Today, Jim James has announced his upcoming “The Future Is Voting Tour,” presented by voter registration non-profit HeadCount. “The Future Is Voting Tour” will include six nonpartisan multi-artist shows in college towns in electoral “swing districts” in an effort to promote voter participation in the important electoral areas. According to the tour announcement press release, James’ “The Future is Voting Tour” is part concert, part town-hall meeting. The meeting segment of the tour will include a non-partisan forum where candidates and their representatives will be invited to speak directly to students and take their toughest questions.
As HeadCount executive director Andy Bernstein notes, “With competitive Congressional elections often decided by around 1,000 votes, imagine what it means to get an entire campus amped about the Midterm Elections.”
Set to begin with a celebratory late-night open-to-the-public event at Emo’s in Austin, Texas, on October 7th, the tour will feature Benjamin Booker and Made of Oak (Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso) as well as many others yet to be announced. Information on tickets for the Emo’s event will be made available soon. All the other dates will be free for students, and some performances will be streamed on YouTube.
As James notes in a press release,
The importance of getting involved at this moment in time cannot be overstated. This isn’t only a Get Out The Vote concert. This is a learning moment aimed at college students to motivate them to vote, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum. Each stop on the tour purposefully takes place in a contested electoral district or state for this important midterm election, where students and young voters have the ability to dramatically affect the outcome of this tremendous moment in history. Please join special surprise guests and myself at these events with the goal of truly inspiring thought, discourse, and participation.
In addition to all of the artists donating their time, HeadCount has also created an IndieGoGo crowdfunding page where fans can make donations and receive special experiences and commemorative items from the tour.
Check out a full list of dates on Jim James’ “The Future Is Voting Tour” below. To learn more about HeadCount and how you can get involved in their efforts, head to their website. For a full list of Jim James’ upcoming tour dates, check here.
