Sharing the sobering reality that many artists are facing right now.
There’s been a plethora of worrying trends in the music industry at large over the past few years. Whether it’s the rise of AI, streaming services still failing to compensate artists a proportionate amount or the rise in touring costs worldwide, there’s been plenty of issues affecting your favorite artists. Recently, however, ticket sales — or the lack of ticket sales — have quickly become a vocal point for artists of nearly every size, which has now been coined “blue dot fever.”
Of course, there’s a lot of discussion over the reason behind these cancellations. Is it the economy, high ticket prices, or oversaturation of the market that’s resulting in low ticket sales? A combination of all of the above? Or is it something else entirely?
It seems as if this is an issue plaguing nearly any and all artists this year in particular. Famously, Post Malone recently canceled the first month of his upcoming Big Ass Stadium Tour, attributing it to needing to spend time finishing his upcoming album – although as many pointed out, there were a lot of blue dots for some of those shows.
It’s not just country music that’s seeing tours getting canceled. Over in the pop world, both Meghan Trainor and the Pussycat Dolls both scrapped their tours amid low ticket sales, with the latter admitting that the tour didn’t sell as they expected. Throw in the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, who also admitted that the tour was cancelled due to low sales, Neil Young and more, it’s a growing issue that’s not affecting just one type of artist, genre or country.
While artists like Post, Trainor and the Pussycat Dolls don’t truly need the money due to major label backing, brand deals and the like, there are plenty of small and/or independent artists who need touring to make a living who are also experiencing a severe lack of ticket sales in 2026.
In particular, a fan favorite in the independent country world, Joshua Ray Walker, took to Instagram to show the absolutely abysmal state of ticket sales at the moment — even for talented artists such as himself who have sold out the same venues in the past. In an incredibly candid, honest and insightful video shot alongside his mother, Walker would detail just how uncharacteristically low ticket sales have gotten for the upcoming leg of his Ain’t Dead Yet Tour over the next few weeks.
Prefacing the video, the “Canyon” singer would give some insight into the average outlook for his past shows. He’d note that a less-sold show would typically hover in the 30% range a week out. On the flip side, a successful, well-sold show would range from 60-100%.
“For context, typically when I would go do a headline tour, a week out from the tour starting in a room that’s not doing well, I’d have maybe 30% of the tickets sold. In a room that’s doing well, I’d have somewhere between 60-100% of the tickets sold.”
From here, he’d dive into the numbers for upcoming shows in Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, St. Paul, Appleton, New York and more, and the numbers are quite frankly brutal for an artist of Walker’s caliber. Despite selling out multiple of these venues in the past, the Texas native is facing ticket sales in the 55-135 range for capacities of 250-470.
Taking a look at the data table he showed in the video, his best-selling concert during this stretch is 47% filled (New York on 6/3), and his worst is only 18% (St. Louis on 5/27).
The real eye-opener of Walker’s video, however, is the weekly ticket count for these shows. During the week it was filmed, which was presumably last week, he was barely managing to crack double-digit ticket sales for 10 shows presented. The best was 17; however, he also had multiple shows in St. Louis and Chicago sell exactly zero.
Walker’s mother would add a poignant final message, noting that live music will cease to exist at the rate we’re currently going:
“If any of y’all like live music, make sure you can get to these shows. Live music will be gone. A whole thing will be gone if it doesn’t turn around.”
A plethora of other standouts in the independent scene, such as Drayton Farley, Jesse Daniel and Benjamin Tod would also take to Walker’s comment section to share their insights and similar struggles lately.
“You’re not alone brother, I’ve talked to a lot of other artists this past month to talk about this and make sure I wasn’t losing my mind. Let’s keep rolling, we’re all still crushing this and we’re all gonna keep crushing this!” – Drayton Farley
“We are all feeling it brother. It hurts our wallets and pride all the same, but know that most artist are having the same experience.” – Benjamin Tod
While I don’t have the answers to most of these problems, I do have a solution for fans who enjoy music from Walker and other similar artists: go to shows, buy the merch, buy the tickets, and support live music.
Joshua Ray Walker Tour Dates
May 27 – Off Broadway – St. Louis, MO
May 28 – Schubas – Chicago, IL
May 29 – Turf Club – St. Paul, MN
May 30 – Appleton Beer Factory – Appleton, WI
Jun 3 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
Jun 4 – Iron Horse Music Hall – Northampton, MA
Jun 5 – Middle East Upstairs – Boston, MA
Jun 6 – Milkboy – Philadelphia, PA
Jun 7 – Pearl Street Warehouse – Washington DC
Jul 3 – Byscenen – Trondheim, NO
Jul 5 – Blårock Cafe – Tromso, NO
Jul 8 – Wiese – Lillehammer – NO
Jul 10 – Norsk Country-Treff – Breim, NO
Jul 12 – Ole Bull Scene – Bergen, NO
Jul 14 – Tou Scene – Stavanger, NO
Jul 17 – John Dee – Oslo, NO
Jul 18 – Pustervik – Gothenburg, SE
Jul 21 – Debaser – Stockholm, SE
Jul 22 – Garage Bar – Hoganas, SE
Jul 24 – Mojo – Copenhagen, DK
Jul 26 – Freideck Kantine – Cologne, DE
Jul 28 – The Lower Third – London, ENG
Jul 29 – The Deaf Institute – Manchester, ENG
Jul 30 – The Hug and Pint – Glasgow, SCO
Aug 1 – Whelan’s – Dublin, IE
Sept 9 – Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
Sept 10 – The Rialto Casper – Casper, WY
Sept 11 – Live From the Divide – Livingston, MT
Sept 12 – Live From the Divide – Livingston, MT
Sept 13 – Pub Station Taproom – Billings, MT
Sept 15 – The State Room – Salt Lake City, UT
Sept 16 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
Sept 17 – The District – Spokane, WA
Sept 18 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
Sept 19 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
Sept 22 – Folsom Saloon, Folsom, CA
Sept 24 – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
Sept 25 – The Rebel Lounge – Phoenix, AZ
Sept 26 – Meow Wolf – Santa Fe, NM
Oct 8 – Chickie Wah Wah – New Orleans, LA
Oct 9 – Standard Deluxe – Waverly, AL
Oct 10 – Vinyl – Atlanta, GA
Oct 11 – Charleston Pour House – Charleston, SC
Oct 13 – Radio Room – Greenville, SC
Oct 14 – The Pour House – Raleigh, NC
Oct 15 – The Ramkat – Winston-Salem, NC
Oct 16 – The Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC
Oct 17 – Open Chord – Knoxville, TN
Oct 18 – Songbirds – Chattanooga, TN
Oct 22 – Skinny Dennis – Nashville, TN
Oct 24 – Hernando’s Hideaway – Memphis, TN
Oct 25 – White Water Tavern – Little Rock, AR
