How to Tour as an Indie Artist Before Anyone Knows Your Name ft. KELS #266

KELS didn’t wait until she was “big enough” to tour. She used touring to BECOME big enough.

In this episode, we break down how she went from cleaning houses to selling out secret shows, building her own DIY touring model, playing unconventional venues like diners, barbershops, libraries, and churches, and turning real-life fan connection into serious momentum.

She shares how she picks cities, sells tickets, keeps costs low, uses fan data, promotes her music relentlessly, and built a world around her “dirty blues” sound that people actually want to be part of.

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00:00 Intro
02:23 KELS Is Blowing Up in Real Time
03:58 From Cleaning Houses to DIY Touring
05:41 How KELS Built Her Own Touring Model
10:27 Secret Shows and Weird Venues
13:13 Owning Fan Data and Selling Tickets Directly
16:08 Why Most Artists Wait Too Long to Tour
17:45 How KELS Picks Cities and Builds Demand
20:26 The Real Grind Behind Her Music Career
22:49 How Much DIY Touring Really Costs
25:16 How to Sell Tickets as an Indie Artist
30:21 Live Performance as Music Marketing
34:27 The Viral Sam Buck Video That Changed Everything
36:40 DistroKid
37:35 Building the Dirty Blues Brand
42:13 Sonic Identity vs Visual Identity
45:35 Why Great Music Alone Is Not Enough
48:56 How KELS Made “Gone” Work
55:26 Why Indie Artists Shouldn’t Give Up on Songs
57:28 Turning Followers Into Ticket Buyers
01:01:08 Why Relatability Matters for Artists
01:03:02 Rapid Fire Rampage ft. KELS