Isolation in the UK: How Politics Has Tainted the Touring Circuit

For decades, the UK’s live music scene hasn’t just been a domestic force to reckon with – it’s been an unstoppable export. We’ve seen artists go from sticky pub stages in Salford to sold-out stadiums in Seattle. But now, as political borders thicken and international tensions ramp up, the dream of breaking out across the Atlantic or even the Channel is starting to curdle. Touring has always been hard graft, but it used to feel possible. These days, it’s starting to feel more like a political obstacle course than a rite of passage. From the layers of Brexit-induced bureaucracy to the casual criminalisation of UK musicians entering the US under Trump-era policies, it’s becoming clear that if you’re a UK artist with international ambitions, your government isn’t exactly batting for you. With musicians getting hauled off planes, grilled at customs, and sometimes falsely arrested just for carrying a guitar, it’s less about where we went wrong and more about whether there’s any way out of this touring hellscape. The American (Border) Nightmare If you thought clearing US customs was already a stressful endeavour, spare a thought for the UK musicians who’ve been arrested under false pretences since Trump resumed the […]

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