Some Fridays just call for a different kind of energy. When hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God settled in for this week’s edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, the political chatter swirling in the wake of Nebraska’s midterm primaries was running hot — maybe a little too hot. Paul B. made the call early. “There’s a lot of chatter going on on Friends of First Sky Omaha,” he said. “There’s a lot of back and forth, friends breaking up, all kinds of stuff happening over politics — and that just is like, okay, well, we have to make a decision. It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today.” And just like that, the tone was set.
The politics didn’t disappear entirely — good community conversation rarely lets it — but the frame shifted toward something more constructive. Buddy the God offered a grounding thought on civic engagement that seemed to resonate across the chat: “None of this really matters if everybody voted. It’s a pretty valid point that a lot of this doesn’t matter if everybody voted.” Viewer Kimber Snipes weighed in with a perspective that deepened the discussion: “I’ve been having conversations with people between the ages of 20 and 35. What I hear the most is most of them don’t really know what to do and know nothing about the candidates. I don’t think we should be slamming people for not voting when the system is really what has caused this. I think we need to have more education and deep dive discussions.” It was exactly the kind of nuanced, community-rooted exchange that makes First Sky feel less like a show and more like a town hall.
But the heart of the morning belonged to Dana Murray, executive director and founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA). A South Omaha native who spent eleven years in New York City before returning home, Murray has planted himself firmly at the corner of 24th and Lake — what Paul B. has long called “the most important Black corner in Nebraska” — and he’s building something that the city hasn’t quite seen before.
Murray’s vision for the North 24th Street corridor is ambitious, specific, and deeply rooted in history. “Really, the area that has the most history and the one that can claim ‘we are a cultural and arts district’ for real is the North 24th Street corridor,” he said. “And we’ve been so far removed from that — not even what the rest of Omaha views North 24th Street as. I’m more talking to the people that are there who are so far removed from what that was that it is hard to build momentum from within.” His blueprint for the corridor reads like a developer’s checklist married to a cultural manifesto: housing, eateries, parking, laundromats — the practical infrastructure of a self-sustaining neighborhood — alongside destination attractions, entertainment venues, and eventually, a hotel capable of hosting music festivals and conferences right in the heart of the community.
He drew a pointed comparison to how South Omaha champions its culture through Cinco de Mayo celebrations, and called out a missed opportunity closer to home. “I love Native Omaha Days at its core — anything that can bring us together — but it’s a failed opportunity to showcase our culture because none of that is trying to invite the rest of Omaha down to partake in what we have to offer,” Murray said. “It is just a family reunion of sorts. All we have to do is look at South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo and how they champion their culture. I wish we did more of that.” That spirit of open invitation, he explained, is exactly what NMA was built to model. Viewer Pops connected the dots beautifully: “Artists like Fats Domino used to stay at your grandfather’s home when he came to town to perform. So yes, more infrastructure for the artist around the Deuce corridor would be a godsend.”
NMA is already more than a music school. Murray described it as a youth academy, a performance space, and a community anchor — one he envisions growing into something comparable to what Omaha Performing Arts means for downtown. “They bring in $40, $45, $50 million in revenue every year,” he noted. “We’re not only raising musicians but, more importantly, we’re raising more critical-thinking human beings.” The academy teaches live sound engineering, broadcasting, podcasting, and media production alongside traditional instrument instruction — and Murray is clear that the point is to remove barriers, not just point toward possibilities. “It’s not just teaching them ‘oh, you can be this’ — no, you can be this right now,” he said. “Once you remove those barriers, the sky’s the limit.”
Paul B. framed this beautifully with what he called the “secondary matrix” concept — the idea that what looks like one thing on the surface is quietly building something deeper underneath. “In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — but on the surface that’s what it is. The secondary matrix for him is to create critical thinkers, create people that can go further in their fields because they have the discipline of musical training and the mind-expanding benefits of musical training.” Viewer Pops echoed this from personal experience: “I experienced my secondary matrix in junior high when I took algebra. I was gaining proficiency and I noticed that I was suddenly able to think outside the box on several different levels. Music the same.”
Murray also spoke candidly about what he looks for in instructors. “Anyone can have the X’s and O’s of teaching,” he said, “but unless you’re able to inspire a young person, they don’t really have the attention span for the X’s and O’s of music. The instructors we bring in have to have in their arsenal the ability to inspire another human being.” Music educators interested in joining the NMA team can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org.
Looking ahead, Murray confirmed that NMA is preparing to launch a capital campaign — with a first phase goal of $20 million — toward building a full NMA campus. “Money is not our issue really in North Omaha,” he said with quiet confidence. “It’s transformative ideas that are going to allow us to be not only sustainable but gainfully active.” Viewer Senator KML put it simply: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
The show also touched on local changemaker Charell Shelton of Core Science Bio Diagnostics, whom Paul B. praised as someone who “puts her money where her mouth is,” and teased the upcoming release of Boots Riley’s film I Love Boosters as further proof that the cultural ecosystem is growing — inside Omaha and beyond. And in a moment that reminded everyone why Love Supreme Friday exists in the first place, viewer Aeros 402 shared a joyful note from his own world: “My only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.”
That’s the spirit of First Sky at its best — elections, empowerment, and new grandbabies, all held together by a community that shows up for one another. Join Paul B., Buddy the God, and the whole Chat Chimer family again Monday morning, right here on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning.
