with the premise that he was some kind of flashpoint for Saddle Creek bands such as Cursive and Bright Eyes, and he doesn’t view himself as the prototypical Omaha singer/songwriter of the early 1990s. The version of events that says Joyner missed out on high-profile tours and record deals presupposes that the songsmith ever chased those spoils in the first place. Releasing 13 studio albums, founding two of his own record labels, occasionally touring the worl