It’s been eight years since Shearwater or Loma have played live. We’d love to say that we simply decided to focus on studio work—each band did, after all, release two more albums since then (!). 

The truth is that we never meant this to happen. 

The reasons are many; COVID, for one thing, scrambled touring plans and clogged venue schedules for years. And though we once lived near one another, we no longer do. 

The toughest obstacles, however, are financial. Fixed costs have soared since the days when Shearwater regularly toured the US and Europe; we no longer have tour support from labels;  and none of us can afford to spend six weeks rehearsing and performing for less than minimum wage. 

But we still have an audience. And we want to perform live again. 

On Spotify alone, Loma and Shearwater each have more than 100K monthly listeners, enough to fill Madison Square Garden for a week. And we often hear from them—frequently with requests for live shows. It's hard to explain that we really want to tour, but we can’t bear the costs.  

We've realized, however, that if we keep waiting for a less expensive world, we’ll be waiting forever.

So we decided to take a leap of faith. 

Earlier this year, we asked our EU/UK booking agent to book a combined tour for both bands, figuring shared members might help us cut costs. We're calling it the When can I see you? tour.

We also knew that even if our agent did a great job—which he did—the fees we'd command wouldn't cover the full cost of rehearsing and touring. 

We have a three-week tour of Northern Europe and the UK booked and announced. Some shows are nearly sold out, promoters seem excited, and fees are solid: if all goes well, the tour should gross about 31K EUR, or about $33K USD, minus our agent's fee. 

If that sounds like a lot of money to you, it does to us too.

Unfortunately, it's less than half the cost of the tour. We hope to crowdfund the difference. 

There’s a full breakdown of expenses in the FAQ—but the upshot is that to afford the tour and rehearsals while paying 6 musicians about $10 an hour for 7 weeks of work, we need to raise another $62K USD. 

We know that's a lot, and we're offering a variety of incentives to get there—including a live album of music by both bands assembled from the tour, and videos of some shows. We know that not everyone who might like to see us can be in the EU/UK in November! 

Also, we're happy to say that for the first time, donations will be tax-deductible under US law thanks to our friends at Fractured Atlas, who have agreed to fiscally sponsor us as a non-profit organization.

If you'd like to know more about our income and expenses, the cities where we're scheduled to play, and why we aren’t playing in the US this time, our FAQ (scroll down) would like to meet you.   

We hope you’ll make this tour possible. We want to do it, we're ready to go, the dates are booked, and we'd love to see you. But we need your help.  

Xoxox,

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When Can I See You? Tour FAQ:

Q: Do I really want to read this FAQ?

Only if you won’t mind us puncturing the romance of touring a bit.

Q: What’s the deal with the “JM solo performance” reward? Is that for real?

JM says: "It’s definitely for real. The performance will consist of material of my choosing, and last no less than 45 minutes—or perhaps more if we’re having a good time—and a group of up to 50 friends is welcome. 

It’s your choice whether to have a PA or not; I’ll simply turn up with a guitar (and if you have a piano available, Emily Lee might turn up too). You’re welcome to request donations from friends to recoup your costs, if you like, and I’ll cover my own travel, meals, and accommodation.

There are three important caveats: 

1 - These are private events only, and not open to the public. 

2- I’ll only do these performances if we reach our campaign goal. Otherwise, I’ll return your donation. 

3 - I’m only available to do these on certain days. I can play in the UK between the 23rd and 30th of November, or in the US between December 2026 and December 2027. 

The exact date and time of the performance will be by mutual agreement. If we can’t agree on a time and date, I’ll gladly return your donation."  

If this campaign were optional, you wouldn't be reading this. 

We suspect our audience would pay more to see us—which is, in a way, exactly what you’re doing by supporting this crowdfund. But we’re simply not “big” enough to set ticket prices that would cover our expenses. (That would begin to happen if we could reliably fill 1500-capacity venues, not 200-600 ones.) The smaller clubs where we usually play tend to make money from the bar, not the door, so they’re often focused on getting as many people as possible to spend money on buying drinks, not paying the band. 

