Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
September 30, 1998
The women have Lilith Fair. And if singer-songwriter Steve Poltz gets his way, the men will have Frasier Fair.
While the tour name hasn’t been finalized yet, the tour will kick off Oct. 13 on the West Coast. The rotating lineup will include male singer-songwriters such as Poltz, Rufus Wainwright, Vic Chesnutt, Pete Droge, John Doe of X and Glen Phillips of the defunct Toad the Wet Sprocket.
“I got the idea for the tour when I was out on the road this summer with Lisa Loeb and Rufus Wainwright,” said Poltz, who founded the tour.
“I thought Lilith Fair was such a good idea. I was half joking when I told Rufus, `I want to do my own male take on it.’ Rufus looked at me and said, `Oh, so you mean Frasier Fair’ (referring to the `Cheers’ characters Lilith and Frasier Crane). I thought that was brilliant.”
Gary Bongiovanni of Pollstar, the trade publication that tracks concerts nationwide, said the tour sounds promising.
“It’s a very interesting project,” Bongiovanni said. “These are all really talented artists who, at this point in their careers, couldn’t play (1,000-seat) facilities by themselves. But there is a definite market for these acts who focus on songwriting and are really strong solo performers. This is a great vehicle for acts to play nicer facilities than a smoky club or bar.”
Much as Lilith Fair was formed to tout female artists, Poltz’s tour was organized to showcase male singer-songwriters who don’t necessarily get a lot of commercial attention.
But Poltz doesn’t plan to exclude women or any genre of music from the tour.
“This (fall tour) is just the beginning,” Poltz said. “I want to do this every fall and spring. And I would love to get Rickie Lee Jones to play with us, because she is the reigning queen of all the things in the world. I want to see different people come out and play solo onstage. If I could get Iggy Pop and Willie Nelson to join us, that would be so great.”
Sources say a Park West gig during the first week of November should be announced soon.
