One Night Live, a first-of-its-kind collaborative project featuring rising artists Ellie Williams, Sofia Lafuente, and Farayi Malek, kicks off a 3-week tour on May 16 with more dates to be added. The tour is a partnership with locally owned independent venues that serve as the heartbeat of their communities across the East Coast, South, and Midwest, nurturing emerging talent and providing them with opportunities to hone their craft. The One Night Live artists will perform alongside local and regional artists selected by each venue. Tickets for the tour are on sale now. Each musician will perform their own set every night, and, in an effort to create a more efficient touring model, each will serve as the backing musicians while the other takes center stage. One Night Live is a touring initiative produced with a fresh approach, as a collaboration between three like-minded organizations working to improve the music ecosystem. Live Music Society supports a large and growing network of small performance venues across the U.S. through multiple grant programs - over $4 million issued with 210 grants to 180 venues since 2020; D-TOUR is a network of independent venues and promoters focused on working with emerging artists and small independent venues to route tours, offering indie artists locally owned, unique venue experiences across multiple markets; and Salt Lick Incubator supports independent artists in building sustainable careers. Salt Lick Incubator has been working closely with the artists featured on the tour via writing camps, collaborations, gig opportunities, and branding/marketing support to help set them up for success. The tour illustrates what can be possible in the midst of challenges that artists and venues face: the economics of touring are more prohibitive than ever, there is less support for rising artists to build their careers and tour, and locally-owned small independent venues, which are important creative community hubs and crucial launchpads for artists, operate on razor thin margins. Together Live Music Society, D-TOUR, and Salt Lick Incubator have envisioned a new model that enables rising young artists to break into new markets and build their fanbase - tapping into local scenes and meeting local bands - as well as introducing venues to new talent. It shines a spotlight on the importance of incubators, working with talented artists that need assistance and making tours a more viable option. It also highlights the importance of independent, locally-owned venues to the artist development ecosystem. The collaboration represents three organizations that care about the same things yet have different skill sets and resources. Live Music Society is providing financial support for the tour, and nearly half of the venues have received funding through Live Music Society’s grant program. D-TOUR worked with its affiliate venue members to book the tour, organize the routing, identify local support acts and market the shows. Salt Lick Incubator is providing financial support, marketing and tour logistics in addition to their incubation work with the three artists. Live Music Society, while working closely with a large network of small performances venues over the past five years, has heard from several venues requesting funds through grant applications to enable them to present emerging artists, a goal that can be financially challenging. One Night Live matches this desire to take a risk in programming, to take a chance on exciting new talent, with external funding that can help to keep their doors open. Presented by DTour, Live Music Society, Salt Lick Incubator This is an all ages event