Lawrence’s music scene is alive and well.

It’s something I’ve heard a lot: “Local music sucks.” And Friday’s article, “Made up names alone do not make the band” continued to fan the unfortunate flame against all things Lawrence, at least musically. As someone who works to promote Lawrence’s unique crop of talented musicians and its powerhouse media outlets, I have to say, I disagree.

In 2005, The New York Times’ Seth Sherwood wrote about spending “36 Hours in Lawrence, Kansas.” He suggested that the proper Saturday night be spent with the wealth of influential local music pouring out of any given venue.

“It may only be rock ‘n’ roll, but Ghosty, the Appleseed Cast, the New Amsterdams and other young bands are playing it with such virtuosity that Lawrence is now perhaps the most vital music scene between Chicago and Denver,” Sherwood wrote. So who are these bands, you ask?

A nostalgic tour a few years back and a brief search on Lawrence.com yields answers. In the 1990s, Lawrence welcomed musical fame from rock and roll frontrunner The Get Up Kids, and they enjoyed the success of “hundreds of thousands of album sales” and tour appearances with Weezer and Green Day. The Anniversary, a former band whose members now find themselves active in countless other local projects, lists touring with Dashboard Confessional and Ben Kweller as achievements. Another local outfit, The Belles, found huge success in Europe, including music videos featured on MTV Italy. Their single “Omerta” can be heard on an episode of “Dawson’s Creek,” and “Disarmed” was featured on an episode of “One Tree Hill.”

While recording their album “Grow Up or Sleep In,” Ghosty enjoyed a surprise visit from Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. The result was a guest vocal appearance by Coyne, and Ghosty returned the favor by assisting on the Lips’ “A Change at Christmas (Say It Ain’t So)” track. They’ve been featured in Entertainment Weekly, and you can catch them playing in the area regularly. Doris Henson toured with Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. Other stellar local bands include White Whale, Minus Story, Split Lip Rayfield, Kill Creek, the Esoteric, Ad Astra Per Aspera, White Flight and countless others this letter is too short to contain. And I haven’t even touched the local hip hop scene.

To say that, “the problem with supporting local music is that, quite simply, most of it is awful” is a gross oversight of what Lawrence has. Yes, it takes time and dedication to sift through the menagerie of self-proclaimed musicians Lawrence harbors, but it’s not impossible, and the benefits are rewarding. Luckily, there are outlets to help you. Lawrence.com features a current local show listing and an impressive database of mp3s and bios, and 90.7 KJHK hosts a radio program, Plow the Fields (Saturdays 4 to 6 p.m.), devoted entirely to local music.

You can have your Stravinsky and Coltrane with a side of Ghosty and White Whale, too.

Jenny Kratz

2007 Lawrence graduate