I don’t think many people outside of the world of booking have any idea just how quickly the options for non-corporate live music are shrinking. Every month since May, I’ve had to cancel, postpone or reroute a tour because at least one venue the artist was scheduled to play abruptly closed.

So many small venues are either closing, discontinuing live music, jacking up their break-even points, or adopting pay-to-play structures to beat the crush of capitalism. Then, there are the venues that turn out to be ethically unsuitable because their owners are predators or just plain assholes.