Gig-Based Live Music Workers Have ‘No Safety Net.’ This Organization Is Helping to Provide One

For decades, the live music business has relied on a workforce built on gig labor — workers subject to long stretches away from home without the support found in traditional industries. That’s exactly the gap ECCHO Live — formerly known as Touring Career Workshop — is trying to close. And one of the people helping shape that shift is Chuck Hull, the retired tour manager whose 50-year career spans performers from Elvis Presley to Keith Urban.

Hull, who joined the organization’s expanded advisory board after retiring in 2023, says ECCHO Live is addressing a fundamental truth about the touring economy: “We’re essentially an industry with no real HR department, no safety net, and no guaranteed path for sustainability.”

Last month, ECCHO Live held its largest workshop to date, attracting nearly 500 live event professionals to the Soundcheck Annex in Nashville, including keynote speaker Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association. Hull says the large attendance and interest are indicative of an industry in need of support.

ECCHO Live began more than a decade ago as a modest career workshop led by lighting designer and production manager Chris Lyle, who wanted to help newcomers navigate the opaque, freelance-heavy touring world. The early focus was basic but essential, providing guidance in finding work, building a résumé, and handling the financial and personal challenges of life on the road.

One of ECCHO Live’s most influential initiatives is All Access, a first-of-its-kind mental-health program for touring professionals. The program provides four free counseling sessions to anyone working in live entertainment — an initiative that was recently expanded to include spouses. The expansion, Hull says, was an overdue acknowledgment of how touring affects entire families.

“When you’re gone for weeks or months, that stress isn’t just yours — it hits your partner, your kids, your home life,” he explains. “Extending support to spouses was a no-brainer.”

During the pandemic, ECCHO Live saw a surge in demand for mental-wellness support, and those requests didn’t disappear once touring returned. To meet the growing need, the organization launched All Access On-Site, a roaming mental-health tent that appears backstage at major festivals. Crew members can discreetly sign up for same-day sessions with licensed counselors — a resource that was booked solid at many events.

“Festivals started calling us asking if they could get the activation,” Hull says. “That tells you everything about how needed this is.”

ECCHO Live also provides programming that addresses other weak points in touring employment and helps with financial guidance, including retirement planning for workers who rarely have access to 401(k)s. There are also career development workshops for entry-level and mid-career workers and department-specific training for roles in production, audio, lighting, video and crew management.

Hull describes these programs as “the kinds of resources every corporate employee takes for granted — but that simply don’t exist in live entertainment unless we create them ourselves.”

ECCHO Live’s mission is supported by funding from a broad coalition of industry organizations, including the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music Awards, record labels, promoters, vendors and other stakeholders who rely on the touring labor pipeline.

Hull’s involvement with ECCHO Live comes after one of the longest continuous careers in modern touring. But while his résumé includes Elvis, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and a 20-year run managing Keith Urban, he says ECCHO Live isn’t about legacy — it’s about ensuring that the next generation of touring personnel have the resources he never had.

“I spent 50 years without a 401(k), without a health plan, without a safety net,” Hull says. “You survived by hustling. That shouldn’t be the only model we offer the people who keep this business running.”

From his advisory role, he sees ECCHO Live as a responsibility — and an overdue shift in an industry that historically expected workers to tough it out. “The old-school roadie mentality was ‘Bury it, don’t talk about it,’” he says. “But times have changed. People are finally willing to say when they need help. ECCHO Live is creating the space for that.”

With a growing slate of sponsorships and a board that spans touring, vendor ops, production, festivals and corporate live events, ECCHO Live is positioning itself as the first true support network for the touring workforce.

“We’re building structure where there was none,” Hull said. “We’re supporting the people the entire live-entertainment economy is built on. And we’re finally acknowledging that taking care of crews isn’t a luxury — it’s essential.”