Tour Prep: New Art & Old Troubles
With four weeks to go there are still nine open dates on the docket and a bushel of work to get done before I hit the road.
During the last two summers as I’ve toured across the country, I have shared my experiences here in the form of Tour Recaps, a sort of diary from my life as a touring musician and curious dude.
Now, as I prep my upcoming tour for the western half of the country, I want to provide you with a small window into what it’s like to plan and book a tour like this. These missives will hopefully give you a glimpse of what it takes to make a tour like this happen. They should also be a way for me to learn more from you about where to go, what to do, where to eat, what to experience, and what not to avoid.
In my experience, half of the fun of an adventure is the planning and getting excited for it. I am thrilled to share all of this with you, and perhaps even more, excited to learn all of the secrets you all may have about where I am headed next and how I should hit the road.
Let’s get ready.
Let’s Make A Date
With just a month to go before my west coast tour begins, I still find myself with nine open dates on the itinerary. Despite sustained efforts, we have actually rolled backwards since our last update. The Portland show has now been moved to Oct. 6 and I am once again looking for a host. I have had a couple of nibbles on the line, but no fish in the boat just yet.
Here is a quick rundown of what I still have left to fill. If you are in these areas, or know anyone in the spots below please reach out to help put a show together. Hosting is easy, won’t cost you anything, and is an amazing time. If you do not have a spot to host a crowd, maybe there is a suitable venue near you or a friend with more room at their place that we could work with?
Please reach out, even if the idea seems crazy. We are that point in the process where the crazy ideas begin to look sane.
Oct. 3 - Washington State
Oct. 6 - Portland, OR
Oct. 9 - Northern CA
Oct. 12 - Santa Cruz, CA
Oct. 16 - San Luis Obispo, CA
Oct. 17 - Santa Barbara/Ventura, CA
Oct. 18 - Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 26 - Denver, CO
Oct. 30 - Lawrence/Kansas City, KS
Please reach out and hit me with an idea or two. Help me, Substack friend. You’re my only hope.
New Promo Art
I normally refrain from using images of myself in my promo artwork. The truth is that I don’t like the way that I look when I see myself in pictures. Still, I am cognizant of the fact that I need to put my fat face out there once in a while to promote myself and my work. In that spirit, I crafted a set of new promo art for the upcoming west coast tour featuring an image of yours truly shot by my dear friend and fellow Stick Around, Ian Walker at my Robin Theatre show back in June.
The art incorporates the color scheme of the poster and t-shirt artwork that I have been using since the tour was initially announced a few months ago. I used a duotone version of the original photo and then set the image all the way to the right to allow room for the text necessary to splay out the dates on the tour.
It’s actually quite gratifying to look at that massive list of dates and see that nearly three quarters of them are locked into place with a month to go. There are already more confirmed shows for this tour than I played during the summer version of the Sheddio On The Road Tour. To see that list of dates and the work it took to make that happen feels pretty damned great, despite my intense anxieties about the empty dates left on the itinerary.
Still, it’d feel a whole lot better if we could just get another one or two of these booked today. Any ideas?
New Merch Available Now
Apologies for the repeated incidents of capitalism, but the Sheddio On the Road Store is open now and ready for business. We’ve got brand new t-shirts just for the west coast swing. We are resupplying the red bird tees after running out this summer on the east coast tour. There are also tote bags, posters, sweatshirts, buttons, new stickers, and even a bundle where you can snag a bunch of hot swag and get a ticket to a Matty C show, all with a discount.
How about you run on over there right now and check it out? You know you want to.
Street Team
Don’t forget about your chance to volunteer for the street team to earn some free swag and tickets to a show. I can supply you with all of the necessary pieces to get the word out in your neighborhood about the upcoming show. The work is easy, fun, and only takes a bit of time. I’d love to have your help. Check out the full list of shows below and hit me up if you’d like to lend a hand. I sure appreciate you.
Cheers,
Matty C