In the "old days" of touring, headlining singers traveled from city to city and would use local musicians to support their shows. Eventually, singers began to bring their entire bands with them (sponsored by their record label) so that that their show would be polished. A polished show would sell more records in each city they visited. However, the acts that brought along their own musicians had the detrimental effect of putting local musicians out to pasture. Remember that those were the days of cheap oil and high-dollar record sales, so travelling was not as expensive, and record sales made the touring profitable.
I believe that most musicians and listeners would agree that the days of cheap oil and high-dollar record sales are over. So, it may be worthwhile to rethink the old touring methods and to begin rebuilding networks of local musicians who can support touring acts. There is a great number of fabulous music schools and graduates throughout Canada and the U.S., so there is a plethora of untapped literate musical talent to be exploited. There are even established networks of professional musicians in each major city and region.
If an act has professional charts, then musically literate musicians can back up an act without much difficulty. The advantage of using local musicians is that costs of travel and accommodations are greatly reduced and more of the ticket money remains in the local musicians' home community instead of going towards travel expenses of a group of touring musicians. There would need to be at least one good rehearsal before the show to get the local musicians up to speed. An act that has complex or unusual music would need to have more rehearsals per city. However, with a bit of planning, the local musicians can be forwarded the charts and audio recordings electronically so they can prepare.
Touring acts that use local musicians can cut their travel expenses greatly, make live music more affordable, and would support the communities in which they are performing. Local musicians would also need to raise their game. Using local musicians would be good for the budget, the environment, and would reduce the fatigue and stress of side musicians being on the road for weeks at a time.
