The singer for one of my favorite bands, Shearwater, has been on tour with his side-project, Loma, for the past few months, mostly in Europe. About a month back he sent out an email plea to his mailing list for help, explaining the realities of being a musician, even a moderately successful indie one, in 2018: tours that either barely break even or lose money, albums that barely recoup the costs of studio time, and reliance on merchandise to keep a tour running. He revealed that he’d been personally funding the entire tour and had maxed out all of his credit cards.
Shearwater fans raised $30k in less than 48 hours to pay off his touring debts and help him pay rent.
And this is a fairly successful, critically lauded indie group. Being a musician isn’t an easy gig.
