Santigold Cancels North American Tour Citing Changing Industry and Artist Welfare
Santigold has canceled her upcoming North American tour. In a lengthy note to fans posted to her website, the singer explained that the reality of being on the road following the pandemic is not sustainable for musicians, noting that “the landscapes we are re-entering are not the same.”
“As a touring musician, I don’t think anyone anticipated the new reality that awaited us,” Santigold wrote. “After sitting idle (not being able to do shows) for the past couple years, many of us like everyone else, earning no or little income during that time, every musician that could, rushed back out immediately when it was deemed safe to do shows. We were met with the height of inflation — gas, tour buses, hotels, and flight costs skyrocketed — many of our tried-and-true venues unavailable due to a flooded market of artists trying to book shows in the same cities, and positive test results constantly halting schedules with devastating financial consequences.”
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She added, “All of that on top of the already-tapped mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional resources of just having made it through the past few years. Some of us are finding ourselves simply unable to make it work.”
The musician noted that she had looked at “every angle,” but concluded, “I simply don’t have it. I can’t make it work.” She added that it was important to her to be honest about the situation because it’s happening to so many artists around the world.
“I want to tell you that for me it has taken a toll — through anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, vertigo, chronic pain, and missing crucial time with my children,” Santigold explained. “In the place that I’m in, in the place that the music business is in, it feels like I’ve been hanging on, trying to make it to the ever-distant finish line, but my vehicle’s been falling apart the whole time — the bumper fell off, the wheels one at a time, the steering wheel, and finally the whole bottom fell out. And here I am thinking, ‘Should I just hold the doors up and run?’ And my little heart that has been working way beyond its limits, my whole body in fact and my soul too, are screaming at me ‘NO muthafucka! Pull.The Fuck. Over!'”
She concluded the letter by affirming, “I will not continue to sacrifice myself for an industry that has become unsustainable for, and uninterested in the welfare of the artists it is built upon.”
Santigold’s most recent LP, Spirituals, arrived Sept. 9 via her own label Little Jerk. Her Holified Tour was scheduled to kick off Oct. 9 in Atlanta. All tickets for the tour will be refunded.
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