Going on tour can be exhausting. Playing almost 200 concerts per year is a true test of endurance. Even so, local San Diegan, Scott Stephens, founder of Liquid Blue, the World’s Most Traveled Band, would have it no other way.
In 1996, Stephens started a local cover band with three other members called Liquid Blue in his home state of California.
What started out as a “weekend warrior” hobby that played at local bars in San Diego, quickly grew into a lucrative business.
“At the beginning we were just having fun playing every weekend,” said Stephens. “Then as we got some traction, I started looking into different ways that cover bands could travel the world.”
With over 600 songs in their arsenal, in 1998, Liquid Blue went on their first overseas tour in Asia for two months. After getting a taste of traveling the world, Stephens and the band still craved more.
In 2000, Liquid Blue got their wish as the United Service Organizations (USO) thought Liquid Blue would be the perfect pick-me-up for its military troops stationed overseas. The band became the most popular act in the Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) cannon and was called upon to perform in 23 countries.
After the USO tour, Liquid Blue began to write their own music and they have been travelling the world since. The group has performed in more than 700 cities in more than 125 countries on six continents.
But, with all of this travelling comes an extensive carbon footprint which the band is actively fighting.
Because of their efforts to fight climate change, the band holds a 1% for the Planet certification which is given to businesses and individuals that meet their commitment to donate 1% of their annual sales or salary to environmental causes.
To become carbon neutral, Liquid Blue partnered with Carbonfund, a not-for-profit that provides carbon offsetting and greenhouse gas reduction options to individuals, businesses, and organizations.
Locally, Liquid Blue has been designated a “Green Business” by San Diego Green Business Program and they are the first and only musical act to receive this designation.
Because of their worldwide efforts to give back, Liquid Blue was recently approved by Better Business Bureau Serving the Pacific Southwest to become a BBB4Good verified business. Liquid Blue is already a BBB Accredited Business, so adding this new trustmark was a natural next step.
BBB4Good is a new community-forward program that enables trustworthy, purpose-driven businesses to become BBB4Good Verified by committing to standards of higher purpose, community engagement, authentic marketing, and social and/or environmental impact substantiation.
“We look at the BBB as somewhere where clients can go, and they can see our positive rating and feel a little more confident. It probably has given us a few shows, but more importantly, we believe in what they do,” said Stephens. “I was really excited when they came up with BBB4Good to honor businesses that go above and beyond just having great products and great customer service by trying to give back and do more than just make a profit.”
The program focuses on the belief that better businesses create a better community. A recent study showed that 84% of respondents believed that companies should demonstrate how they are following through on their corporate social responsibility initiatives, a number that has continued to rise in recent years.
“There are consumers that also want to vote with their dollars. They want to vote for companies that do the right thing,” said Stephens. “You can have great customer service and a great product and that’s wonderful. But beyond that, what are you doing? Are you doing something that benefits the greater society? And that’s what BBB4Good is all about.”
Businesses interested in BBB4Good Verification can apply at bbb.org/bbb4good.
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