While headlining the Hay Days festival in Hay River, Northwest Territories in June 2013, Cardiff told "The Hub" newspaper that after touring in major centres in the United States and Canada, he now prefers going "off the beaten track" to perform. His friendships with local people keeps Cardiff coming back to "alternate" locations that are more difficult to reach, he explains. "Does it make sense financially? Not always. But it's about the connections you form with different people, the friends of friends who help you out." For Cardiff, no crowd is too small and no venue too obscure. "When music happens in places where people don't expect it to, it's more interesting and makes it more important," he says.