Singer/songwriter Carlile hits the road this month on her Hard Way Home Summer Convoy tour. The 37-date headlining run follows her 2012 LP, “Bear Creek,” and includes dates supporting Dave Matthews Band and the Avett Brothers. Booking agent Duffy McSwiggin of Paradigm has routed Carlile’s tours for the past nine years, and sees the process as constantly evolving. “I’m only as good as the artist I represent, and she is an amazing artist.”
ROUTING: Following “Bear Creek”‘s release, Carlile — now in between album cycles — looked to McSwiggin for a specific strategy in routing her summer swing. “The idea was to headline secondary markets — secondary festivals, theaters or soft-ticket events.” However, many of the dates were routed around Carlile’s opening slots for Matthews — slated for June 15-16 at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass., and June 21-22 at the Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville, Ind. “These dates, along with appearances at Summerfest [July 3, Milwaukee] and Floyd Fest [July 25, Floyd, Va.], acted as anchors.”
AUDIENCE: With a loyal fan base, Carlile typically relies on hitting repeat markets to consistently sell seats and reach as many fans as possible. “Region-wise, she’s been to just about every single one of these markets. With a new album, the peak album cycle is to hit the big markets so the majority of her fans can hear the new material,” McSwiggin says. “And with any album release there’s more visibility, more excitement in general, which usually leads to stronger ticket sales.”
promotion:Carlile’s fans function with more of a word-of-mouth mentality, but McSwiggin believes social media continues to be important, especially with regard to specific towns and promoters. “Wells Fargo [Center for the Arts] in Santa Rosa, Calif. [Aug. 18] — that’s more of a subscription-based performing arts center model. If you look at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, N.J. [July 23], that’s more of a hard ticket, so we rely on local promotions to create excitement, such as conventional radio and print.”
Booking Agent: Duffy McSwiggin, Paradigm
Tour Dates: June 13-Aug. 23