This year has seen a lot of changes in my life, both personal and professional, and mostly for the better. In music, the most significant has to be in touring.  The Loom is entering a new phase.  In our quest to make a go of it, it has become clear that since the practical collapse of the recording industry, music acts must tour to make a living.  With that in mind, we've been touring more often, and even bought a van recently. However, touring is also an excellent way to bleed money, and we're on a steep learning curve, as nobody in this group has unlimited funds to finance it if we miscalculate.

I know-- you have to spend money to make money, right?  The problem with that line of thinking, though, is that it can lead into spending money without really accounting for the following, all of which are necessary to the "making" part:

• How much do people/acts get paid in my industry?  For what?  How does that vary with experience?
• How many jobs are there? Is that number growing or shrinking?  Is it geographically dependent?
• Is this investment of money (in schooling, equipment, training, setting up a business) necessary to my industry or to secure jobs?
• Is this investment likely to be paid back?  How quickly, if ever?
• Is there some way other than investing money to get these credentials, this equipment, this name recognition...?

I'm often happy that I did this kind of accounting for myself when I was considering going to graduate school for music.  Continued schooling is a path many of my colleagues and former classmates at conservatory chose, and a valuable one.  However, considering that I wanted to redirect my course in music a great deal after graduating, did not want to teach at a college, and couldn't pin down a program I was sure would answer the above questions with an affirmative (this degree IS necessary to x job), I realized it would not be a good investment for me, especially since I could study privately without going to school, at much less cost.

Which brings me back to the challenge of touring.  Constructing successful tours seems to be an art and a science: proper routing, a solid schedule (with some downtime and shorter drives so you don't go crazy in the van) of dates, responsible venues with contracts, and a less-is-more mentality.  By the last one, I mean for yourself.  On tour, you have to be ready to drive all day, sleep in the van a lot, and go play an intense, high energy show, even if you spent the last night on someone's floor being attacked by their territorial cat (true story).

It's important to really want to do this.  I mean, that seems obvious-- why would you do this if you didn't want to?-- but isn't, completely.  On the one hand, the music has to be a reward enough in itself to make the hardships of touring (and professional musicianship) worthwhile.  On the other hand, if you just play for love, and don't get paid, aren't you a hobbyist, basically?  Maybe a really dedicated one, but still.  So what I mean about wanting it is that you have to want to be a professional musician.  That is, you should love music and everything in it, but you have to get satisfaction from the craft of being a musician, and being a businessperson, and want to get better at that, too.  Hint-- if the thought of being "mercenary" makes you squeamish (and if you use that word with a lot of disdain), it's probably not for you.  Not music, but being a professional musician. 

Because really, we have to find ways to earn a living.  And it's harder than ever, so we have to be better at it to make less money than musicians in comparable circumstances used to make.  And, in my opinion, while we need to have debate about the best way to do this (for example, should we give digital dowloads away for free?), it would be nice if the conversation became a little less polarized.  I don't really think it's about "musicians" versus "the industry".  It's about "musicians" versus "a world that is not accustomed to paying for art/design/music/media".  It's not an easy one to figure out, and I certainly don't have the answers.

So, in the meantime, I'm trying to learn from people around me, from musicians I know, from people who manage bands, from folks who work for Performing Rights Agencies, from recording engineers.  There is so much to know, and while much in the music world changes from day to day, especially legally, there is still a lot to learn that hasn't fundamentally changed in a long time, and there are people to learn craft, and technique, and business from, who are often generous, and want to help fellow musicians along.

Apparently enough to keep me from writing a new blog post since SXSW.  It was a busy spring and summer for The Loom.  We promoted our (still upcoming) record, Teeth, at SXSW.  In doing so, we met our manager, Emily, who has been on board with us since May.  She is based in London, but between managing us and Philadelphia's The War on Drugs, she's been stateside more often.

We played our first show at The Bowery Ballroom in May with These United States, and had an amazing time.  We sadly said goodbye to our previous female vocalist, Sydney Price, off to pursue other ambitions, and said hello to our new vocalist, Sarah Renfro, who has proved to be a great addition to the group.  She definitely jumped into the thick of things, as we planned a pretty grueling schedule this summer, working weeks, and spending weekends on the road. 

The first one out was the most intense:  Toronto, Milwaukee, and Chicago in 3 days, with 3 shows and 2 live recording sessions, one for the University of Toronto radio station, and the other for Daytrotter, in Rock Island, IL.  In Toronto, we played at the historic El Mocambo with Entire Cities and Mathemagic.  We were invited by Muzzle of Bees to Milwakee to play WSME's Radio Summer Camp Festival, and got to share a bill with the excellent Strand of Oaks (who happens to be our friend Tim Showalter.  Check out his amazing new album, Pope Killdragon, on Emusic-- I can't stop listening to it).  Finally, we had our Daytrotter session (so fun to do, and the nicest people to work with.  The session is coming out soon!), and then drove to Chicago to play at the Abbey Pub with Tim again, and with The Daredevil Christopher Wright.  I took a flight home a couple hours later (6am, I think-- it's still hazy), and went straight to work, teaching all day.

