Indie concert venues launch new collaboration, D Tour

A network of independently owned music venues and promotion companies is banding together to put on concert tours across the country.

• Called D Tour, the network arrives on the heels of two brutal years for independent concert venues.

Why it matters: At a time when corporate giants Live Nation and AEG are gobbling up market shares and entering into partnerships with venues of all sizes, D Tour marks the first unified effort among independents to book multi-show deals across the country.

Be smart: It's the concert equivalent of mom-and-pop retail shops strategizing to compete with big box stores.

Details: D Tour launches today with 12 independent venues and clubs. The coalition hopes to expand to all 50 states. Nashville rock club Exit/In, owned by Chris Cobb and Telisha Cobb, is among the founding partners.

• Its first tour will be headlined by singer and multi-instrumentalist Elise Trouw.

What they're saying: "Independents from across the country, just like us, have continually worked for decades to build our local businesses within our communities," Jessie Hartke of Hartke Presents/Wave said in a press release. "These are the businesses and communities we are organizing to protect."