Another advantage to house shows, says Bazan, is the ability to reach smaller markets.

"When you're playing club shows, there are 80 to 100 viable markets to play in the U.S.," he explains. "With house shows, that number jumps to 500 to 1,000. You can play as many towns as there are 50,000 people that live in the vicinity. That's the thing that really makes it work, especially for someone like me who's trying to tour a lot. In 2012, I did 18 weeks of house shows — that's like 100 or so in every nook and cranny of the United States."

"It's incredible that I can play Medford, Oregon — towns where it wouldn't justify rolling up and getting a hotel, where the overhead may not meet the income from a show," seconds John Vanderslice, a veteran San Francisco indie-rocker who just completed his first Undertow-booked living-room tour. "In general, you're going to make more money. The economics of me taking out my 2003 Corolla versus a 15-passenger van; getting multiple hotel rooms; paying a tour manager. Also the unforeseen costs of keeping up gear — the preparation for those tours — it's just so much bulkier in every way. I'm a week away from leaving on a six-week club tour. It's so expensive to get out that I might as well stay out. With living-room tours, you can do fly-ins and piece them up however you want. It's so flexible.

"There are things that I love about playing clubs," he adds. "There's something about standing in front of a killer drummer with a very loud guitar amplifier. But playing living rooms is pretty incredible, man. It can kind of renew your faith in music-making, and playing in clubs can kind of do the opposite."