After asking singer/songwriter Dylan Sneed how his tour was going, his answer was surprising.

“It’s… not going, actually,” he said.

The last time Sneed was in Tuscaloosa, it was one of the many stops on his Texodus tour. The tour stretched over thousands of miles of United States, and after traveling for weeks, Sneed said he had all but reached his breaking point.

“It was massive; it was stupid,” Snead said of the tour. “I was so worn out, and I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t sustainable.’”

Sneed is now back in Tuscaloosa with a different approach.

“I’m excited about this,” Sneed said of his upcoming tour, which will be just a few days. “It’s long enough to feel like you’ve done something, but not dog-tired. It’s such a good balance.”

Teaming up with local artist Jill Chambless, the two are set to perform tonight at Acoustic Night at the Bama Theatre. The two artists have played together in a previous Acoustic Night, and Sneed said he looked forward to playing with Chambless, who has become a “buddy” in the music business.

Both artists, familiar to the Bama Theatre stage, will play at 7:30 p.m. in the theatre’s Greensboro Room. Doors will open at 7, with a $5 cover charge and drink specials.

“I really like the fact that Tuscaloosa has a venue like that, for guys like me who won’t sell 800 tickets, but will have a good show of 50 people,” Sneed said. “A venue like that is what’s missing in a lot of towns and cities.”

And seeing a venue like the Bama Theatre provides inspiration for the possibilities of his current home, Hartsville, S.C.

“Tours give me the chance to see what other towns are doing,” Sneed said.

It’s the cultivation of a music culture in his current town of Hartsville that Sneed said has kept him off the roads as well.

“I’ve become more involved in the Hartsville music scene,” he said. “And there’s only so much I can do if I’m not here.”

For his current project, rather than being a second album or what some would call “climbing up the music industry ladder,” Sneed is refocusing on the town around him. By doing research on how small towns form their own art scene, implementing new ideas and keeping his options open, Sneed is forming his “own way” to be a musician.

“I feel like as an independent musician, you’re told ‘This is how you do it.’ I just feel like where I’m at lately, I’m trying to listen to my heart, instead of forcing the issue,” Sneed said. “Some things I have control over, some things I don’t. I’m just trying to take care of business and whatever comes my way.”

One of Sneed’s main art forms are house concerts, which allow artists to perform in a unique venue for a smaller audience than those in bars or theaters.

“It’s an unprecedented level of intimacy,” Sneed said. “It’s an experience, an evening. It’s the best way to hear a singer/songwriter live, and it allows the audience to be in a comfortable environment.”

Sneed pointed out that when people go to bars, they usually aren’t going solely for the music. “People don’t go and sit in rapt attention and listen to music at a bar,” he said. “People go to meet other people, drink, get rowdy. A house concert is for those people who devour their music. I’ll have a crowd who wants to be there; they want to listen.”

Yet, as Sneed hits the touring circuit again, he takes it on with an open mind as another uncharted adventure.

“It’s always good to get out on the road again,” he said. “Sometimes I want to make sure I can still do it.”