I'm touring pubs across the UK to advocate for live music in its original form

Tom Collins will hit pubs across the UK and perform in sites well known for hosting music nights during a DIY tour.

As well as a way to promote his music, Collins, from North East Wales, is hoping to “advocate for original live music in a pub setting.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while” explains Tom.

“It’s all completely independent, there’s no management or label. The idea was to get myself around the UK, push my name out and meet new people while advocating for original music.

“We know how much of a struggle it is for grassroots artists. Venues are closing everywhere, Manchester, Liverpool, it’s everywhere.”

The Music Venues Trust (MVT) said financial stresses led 125 UK venues to abandon live music in 2023 with more closing in the following 12 months.

A lot of these closures have come in areas where growing a scene is more difficult, like Tom’s North East Wales hometown.

“For me personally there’s not a lot going on where I am so naturally we’re forced to venture towards Liverpool and Manchester.

It seems to be a growing thing where inflation and the Covid Pandemic has caused the rise in costs to keep these venues going. I worked with a few promoters last year and you find that struggle.

You don’t gain much in terms of financial gain [as a promoter] either. A lot has to be paid to the sound engineer, the venues themselves, the bands.”

Even booking the tour in a DIY way has led to Tom finding friends and past contacts to help.

“Some of the places, the closer ones to me like Chester I’ve played at previously so they were an easy fix really. For some of them I needed to contact people I knew in those areas” explains the 27 year old.

“The North Shields gig for example, I went to university with a guy from Newcastle and got in touch with him and got in touch with the guy at the Low Lights Tavern because he runs the busking night there.”

The North Tyneside pub has thriving music roots. It is best known as the former workplace of Sam Fender and is also the site where the star was discovered.

“I picked up a guitar when I was about 17” he adds.

“I was quite late to the party!

“Over the last eight or nine years I’ve had experience gigging and I started playing in a band too, we’ve had decent support slots. I’ve been lucky to have some of these opportunities as well as being on The Voice in 2022.

“For me it’s the songwriting element and feel people resonating with my original music and that’s the whole point of the tour really.”

All tour dates are on a free entry basis with the full list of gigs as follows:

Sunday, March 9 - Bootleggers, Kendal

Saturday, March 15 - Frankie’s, Chester

Saturday, March 22 - The Bird and Hat, Northwich

Sunday, March 23 - Hip Hop’s Bar, Stoke-On-Trent

Friday, March 28 - The Garrison, Burnley

Friday, April 4 - Blush, Liverpool

Friday, April 18 - The New Moon, Cardiff

Saturday, April 26 - The Nook, Stockport

Sunday, April 27 - Wine and Wallop, Manchester

Monday, May 5 - The Lupset, Wakefield

Saturday, May 9 - The Low Lights Tavern, North Shields

Sunday, May 10 - The Cleveland Inn, Middlesbrough