This isn’t to say that venues or promoters are evil or uncaring—it’s just that they can’t afford to think about performers’ well-being before their own, or they’d go under, too.  Though we’d note that show fees paid to bands by venues have remained largely static in the past decade, even as the fixed costs of touring have soared. 

We weren't planning to announce the tour until this campaign ended—we realize that having the dates already on sale puts us, and you, in an awkward position. But promoters wanted to advertise the shows as soon as possible, and we risked losing the dates, so we decided to take a deep breath and move forward with planning, since the other option was not to tour at all. We're hoping not to let them down. 

But we thought—mistakenly—that crowdfunding would be a simple process, as it has been for the past two Shearwater albums. 

We were surprised to find that it wasn't. Our previous crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo, was bought by a gaming company and became expensive and confusing; we didn't feel good about a scenario where up to 30% of each donated dollar or euro didn't go to the band.  

So we've partnered with the nonprofit Fractured Atlas to set up a less flashy but more cost-effective crowdfund.  Being accepted into their fiscal sponsorship program has taken a long time (understandably)—but it means that donations to us are now tax-deductible, and far more of each donation now goes directly to us. 

Here's the list of shows:

31 Oct - Maastricht, NL 

1 Nov - Amsterdam, NL

2 Nov - Hamburg, DE

3 Nov - Odense, DK

4 Nov - Copenhagen, DK

5 Nov - Berlin, DE

8 Nov - Kortrijk, B

9 Nov - Paris, FR

10 Nov - Breda, NL

11 Nov - Groningen, NL

12 Nov - Turnhout, B

14 Nov - Munich, DE

15 Nov - Geneva, CH

16 Nov - Zurich, CH

19 - London, UK

20 - Manchester, UK
21 - Glasgow, UK 
22 - Bristol, UK  

That's 18 shows in 23 days! All shows will feature co-headlining Shearwater and Loma sets, and an opening set from Any Kind (SW/Loma member Dan Duszynski's solo project). 

We worried about that a little. But the fact that the bands share some members means we can pack a three-band bill into one van, with a single sound technician. What a savings...

This is why we're offering a live album and videos of this tour as an incentive. We’ll do our best to make them the next best thing to being there.

And—though we don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver—the rehearsals this campaign makes possible would get both Shearwater and Loma back in shape as live performers. Shaking off the rust for one tour doesn't guarantee further shows, but it makes them more likely. 

Alas yes, unless you choose the "We'll see you there" reward.

Here's why: by supporting us, you're empowering us to do the necessary work to play the shows—to rehearse for them, and to get there. But you're not paying for the shows themselves, which have their own production costs (which the venues subtract from ticket sales).

And just so you know: we also think this is a crazy system. But it's the system we have to work within, for now, if we want to perform live. See the expenses breakdown below. 

If only! After many years, we can only conclude that we're not in it for the money.

Of course. (Note that these costs are mostly listed in Euros.)

Round-trip economy airfares (within & outside Europe/UK) for 6 musicians + one EU-based sound technician: ~6500 EUR

Baggage fees (for keyboards, guitars, pedals, drum accessories, monitor mixer, etc): ~2500 EUR 

Sprinter van, fuel, EU-based driver for 3 weeks @300 EUR/day: ~6300EUR

Tolls and other road fees: ~500 EUR

"Backline" gear rental (drums, amps, stands, etc.) @ 150 EUR/day: ~3150 EUR 

Accommodation for 8 humans (on 10 dates where it isn’t provided and we don’t have friends to stay with): ~6000 EUR

Touring per diem costs (15 EUR/day per person for food x 8 people x 20 days = 2400 EUR

Rehearsal space rental (UK): 1500 GBP (1700 EUR) for two weeks

Rehearsal space rental (US): 1500 USD (1300 EUR) for two weeks

Groceries for 3-4 weeks US and UK rehearsals: 1100 EUR

Recording, filming, editing, mixing and mastering costs for live recordings: ~4000 EUR

Equipment and travel insurance: 1100 EUR 

Subtotal: 35550 EUR

You may notice that this number isn't *too* far from our projected income of 31k Euros, which is great. 