That was the gist of the summer-- lots of work, and lots of playing.  There were shows in Northampton, MA, Montepelier, VT, Providence, RI, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, and a few at home, for good measure.  Not so much sleep, but all the playing definitely helped us as a band, honing the live show and gaining touring experience.

For those of you in New York, we have plenty of shows coming up: tomorrow's at the Rock Shop, a CMJ show at Joe's Pub, and another Bowery Ballroom date in November.  We're planning to keep up all the touring, too-- hopefully we'll be coming to your hometown soon.  There probably will be more shows both local and non that I haven't mentioned here, and I'll try to get them all posted-- if you're not a member of the email list and would like to receive a digest of upcoming gigs, please message me on the contact page. 

To all the folks who came out and supported us, especially in places we've never played, thank you.  It's an amazing and humbling feeling to arrive in a city you've never seen and come to a venue filled with friendly and attentive listeners (looking at you, Montpelier!).  We couldn't do it without you.

--Lis

So, The Loom is headed to Austin for a week's worth of shows at SXSW.  We'll be piling into a 12-passenger van early Monday morning to drive 2 days to get there--  hopefully the snacks will hold out until at least Tennessee.  It's our first time at SXSW, and we're really excited about our 8 (!) shows, and about being in on the road in general, something this year will see us doing a lot more, hopefully.  Here are our shows in a nutshell:

Wednesday, March 17
Covalent Records Show @ District 301

Thursday, March 18      
Austin Town Hall Show @ the Ghost Room
Pigeon's Posse Show @ Opal Divine's

Friday, March 19           
Leisure Tourniquet Equinox Mish Mash @ Hot Mama's
Muzzle of Bees Backyard BBQ @ private residence

Saturday, March 20       
Paper Garden Records Show @ Parkside
Moose Lodge Show w/ Acrylics
Stem and Leaf Party @ Rainey Manor

All show details can be found in the event listings.  For more up to date info, please check our website, www.theloommusic.com, or our twitter (theloommusic) or myspace.com/theloommusic.  If you're in Austin, please come out!
                                      
                             

Wednesday is my first outing with the Nathan Parker Smith Large Group.  The music is great (and challenging, whoa), and so are the other musicians.  Come see us at Fat Cat-- 3 sets from about 9pm to midnight.




The Loom is playing Knocks from the Underground's 1st Anniversry party at the Delancey this weekend.  Come check us out Saturday at 11pm.

We've had some nice press lately-- here are a few selected clips.


"The group is joined by the beloved Brooklyn sextet The Loom, who have lately been guiding their chamber-folk sound to decidedly louder sonic territory." --The New Yorker

"Brooklyn band The Loom have it all if you ask me. They sound like a good old fashioned folk collective, a la Rock Plaza Central; they have multiple ladies in the band; they feature a lot of work with banjos. Recently, the band raised enough money to go into the studio and record their debut album, and I’m pleased to bring the group to your attention, as I’ve been listening to the band’s 2008 EP since I first got my hands on it a year or so ago via a friend in New York. They’ve received stellar reviews, played solid CMJ shows, and for those of you who haven’t heard them, now is your chance. Unfortunately, this is an old track (though it’s probably new to you), but it shows nothing but promise of great things to come from the quintet."    --Austin Town Hall

"The openers for the night, The Loom, have a brand new album coming out early 2010. They’ve had some line-up changes and refined their sound, and are definitely a band to watch. If you can find tickets to this sold-out show, Mercury Lounge is the place to be this Saturday night."     --The New York Rockmarket

 "Continuing my little nostalgia trip for the first weekend of 2010, today I want to focus on a couple of my favorite tracks from 2008 that still strongly resonate with me today. Song for the Winter Sun was hands down my most listened to track for a period in 2008. It lived in my skull and spawned my new obsession with woods rock and folk. Its sense of rhythm is perfect and like nothing else makes me want to move to a remote village and live there forever. I really want The Loom to release a proper debut this year."  -- The Stu Reid Experiment

"The loft filled up to a full, but still comfortable level by the time The Loom came on. As people came and went all night, partially due to informative tweets about the capacity level, it stayed just full enough until The Love Language ended their set (slightly by force) at 2am (we ran late... didn't want to upset the neighbors). It was the first time I had seen The Loom live, and at the time I tweeted that they were "killin it with horns" (though none of the pictures below actually show them playing horns). I'm excited for the new album they said they were working on. " --Brooklyn Vegan  (from the CMJ loft party-- click the link to see the great photos of the show!)