In Praise of the Big Town, the Small City

Today one of my favorite bands, Lohio, is setting off on tour in support of their brand new album, Family Tree. Taking a look at their schedule, you’ll notice a lot of small cities on the list– Louisville, Kentucky; Bloomington, Indiana; Ypsilanti, Michigan; Athens, Ohio etc, etc…

LOHIO TOURDATES:

Sep 22 :: Case Western :: Cleveland, Ohio
Sep 23 :: Rhumba Cafe :: Columbus, Ohio
Sep 24 :: WFPK Live Lunch :: Louisville, Kentucky
Sep 24 :: Zanzabar :: Louisville, Kentucky
Sep 26 :: Cosmic Charlies :: Lexington, Kentucky
Sep 27 :: The Union :: Athens, Ohio
Sep 28 :: Savoy :: Ypsilanti, Michigan
Sep 30 :: Northland College :: Ashland, Wisconsin
Oct 1 :: The Bishop :: Bloomington, Indiana
Oct 3 :: The Brillobox :: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Small cities and big towns can be the bread and butter of a touring band. There’s a thrill in playing New York City or Chicago, but there’s a loneliness too, and the knowledge that there are quite literally hundreds of other events going on at the same time as your lowly indie show. In a big town, you’ve got statistics on your side– there are probably only a handful of other events happening. People are more likely to be excited to see your band. You’ve got a better shot at getting excited high school kids out and sometimes you manage to avoid the blase, seen-it-all attitude of a bigger place. And becoming known as a good place for bands to play can be a real boon for a local music scene. All around, it’s a win.

Plus, it’s easier to build a following through old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Keep coming back to the same small city and it will treat you right.

Frontier Ruckus, a newish discovery of mine, is Michigan band that plays gorgeous, moving Americana type music with horns and some pretty gut-wrenching lyrics.  They’re on Ramseur Records, the queen of hard touring indie labels. They have the small cities thing down as well.  Here’s an excerpt of their (extensive) touring schedule:

FRONTIER RUCKUS TOURDATES:

Sep 23  :: Dante’s Bar :: Frostburg, MD
Sep 24 :: Thunderbird Cafe :: Pittsburgh, PA
Sep 25  :: Beachland Tavern :: Cleveland, OH
Sep 26 :: Birdy’s ::  Indianapolis, IN
Sep 28 :: Woodland’s Tavern :: Columbus, OH
Sep 29 :: The Southgate House Parlour :: Newport, KY
Sep 30 :: Cosmic Charlies ::  Lexington, KY
Oct 1 :: Subkirke :: South Bend, IN
Oct 2 :: Starry Nights Festival :: Bowling Green, KY

And have a listen to this incredible song as well:

Nerves of the Nightmind

The Fruit Bats are on the the indie powerhouse label, Sub Pop and have put out some incredible records. And their schedule includes a lot of not-quite-beaten path stops like Morgantown, West Virginia; Carrborro, North Carolina; Oxford, Mississippi, as well as the standard Seattle/Portland/Dallas kinds of places.

Check it:

FRUIT BATS TOUR DATES:

Oct 2 ::Garfield Artworks :: Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 3 :: WVU Creative Arts Center :: Morgantown, WV
Oct 4 :: Cat’s Cradle ::  Carrborro, NC
Oct 5 :: Orange Peel :: Asheville, NC
Oct 6 :: Workplay Theatre :: Birmingham, AL
Oct 7 :: Square Room :: Knoxville, TN
Oct 8 :: 529 :: Atlanta, GA

-

Advertisement