Photo by Brian Mahar courtesy Creative Loafing Tampa
The Supersuckers at Crowbar in 2017
A group of independent venues and promoters around the country have joined forces as "D Tour" with the intent of offering touring artists an alternative network of venues to accommodate multi-city North American tours.
D Tour aims to match up bands with "locally owned, unique venue experiences across multiple markets" and this currently includes 12 venues and promoters in Texas, Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and even the Crowbar club in nearby Tampa.
The D Tour network currently consists of venues that accommodate audiences ranging from 200-8,000 people. D Tour's aim is to expand to all 50 states (the current roster covers 9 states), eventually creating an alternate touring network to that of bigger national entities like Live Nation and AEG.
“Independents from across the country, just like us, have continually worked for decades to build our local businesses within our communities. These are the businesses and communities we are organizing to protect,” said Jessie Hartke, of Wichita-based Hartke Presents group and part of D Tour, in a press statement. “It is imperative to our survival that we create more opportunities in the face of the adversity we have witnessed in recent years.”
D Tour's first "in-network" tour is currently being organized for singer and multi-instrumentalist Elise Trouw with more to follow.
Artist development is also a goal for D Tour as the project progresses. “By working together, we have the ability to break artists through our network of indie rooms and help artists in our own communities build a nationwide platform and launch careers as touring artists," Tobi Parks of Des Moines' XBK Live told Rolling Stone.
Stay tuned to all the D Tour happenings on their social media.
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