It hit me just the other day. I was driving down University Avenue headed east right near 9th Street, and there were all these cars in front of me. And they weren’t moving. They were just sitting there. Every once in a while, they’d all lurch forward a tiny bit.

After three or four of these lock-step lurches, one of those little light bulbs appeared over my head. To be more accurate, it didn’t just appear with a “pop,” it worked up a good head of steam, whooshed downward through the sunroof and pummeled me. As it shattered on the top of my head, it released tiny particles of realization that seeped into my brain via my ears. Okay, they didn’t so much creep in as rush in like so much Miller Lite through a beer bong. “Traffic!” they said. Yes, I was in traffic. I wanted to continue moving forward but I was unable to do so because there were (gasp) OTHER CARS IN FRONT OF ME! Oh, the horror.

This could mean only one thing (said the microscopic realization creatures).

The Kids Are Back. After a quick personal memorial service for the lazy days of summer, the realities of this influx became apparent (these thoughts were my own, unaided by any manner of nanobots). Despite the headaches of trying to find parking on the square, the obnoxiousness of self-centered college students who are almost always really, really bad drivers, the prospect of having to wait for a table at Ajax and all other permutations of indignities to be suffered, there was a bright side –okay two, but only one of them is fit for a music column. Two hours later, when I made the block and got back to my office and a computer

connected to the World Wide Web (courtesy of the Apple Corporation), I perused

The Local Voice Entertainment Calendar at www.thelocalvoice.net and got six kinds of giddy.

Yes! These so-called kids, the ones who take all the parking spaces and make it hard to get a beer at the bar—they go see live music! (Some of them do anyway; well, not enough of them actually, but that’s a conversation for a different time). And that means the concert calendar is lighting up for the upcoming weeks and months.

Welcome back, college students!

We have an onslaught of great local acts in just the next two weeks—Tate Moore & The Cosmic Door, Rocket 88, Daybreakdown, The Preacher’s Kids, Wiley & The Checkmates, Pithecanfunkus Erectus, Affrisippi, Sanders Bohlke and two more nights of Blue Mountain (!).

Did I tell ya how much I missed you, students?

In the coming weeks and months, folks traveling through town will include the Heartless Bastards, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Bloodkin, Theresa Andersson, Outformation, the Codetalkers, Shooter Jennings, Jason Isbell, and Big Sam’s Funky Nation.

I’m so glad you’re back. Really, I am.

Indeed, there is always a sliver lining, and this one is sparkling. Yep, the kids are alright after all.

Amongst all of this onslaught, there are some changes afoot at in a few of Oxford’s best music venues. Proud Larry’s has been undergoing renovations for the past several weeks and is set to unveil their new look and sound on August 23rd. Also, Two-Stick will be moving out of their digs at the end of the month, re-locating across the Square to the old Longshot location, next to Parrish’s. The Longshot, which went out of business back in May, is still sorely missed. But it will be nice to have Two Stick in their old building, where there is surely some of the old Longshot mojo floating around. Plus, it restores the one-two punch with Parrish's next door, which is still going strong as one of Oxford's favorite drinking establishments, and a place that has some damn fine shows of its own. Just down the street, Jubilee has refocused their efforts and reinvented themselves by by tossing out their renowned dinner menu and exchanging it for the home of Oxford’s local hard rock scene (and the Longshot’s photo booth!). Still, there are some secret spots in the nooks and crannies and one of the best kept is a little bar that specializes in acoustic shows. But the kids'll have to find that one on their own.

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Local Music Pick: Mayhem String Band has a gig slated for Friday, August 24th at the newly remodeled Proud Larry’s.

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Touring Music Pick: On Friday, August 31st Good Paper will help bid farewell to Two Stick’s current location, along with locals St. Andrew of the Blood and Guts, El Obo (of Colour Revolt), Bubba from Gunboat, Anne Freeman, Austin of Shady Deal, Mr. Wiley & The Blue Flu and a few other local musician cameos that are sure to realize that night.

Tom Speed is publisher of Honest Tune magazine in Oxford, Mississippi.