BONUS TRACKS: Frank Turner’s 15 Shows in 24 Hours, Remembering Dickey Betts and Ben Eldridge, and More

Every now and then, a touring artist finds themselves with an exceptionally busy day — an early show and a late show, say, or multiple slots at a festival. But folk-punk singer-songwriter Frank Turner has really overscheduled himself — on purpose! Starting midday on May 4, one day after the release of his new album, Undefeated, he’ll play a string of 15 shows within 24 hours in different locations across the UK. Each set will last at least 20 minutes, and none of the start times are more than 2 hours apart. If he succeeds, he’ll break the current record for number of shows held in a 24-hour span, held by country artist Hunter Hayes, who performed 10 shows in 10 cities in 2014. But Turner has another purpose, too: With Music Venue Trust, he’s aiming to bring attention to the independent venues where he’ll play and to more than a dozen record stores with which he’s partnering, spotlighting the importance of these businesses in the music community. Learn more about Turner’s plans, including his hour-by-hour schedule, in this story from Consequence.

It’s not Turner’s first bout with extreme touring. In 2022, he played concerts in all 50 states within 50 days. A film crew was along for that ride, and the first two episodes of four-part documentary The Work: 50 States in 50 Days will premiere Tuesday on online streaming platform Veeps. Learn more about the documentary here.

Dickey Betts wasn’t an Allman Brother by blood, but his guitar licks and vocals sure felt like family. Betts died Thursday at the age 80 of cancer and COPD, according to his manager. With Duane Allman, Betts wove the dual guitar groove that would become The Allman Brothers’ signature sound. He wrote “Ramblin’ Man,” “Jessica,” “Revival,” and many other Allman favorites. Read more about Betts in this remembrance from Rolling Stone.

This week also brought the loss of banjo great Ben Eldridge, a founding member of bluegrass band The Seldom Scene. Eldridge, who died last Sunday at 85, opened new melodic avenues on banjo and was an influence on pickers across decades and styles. He and his bandmates were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2014. Ben Eldridge was the father of Chris “Critter” Eldridge, guitar player for Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar. Read more about Eldridge’s life and music in this obituary from Bluegrass Today.

It got a lot more expensive this month for international artists to perform in the US. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency increased visa application fees from $460 to more than $1,600, an increase of 250%. And that’s per person, so full bands and a tour manager or two can easily push the total to five figures. The amount of paperwork has increased, too, with band members having to provide detailed itineraries and supporting documents to prove they’re “career musicians.” In this story from the Associated Press, Jen Jacobsen of the Artist Rights Alliance points out that the increased financial and paperwork burden will likely block many artists from touring in the US, harming careers, frustrating festivals that book international artists, and removing important diversity from our musical culture.

Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, were grilled in a Senate hearing in early 2023 after bungling the sale of advance tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, and senators wanted some answers about the service’s ballooning fees, too. In short, buying tickets for major events is generally miserable, but it’s not like people have any choices other than Ticketmaster for making that purchase. And that, in the eyes of the Justice Department, may look an awful lot like a monopoly. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the feds are preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation in the near future, to look deeper into its practices after its merger with Ticketmaster in 2010. Read more about the situation in this coverage from Reuters.

Some pretty great musicians have gotten a boost over the years from winning the FreshGrass Awards, including AJ Lee and Blue Summit, Never Come Down, Thomas Cassell, Tray Wellington, and Anna Tivel. You — or a musician you love — could be next! Submissions are now open for the 2024 FreshGrass Awards, which seek to support emerging artists who perform innovative music based in bluegrass but exploring beyond. Finalists compete in front of an audience and a panel of judges at FreshGrass | North Adams in September. The winner of the band contest category gets a day of recording at Compass Records in Nashville, and all finalists and winners receive cash prizes and spots in the festival lineup. This year’s award categories are band, fiddle, guitar, and banjo. Learn more here, and keep in mind that the deadline for submissions is June 6. The FreshGrass Awards and FreshGrass Festivals are presented by the FreshGrass Foundation, which publishes No Depression.

The Americana Music Association has announced its initial lineup for AmericanaFest, coming to Nashville Sept. 17-21. Among the artists showcasing will be Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones, Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam tribute to Earl Scruggs, and Wonder Women of Country (Kelly Willis, Melissa Carper, and Brennen Leigh). Eventually, more than 200 artists will be in the official lineup. See the whole lineup (so far) and learn more about AmericanaFest here.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Shelby Lynne – “But I Ain’t”
Mipso – “Green Jesus”
Rachel Baiman and Caroline Spence – “Throw Away the Moon”
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – “Heartless,” from their new album, South of Here, coming in June
Jake Xerxes Fussell – “Going to Georgia,” from his new album, When I’m Called, coming in July
Dawn Landes – The Liberated Woman’s Songbook
Ellorie McKnight – “Trivial” (Bandcamp only)
Emily Nenni – “Amarillo Highway,” from her new album, Drive & Cry, coming in May
Terry Allen – Lubbock (On Everything)
Bully – “Atom Bomb”
Barnstar! – “Anybody Got a Light?”