The tour that isn't

Wilcox practices a life worth singing about | Warren Cole Smith

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David Wilcox has a new album, Airstream, and more than 50 gigs on his calendar in 2008. But he insists he is not on tour.

"A tour is all about supporting a band," he said. "What I'm doing is traveling around and playing for people."

That sort of self-effacing non-answer is what fans expect from this singer-songwriter with a 20-year career. Out of the Asheville, N.C., music scene Wilcox built a regional following in the late 1980s. He threatened to become the "next big thing" when he signed with A&M Records in 1989, but the major labels wanted million-sellers and Wilcox produced critically acclaimed and steady selling albums—but no hits. After three discs, the label dropped him.