Live Music Society, Salt Lick Incubator and D-TOUR Collaborate On New Tour Taking Emerging Artists To Small Independent Venues

One Night Live tour is a collaboration between Live Music Society, Salt Lick Incubator and D-TOUR that brings rising talent to small, independent venues with a mission of improving the live music ecosystem by building a platform for emerging artists while providing fresh, low-risk content for clubs.

“We’ve been thinking about this since we first came together as an organization – the connection between small venues and research and development role in the music industry as a whole,” offered Cat Henry, Executive Director of Live Music Society (LMS). “Recently there’s been some key coverage in the press around the increasingly prohibitive economics of touring so that was something that really prompted us to take action.”

The inaugural three-week run kicks off on May 16 at Gramps in Miami and features Ellie Williams, Sofia Lafuente and Farayi Malek. Tom DeGeorge of D-TOUR, a network of independent venues and promoters focused on working with new artists and small independent venues, acted as project manager.

“D-TOUR is thrilled to be working with LMS to create better opportunities and sustainable paths for developing artists like the talented artists at Salt Lick as well as other incubators around the country,” said DeGeorge, who also owns Crowbar in Tampa. “Now more than ever these pathways are needed to protect the relationship between independent venues and artists as well as to enhance the experience of the music fan who finds value and joy in discovering their next favorite artist in this intimate setting for one night live.”

One Night Live is a partnership with locally owned independent venues across the South and Midwest with the One Night Live artists performing alongside local and regional artists selected by each venue. Each Salt Lick Incubator artist will perform their own set every night and to create a more efficient touring model will also serve as a backing musicians for the other members of the tour. Tickets are now available.

The Boston-based incubator has been working closely with the artists featured on the tour through writing camps, collaborations, performance opportunities and marketing support to help set them up for successful music careers. Incubator artists are selected by advisory board members including Jon Batiste, Julia Michaels, Susan Tedeschi, Harvey Mason Jr. Charlie Puth and Patrice Rushen.

“Salt Lick Incubator is committed to helping artists build sustainable careers and a crucial component of that is the ability to tour,” said Liza Levy, President of nonprofit artist development organization. “It has become exceedingly difficult for an emerging artist to build their hard ticket history if they don’t land a coveted opening slot on a bigger tour and or have a viral moment. The support that Live Music Society, D-TOUR and these independent venues are providing in this non-traditional way is a formidable win for the developing artist community.”

The tour addresses many challenges currently faced by rising artists and venues: the economics of touring – including gear, transportation and lodging – are more prohibitive than ever and locally owned, small independent venues, which are crucial artists launchpads, operate on thin margins with increased inventory costs, insurance premiums and more.

“For venues that are already working on razor thin margins, it just means that they’re less likely and it’s much harder for them to take a risk on new artists and not solely book established acts that are a guaranteed revenue stream,” explained Henry. “So that means there are less places for newer artists to establish and kickstart their careers.”

The like-minded One Night Live collaborators envision the tour as a way for young artists to break into new markets and build a fanbase as well as introducing venues to new talent.  Salt Lick Incubator provides financial support, marketing and tour logistics in addition to their incubation work with the three artists. D-TOUR worked with its affiliate venue members to book the tour, organize the routing, identify local support acts and market the shows. Live Music Society is providing financial assistance.

Nearly half of the participating venues have received funding through Live Music Society’s grant program. Live Music Society supports a large network of small performance venues across the U.S. through multiple programs. Since 2020, more than $4 million has been awarded in 210 grants to 180 venues. 

Through the course of working with venues on grants, Henry has heard from many that they need support in order to book emerging artists. One Night Live matches the desire to take a risk in programming with external funding that can help to keep their doors open.

“We are providing each venue with a small marketing stipend,” explained Henry. “We’ve heard in a lot of conversations that they don’t have the funds to really market and publicize shows to make sure they’ve got people in the room.”

Henry anticipates future tours and is collecting data from the venues on best practices and next steps. 

“We’ll look at what works and what doesn’t and adjust as we move forward,” said Henry. “The model is open for adjustment as we learn and develop and we can use that information to improve as we scale up.”

One Night Live Tour:

May 16 – Gramps, Miami, FL

May 17 – Crowbar, Tampa, FL

May 19 – Will’s Pub, Orlando, FL

May 20 – Altar (Masquerade), Atlanta, GA

May 21 – Flat Iron, Greensboro, NC

May 22 – Songbyrd, Washington, D.C.

May 23 – Smiling Moose, Pittsburgh, PA

May 24 – Jilly’s Music Room, Akron, OH

May 26 – The Southgate House Revival, Newport, KY

May 27 – The Monarch, Louisville, KY

June 1 – DRKMTTR Collective, Nashville, TN