Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel Feldman.
Hi Ariel, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hey! My name is Ariel! I’m a 22-year-old South Florida native and I have the amazing opportunity to tour the U.S with HeadCount!
Let’s take it back to 2018 shall we?
A fresh high school graduate, we find 18-year-old Ariel at a March For Our Lives event where Mr. Tom Bergan was standing behind a table with a tablecloth that read “HeadCount” and “Register to Vote!”. I walked up and fell into a conversation with Tom, finding out that HeadCount had sent him on tour with March For Our Lives for the summer and that I could volunteer at any one of the numerous events and concerts that were partnered with HeadCount; to register voters and provide voting information!
I promptly signed up to volunteer at my first show that was taking place a week later: Panic! At The Disco. There, I met the wonderful Meredith LeVan, who HeadCount had also sent on tour. In that moment, I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I went home and found the contact info of Tappan Vickery, HeadCount’s Senior Director of Programming & Strategy, and sent her a VERY long email, trying to convince her that I, a total stranger, would be a good fit to head out on the road immediately as a representative for an organization that I had only volunteered for once. Thankfully, she did not send me out on the road.
Instead, I applied and was chosen for the position of a Field Organizer. And for the next three years, I went to shows, performances, and organized events out in the community to register voters, lead and train teams of volunteers, and give voter info, all the while sending Tappan another email every few months reminding her that I still REALLY wanted to go on tour.
Jump to: May of 2021, I received an email from Whitt Bell, HeadCount’s Director of Partnerships & Events asking me to do just that. So on August 15th, 2021, my mom gave me a big hug, dropped me off at the airport, and I embarked on my very first tour with HeadCount: Dead & Company. I got to spend 3 months with some of the most wonderful and incredible people I have ever met: Lindi Smith, Whitt Bell, Sophie Webb, Rachel Parks, Max Mead, Kristina Raines, and none other than the fantastic Mr. Tom Bergan himself. Getting to meet him again and tell him that – he wouldn’t remember, but – I had met him for less than 10 minutes, 3 years ago, and he is the reason that I was there on tour with him, was, and continues to be one of my favorite touring memories. (And now we’re pals!)
I got to spend the summer of 2022 out on the road again with HeadCount and Dead & Company with familiar and new wonderful faces, Lindi, Mike Rutz, and Louise Pierce!
And on September 8th, 2022, I got to have a fantastic full-circle moment. I hit the road for a tour with the band that introduced me to the possibility of touring with HeadCount, Panic! At The Disco. That tour houses some of my fondest memories and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Touring is definitely not a smooth road. On tour, you essentially spend all day on your feet, average out 10+ miles of walking, deal with people who are not always excited to have you there. And then you get to go home for the night, snuggle up and get comfy in your house on wheels: a minivan. Or a sprinter van, or, if you’re living in luxury, a tour bus. Which is a long hallway with 12 coffin-like beds that have low-hanging DVD players (that you WILL hit your head on ever morning no matter how hard you try), some couches, a toilet for liquid waste ONLY. And up to 13 strangers that (hopefully) eventually become your family.
Touring during Covid has definitely been a wild ride. Tests every day, dry bloody noses, positive results, isolation, cancelled shows, disappointed fans, it definitely is a struggle.
Touring also takes a toll on your mental health. Being away from your home, friends, and family, and any sort of stability for months at a time is hard. That’s why I’m so glad that organizations like Backline exist. Their primary goal is to connect touring professionals with the mental health & wellness resources that we all need.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a Tour Coordinator for HeadCount, a nonprofit organization that partners with bands, tours, festivals, and major sporting events all over the country to host nonpartisan voter registration drives and provide voter information! My daily routine consists of searching for catering to find some breakfast, meeting my local venue contact, getting a walkthrough of the building, setting up my area with some tables, banners, road cases, etc., training a team of up to 8 local volunteers in the ways of voter registration and how to interact with fans to give voter info. Then doors open and we talk to thousands of people about voter registration for a few hours and then go enjoy the show!
I’m most proud of the fact that I get to travel all over the country and do something good for it while I’m on the road! Who else gets to do that?! On Midterm Election Day 2022, I received a text from a friend telling me how proud they were of me and that they hoped I was proud of myself. Because countless people were able to vote as a direct result of the work that I’ve been doing. It really struck me hard because I had never thought about it like that.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along the way is Compromise. You meet ~100 strangers on day 1 that you’re going to be traveling and living with for the next few months and sometimes that requires being a little uncomfortable so that the peace is kept. On the other hand, another important lesson I’ve learned is when and how to stand up for myself and be vocal about the things I want and/or need. As a young woman in the live music industry, I am very often in a space dominated by men who have been on the job for longer than I’ve been alive. And as women, we are taught to shrink ourselves to fit into a space that was not made for us, when sometimes, what needs to happen is the demolishment of the space itself to create an area for everyone. I have met so many strong and inspiring Women in Music that are doing absolutely incredible things for the industry and I can only hope to be a small part of that someday.
Contact Info:
- Website: Headcount.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headcountorg/ my personal: https://www.instagram.com/fieldmanworker/
Image Credits
Tim Bramlette
Ariel Feldman