But there's a major category of expenses left:

Six musicians for 7 weeks at 1000 USD/week = 42K USD (36.5K EUR)

Sound technician for 3 weeks at 2500 USD/week = 7500 USD (6500 EUR)

Subtotal: 43000 EUR

Total expenses: 78550 EUR

Projected income: 31000 EUR

Difference: 47550 EUR = 55011 USD
Plus offset for platform fees (see below for explanation): 4784 USD (4135 EUR)

Plus ~1800 EUR buffer

We are requesting the estimated difference between our income and expenses, plus an 1800 EUR buffer for emergencies—because there are almost always emergencies. (For example, at a show in London on the Golden Archipelago tour, Shearwater's passports and backpacks were stolen from the green room. You can imagine.) 

And since this platform, like all non-medical crowdfunding/fundraising platforms, charges an 8% administrative fee, we have to factor that into our calculations. 

Please note: We do not expect to make a profit on this tour. We simply need to break even. 

With friends, where we can. Where we can’t, the cheapest hotels or Airbnbs we can find that aren’t scary. 

We expect at least 10 nights of this tour will not provide accommodation, possibly more. 

Oddly enough, we think it would actually cost more.

Guaranteed show fees (the amount we’re paid to perform) in the US tend to be much lower than Europe, where many venues receive subsidies from local governments to pay artists.

In the US, venues almost never provide accommodation, the drives are far longer, and fuel prices are... well, you know.

High-dollar shows by BIG acts can still make money, and some solo or duo tours can still scrape by. But the past decade has been especially tough for bands between these extremes, where Shearwater and Loma live. Many have been nudged off the road entirely.

Even in the days when we could request tour support from labels, we were forbidden to use it to pay musicians—so we often went unpaid, or barely paid, for weeks and months on end when tours almost invariably didn't break even.

The numbers in our goal reflect a wage of about 10 USD/hour for each musician for 10-to-15-hour work days, which are normal on tour. (We’re each paid the same amount; there are no “stars”.)

Ending a tour in debt is not uncommon for touring bands, unfortunately. Shearwater memorably ended the Animal Joy tour—after 108 shows—almost $20K in the red, and Loma’s first and (so far) only tour had to be bailed out via an emergency crowdfund, as some of you may remember.

We’ll never forget the generosity of the people who rescued us then. But we vowed never to repeat those experiences. 

See the "JM Solo Show" reward for a rare example of this!  There’s nothing wrong with house shows, or with singer-songwriters—but that’s not what Shearwater or Loma are. 

We say this as gently as possible: playing festivals isn’t something you can just decide to do;  you have to be asked. 

On top of that, fees for "smaller-print" bands at larger festivals, especially in the US, have largely gone down to zero these days. Festivals usually make money for organizers and top-billed bands, but no one else. 

Neither Shearwater nor Loma have played live in more than eight years, and there’s a lot of new material to learn. Getting a two-set show to the point where we’d like other people to hear it takes time, space, and work, and isn't free; and we want to be good from the very first night. 

Touring without one is like traveling thousands of miles only to stop 20 feet short of the audience. Our five- and six-piece lineups of performers produce a complex set of sounds— asking a house engineer, no matter how skilled, to know what we're supposed to sound like is a tall order—and we don't want to roll the dice on every show. 

Yes, a modest amount, since we have to pay import taxes on it when entering Switzerland. :)

In that case, kind person, you can donate any amount by clicking the "Donate" button, then choosing the "I don't want any rewards. I just want to donate to Shearwater" option.  

Q: What is Fractured Atlas?
Fractured Atlas is a 501(c)(3) public charity, and their fiscal sponsorship extends this status to us for the purpose of receiving donations. All donations to this crowdfund are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Fractured Atlas will issue tax receipts for all donations made through this campaign.

Q: How can I get in touch with you?
If you have any further questions, or would like to reach us directly, please feel free to email us at contact@shearwatermusic.com.

And if you've read this far, thank you—we genuinely appreciate your interest and (likely) your support for us over the years.  

With gratitude and appreciation for all you've done to keep us afloat and making music these many years—

Shearwater 

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