1 Photo by Dario Cantatore
Liz Tormes’ Tour Diary, Part 1
With the release of Limelight, the singer-songwriter gives us a glimpse into her mini-tour moments in Ireland
By Liz Tormes
Published: April 18th, 2008 | 12:25pm
Singer-songwriter musician Liz Tormes has been compared to Neko Case, Sam Phillips, and Nina Nastasia for her melodic song arrangements and haunting vocals. The Nashville native and New York transplant has just released her critically acclaimed album Limelight and will be touring sporadically in support of it in the upcoming year.
Throughout April 2008, Tormes has agreed to take us on her first tour of Ireland. Check venuszine.com for weekly updates as Tormes chronicles her adventures and gives us insight into the pros and cons of going it alone across the pond.
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008 — GOOGLE IS MY CO-PILOT
I left New York today. I am ready to get started on this tour, the planning of which has been quite a learning experience. The tour was organized without a booking agent. My manager set up some of the shows.
A promoter in Ireland helped set up some radio shows (RTE 1 Dublin, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Derry). A friend in Northern Ireland has set up a couple gigs as well. I even set up one gig based on some leads I got from fellow musicians who have toured Ireland.
And Google has been a godsend. I found my hotels and directions all through that search engine. You almost don’t need a tour manager these days — just a hell of a lot of time to do the work yourself.
Come to think of it, a tour manager would have been great.
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2008 — FRIENDLY ADVICE
The first gig of the tour was at the Ruby Sessions, a weekly live “acoustic club” series in Dublin at a pub called Doyle’s. I took a taxi to the venue and the cab driver asked if he could give me some friendly advice.
I thought he was going to suggest some non-touristy spot I should visit while there. “Take that England sticker off your guitar case,” he said.
I had put that sticker on a few years ago because England was the first place I toured outside of the United States. Honestly, the thought crossed my mind before I left New York that it might not be kosher to have it on my case while in Ireland. But I kind of loved that sticker. It reminded me of the tour — which was a total blast — and I thought I was being silly to actually consider taking it off.
“You might lose a lot of fans here,” was his reasoning. So, a bit horrified at the thought of how many people I may have unwittingly offended on my way from the airport to the hotel, I peeled it off and crumbled it up as soon as I walked into the venue. I disposed of it between the bricks of the ladies room. Maybe it is still there.
I did get to leave the inoffensive “No Depression” sticker on the case. Hell, maybe that one offended some people too.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 9, 2008 — WEDNESDAY, NOISY WEDNESDAY
Tonight was the first of the four gigs. I was opening for Teddy Thompson. The venue was Whelan’s in Dublin, which I must say, has the best sound of anywhere I have ever played. I sold more CDs at that show than I ever have. It always feels good to sell CDs, but with the weak American dollar it’s like a matter of survival here.
Everyone told me how expensive Ireland would be, but it doesn’t really hit home until you do something ordinary, like buy a cup of coffee. It’s the equivalent of almost five U.S. dollars for a small, crappy cup of coffee (and talk about weak!).
The only thing that helped take a bit of the sting out was that it entitled me to free Wi-Fi. Oh wait, I wasn’t able to connect, neither on Tuesday nor on Wednesday. So yeah, $5 for a crappy cup of coffee.
Anyway, I am writing this e-mail at 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning. It’s probably a bit of jetlag, but also, the noise that has me wide awake. All the reviews of this hotel mentioned the noise. They were not joking.
The thumping live band in the club downstairs quit around 12:45 a.m., and the rowdy crowd that had congregated outside for the last hour or so has finally all gotten into taxis or stumbled home.
I was also awakened at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning by what I will call the “keg mobile,” a flatbed truck with, yes, kegs galore. For a good hour, they were exchanging the empties with the new ones, and oh my Lord are they loud.
I noticed how all the guys who handle the beer deliveries in Dublin wear Day-Glo green vests. In the States, only crossing guards and police officers wear them. Do not injure the man who delivers the Guinness!
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Click here for Part 2 of Liz Tormes' tour diary.
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