Coffee House Sessions Launches Alternative University Touring Circuit

Coffee House Sessions is a new touring circuit launching this month in the UK. Created by Coalition Talent's Guy Robinson, Coffee House Sessions supports a 10 day mini-tour for each artist with two acoustic shows a day. 40 UK universities are being booked. Apparently this idea is, in part, a response to dwindling student union shows due to decreased drink purchases but it's a great concept regardless.

Doing shows at college coffee houses and similar establishments certainly isn't a new idea. But creating an ongoing series like Coffee House Sessions takes what may seem mundane or only for beginners and turns it into a special event that becomes a promotional opportunity for the artists involved.

Introducing Coffee House Sessions

Coalition Talent agency head Guy Robinson announced Coffee House Sessions as early as July and tied it to shifts in college student drinking habits that led to a "waning of the UK student union touring circuit":

"The initiative is aiming to make up for the loss of an evening drinking culture in student unions, which has been hit hard as cash-strapped youngsters ‘pre-load’ with cheap booze at home before heading out for a night on the town."

Robinson says his response to the lessening number of opportunities on college campuses was sparked by a random conversation:

“There's less money being spent in bars so Universities simply cannot afford to support new music. But I had a fascinating conversation with one of the entertainment managers 12 months ago who said: ‘I’ve got this weird anomaly on campus, I cannot sell vodka for £1, but I can sell Starbucks coffee for £3.60 a cup, yet you charge them 20p for a mixer, and they don’t like it. So that's when my brain started ticking and Coffee House Sessions was born.”

Coffee House Sessions officially launched this week featuring a line-up "curated by BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens" and supported by "promotion through student newspapers, radio and TV at each university."

For artists and dates, see Upcoming Sessions.

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Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.