Retroactive Update #1: Jonathan Brown’s “Abandoned Hamster Wheel” Tour!
I haven’t made an official update in almost two months because I’ve been busy trying to keep Happy Nomad Booking afloat. Every month since the spring, at least one of my artists has either canceled a tour before it was scheduled to begin or aborted one after they‘d already hit the road. The reasons why have mostly been beyond my control: job opportunities, intra-band conflict, family illnesses, natural disasters, etc. Regardless, each time a tour falls apart, it not only wastes months of my work, but also adds to my workload, as I end up having to do damage control with literally hundreds of artists, promoters, and venues. It’s difficult not to feel overwhelmed when these things happen, but I stay calm and keep working as hard as I can for my artists. If I’m not asleep or spending time with my family, I’m working.
Since my last update, six of my artists have gone on tours that I was too busy to formally announce. The biggest of these tours belonged to New Orleans MC/poet Jonathan Brown, whose “Abandoned Hamster Wheel” tour found him playing a different city almost every day in September. His full itinerary is listed below:
TUE 9/1 - Houston, TX @ Super Happy Fun Land
WED 9/2 - Shreveport, LA @ Blue Southern Comfort Foods
THU 9/3 - Austin, TX @ the Gatsby
FRI 9/4 - Fort Worth, TX @ 1919 Hemphill
SAT 9/5 - Amarillo, TX @ the 806
SUN 9/6 - Tulsa, OK @ the Nitro Lounge
MON 9/7 - Little Rock, AR @ a private venue
TUE 9/8 - Memphis, TN @ Mot and Ed’s
WED 9/9 - Kansas City, MO @ Records with Merritt
THU 9/10 - Chicago, IL @ the Urban Sandbox
FRI 9/11 - Minneapolis, MN @ the Driftwood Char Bar
SAT 9/12 - Chippewa Falls, WI @ Every Buddy’s Bar and Grill
SUN 9/13 - Milwaukee, WI @ the Circle-A Café
MON 9/14 - Kalamazoo, MI @ the Red Room
THU 9/17 - Asheville, NC @ One Stop Deli & Bar
FRI 9/18 - Raleigh, NC @ Schoolkids Records
SAT 9/19 - Wilmington, NC @ the Scrap Iron Bicycle Gallery
MON 9/21 - Columbia, SC @ Dascotto’s Café and Grill
TUE 9/22 - Charlotte, NC @ Crown Station
WED 9/23 - Charleston, SC @ Cory’s Grilled Cheese
THU 9/24 - Jacksonville, FL @ Shantytown Pub
FRI 9/25 - Gainesville, FL @ the 206 House
SAT 9/26 - Tampa, FL @ Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse
SUN 9/27 - Orlando, FL @ the Corner Pocket
MON 9/28 - Atlanta, GA @ Swayze’s
TUE 9/29 - Birmingham, AL @ the Nick
WED 9/30 - Pensacola, FL @ Sluggo’s
Jonathan has been one of HNB’s strongest allies since its inception: he put together a great house show in New Orleans for BIG WHATEVER and Brrat Boys last October, opened for Omingnome at the Beatnik in December, and worked the door for DXA’s show at the Howlin’ Wolf in July. When Jonathan asked me to book his first-ever national tour, I was happy for the opportunity to reciprocate the support that he’d given me and my artists over the last year. Jonathan’s tour was one of the most rewarding I’ve ever booked; however, it was also one of the most difficult.
Booking shows for Jonathan convinced me, once and for all, that hip-hop is the live music industry’s least favorite genre. Many hip-hop artists have no idea how few venues across the United States are truly willing to book them. Even venues that lack specific genre foci will either reject hip-hop artists outright or impose conditions on them that don’t apply to artists of other genres. Some venues will only accept hip-hop artists as part of mixed-genre packages; others will try to make these artists or their representatives pay rental fees or security deposits in order to perform. (Note: I’m a work-from-home stepfather whose laptop has a broken keyboard and whose iPhone has a broken internal speaker. I clearly can’t afford to rent venues out for my artists.)
Most of this has to do with racism: many venue owners fear being patronized by large groups of Black people. Some of it has to do with “rockism”: many venue owners don’t consider hip-hop “real music,” due to its de-emphasis on melody and its reliance on technology. (Convincing a Black-owned music venue to temporarily forsake its ban on performances involving prerecorded music and book an all-White hip-hop group has got to be the most ironic moment yet of my booking career.) Some of it has to do with ageism: hip-hop shows tend to draw younger crowds that either don’t or can’t drink, which is a deterrent to venues that generate most of their profits from alcohol sales. Some of it has to do with hip-hop artists themselves, many of whom don’t know how to promote their music, network with other artists, or streamline their performance setups as effectively as artists in most other genres.
Because so few dedicated music venues are willing to book hip-hop artists, many hip-hop shows end up happening at all-purpose event venues, wherein the organizer either solicits sponsorships or spends their own money to rent the space, supply the necessary equipment, book the artists, promote the show, etc. Also, many touring hip-hop artists demand financial guarantees that greatly outweigh their overhead, popularity, or even talent. These circumstances make it difficult for hip-hop shows to break even without the organizers employing detestable business practices, such as making local artists pay to open for touring artists.
Although Jonathan’s music is rooted in hip-hop, he definitely colors outside of the lines of the genre. On the “Abandoned Hamster Wheel” tour, he performed solo with an SP-404 sampling workstation, but the SP-404 was used to manipulate backing tracks that he recorded with a rock/jazz fusion band. His lyrics and delivery owe as much to slam poetry and hardcore punk as they do to rap. However, most venues don’t care about these things; as soon as they see the words “MC,” “poet,” or “hip-hop,” they lose interest. How, then, do I pitch Jonathan’s music to venues without being dishonest about its roots, appealing to racism or “rockism,” shelling out money I don’t have, or making naïve local artists do the same?
If the “Abandoned Hamster Wheel” tour was any indication, the answer was to book Jonathan literally anywhere that would have him, regardless of context, and let the quality of his music, the intensity of his performance, and the kindness of his personality do the rest. Jonathan made new fans and connections everywhere he played; in many cities, he was greeted by fans who’d been waiting years to seem him live. His performance had a borderline therapeutic effect on many of the people who saw them. All tolled, both he and I consider the tour a success, and I just started booking another set of shows for him in the Southeast, to capitalize on the tour’s momentum.
In my next update, I shall discuss the tours I’ve booked over the last couple of months for U.S. NERO, Tender Mercy, Paper Anthem, the Grand Affair, and NO SIR E. In the meantime, please continue to spread the word about HNB and its artists, and don’t hesitate to contact me about anything regarding HNB and its mission! :-)
