There’s no better way to learn about the perils of touring musicians than to hear all about it from touring musicians, and Vampires Weekend’s Chris Baio and Chris Tomson have you covered. “The Road Taken,” a new side-project from VW’s Chrises, focuses on “the highs and lows of touring,” enlisting help from the likes of Michelle Branch, Laura Marling, The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, The Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr., Can’s Malcolm Mooney, and Mobb Deep’s Havoc.
“When [Chris Tomson] told me he had an idea for a podcast about touring, I thought to myself, ‘But wait! Touring is boring!’” Baio shared with Billboard this morning. “Little did I know what I was in for: discussions across decades and genres about how touring is both art and commerce, how it changes the music artists make, and how it can be punishing sometimes and rewarding at others.”
“I realized that a lot of what I had read and imagined [about touring] was true…and a lot of it was wildly inaccurate!” Tomson added. “This podcast, then, is kind of a Trojan Horse for me; it has allowed me to have the conversations about touring that I’ve always wanted to have—and to hear!—with so many people I respect and look up to.”
The show debuts October 3 on The Ringer Podcast Network, and its initial run will span ten episodes. You can preview it here.
