We regularly receive questions about why we tour where we tour, and why not here? Whether it is Detroit or Dublin, the answer is pretty much the same:

• Any confirmed touring plans will always be posted to this website and via Twitter (so following is always a good idea.
• We are always actively trying to find ways to tour as many places as possible. We enjoy touring, we love to travel to new places, and we want to play to you.

The Challenges

The Band Thing

However, many countries/regions/cities are simply not always financially viable to reach. This is a complex balance of issues. First of all, there the whole ‘band’ issue. Which gigs do we bring the whole show vs. going solo? JC will happily rock the house for fifty devotees. But to bring the entire band and all the requisite gear requires not only at least 200 tickets, but obviously a larger venue.

The Popularity Thing

Shocking but true, not everyone thinks this is the greatest act in the history of live entertainment. Overall popularity is an important factor too. Solo or band, we can’t charge you 250 each for a ticket! (this ain’t Cirque Du Soleil, pal.)

And it’s not always about money! Even more frustratingly, sometimes a show in your town might make perfect sense financially, only for us to discover that there is no venue (of a sensible capacity) available on the days we can get there. Grrr…

The Grasping Hand Thing

When you look at the booking schedule you’ll immediately see a precipitous drop over the past few years with gaps of many months between shows. The state of JC’s health has been discussed to death many times. Unfortunately, it looks as though his arthritis and hands are an ongoing issue which makes hard touring difficult at times.

The Grasping Club Owner Thing

This is such a drag, we hate to bring it up, but lately, we’ve noticed that a lot of places we’d like to play have started charging up to 33% for concessions. In other words, they want 1/3rd of all the JCHMusic swag: CDs. T-shirts. The lot. Now all venues (quite reasonably) charge artists no-small-amount to hire the place, provide security for the show, and cover venue staff and running costs. And they get all the revenue from liquid refreshments from thirsty patrons we brought in the door. But to then ask for more? Yeah, it’s a recession, but fer cryin’ out loud! In short, we won’t book gigs at such establishments.

So in a nutshell, it’s complicated!

This doesn’t mean we’ll stop trying to find other ways of coming to you, because we want to—but many of the routes we do try often fall apart under scrutiny. Please remember, that we’re not intentionally not touring. It’s certainly not ‘personal’; it’s simply a matter of timing, economics and geography. Just as there are many fans who cannot find the resources to travel to see JCHMusic, in the same way, We can’t always find the resources to come see you.

What You Can Do!

There are always several solutions to a problem, and we will continue to try to make a gig happen somewhere close to you. If you really want to help?

• Make yourself available to host a House Concert. This is absolutely the greatest thing you could ever do for JCHMusic, besides buying a CD, a coffee cup or giving us power of attorney over your 401k.
• If you’d like a show in your area let us know! It’s amazing how many people buy CDs and then never let us know they’d appreciate a visit. When we plan shows we do so based on where we think we can draw. You may live out in Billings, Montana and think ‘no way’ but it often turns out that many small towns can make this happen. For example, if you’re near a college/university (as is Billings) we can often book something for them college kids. If so, we may ask you to do a bit of ‘advance’ work for us—something as simple as find out who to talk to at Campus Events.

That’s All Very Well, But I Just Saw A Completely Unknown Band Play In My Town Last Night, But JC Harris Can’t Make It Work?

Maybe their costs are lower (if it’s a venue where we’d bring the band, we do need a lot of technology to do the show) and maybe they have a record company covering their losses. (We’ve been there too, but the record labels only spend money for a couple of years and, ultimately, you gotta give it back!). And maybe the bass-player’s dad’s a billionaire. Or (more likely), maybe they’ll be broke and have split up in a year’s time. JC’s in this for the long run—and that means never playing gigs that lose money!

It’s Not All Doom And Gloom

There are always tours, gigs, and festivals that we are working on every week that you never hear about, because we don’t want to announce plans that may fall through. This is why we only post fully confirmed dates on our website. We would love to come and see all of you – and we’re working on it.

We hope this helps you to understand our situation and we promise we’ll see you soon… Really!