joebaxter

To be fair, many bands will use automation through midi or otherwise to "play" synthesizers without actually physically playing them. Normally you'd just see them playing the raw audio as part of the backing track but i could see big money arena bands with fuck-you money doing it with real synths live.

Implying that the only musicians that tour are the ones on the Billboard 100 is a little disingenuous. There are countless "traditional instrument" bands from genres like indie/folk all the way to blackened death metal that are constantly releasing music and touring.

Also, love it or hate it, modern country music is extremely popular in parts of the US, and that's (mostly) traditional instruments as well.