Tampa Calling

Touring is hard. With the current economy, its even tougher for independent bands to hit the road and actually make some money. Despite the financial constraints, touring is the most effective way to spread your music across the land. Sure MySpace will get you some ears, but nothing beats seeing the band live, seeing them sweat all over their instruments and meeting them after a gig. Touring is what the music business was built on and is a tradition that will never go away.

Many new bands ask me how they can go about booking a tour. Everyone is so eager to hit the road. I always tell them that it takes patience, perseverance and planning. Also, it takes money and self-sacrifice and its not for everyone. If your bass player needs to mommy and daddy (or his girlfriend) to tuck him in every night, or if your singer needs to eat sushi everyday and wash it down with Evian, chances are touring might not be the best for your band. If you get sick of a car after 2 hours of driving, don’t even THINK about touring.

Honestly, DIY touring requires cojones, determination and not minding sleeping on dirty floors and pool tables. It’s not for the weak or pampered. That comes later after you have a hit record or two and you can afford luxuries like hotel rooms, warm meals and drivers. If you have a girlfriend, things will get difficult. If you have bills, they might not get paid. If you don’t prepare, you will fail.

Don’t Tour Until…
I don’t recommend that your band tour until you have at least conquered your home town. Not that you have to sell out arenas, but you need to at least have a stable home base that you can use to spring board your next territorial conquest. Until you have a steady 50 people coming to your hometown shows, stay off the road and save your money. Also, I don’t recommend touring without a quality CD (EP is fine) and some merchandise to sell. You need those things to be able to gain traction and grow your fanbase.

Prerequisite Step: The Press Kit
Does your band have a press kit or an electronic press kit? If not, then you need to put one together first. Everyone will ask you for a press kit, if they have not heard of your band. The good thing is that your MySpace page can also serve as your press kit, but it must have all the key elements: a good promotional band picture, 3-4 of your strongest songs, a 3-4 paragraph bio that is not all fluff, at least 1 good live video, a list of past achievements and press coverage and samples of your past promotional efforts. There are many resources on the Web about how to create a press kit, so do your research. If you need help with your press kit feel free to contact me.

How to Book a Tour
Here’s my 7 step lesson plan for learning how to book a tour for your band. At the end of this exercise, you should have a Tour Plan document to keep you organized and a few dates to start your training as a Road Warrior. Best of luck!

1) Pick your route and dates: This is the most important step. Without knowing when and where you want to go, you can’t create a Tour Plan. A Tour Plan is your touring bible. It includes all your travel information, when and where you should be and what you are doing to get people there. Also, it includes a list of all your booking contact’s contact information. DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THIS.

When thinking about what dates to tour on, pick a date that is at least 4 months out. This will give you enough time to find the right place and promote the event properly.

When thinking of where to go, don’t go too far out your first time (within 300 miles is close enough) and try to stay close to towns off major highways. For example, if you are in Tampa, plot a course up I-75, I-95 or I-4 if you can. This makes travel easier and cheaper. This is just a recommendation. If you feel more adventurous and you have the budget, go whereever you want.

2) Research venues on your route: The Internet makes this relatively easy, but due to the large volume of bands trying to do the same thing, many booking agents are a little jaded. Also, when contacting them, know what date you want to play there, but try to give them an alternate date in case they are booked.

Have at least 3 venues in each town on your list. Don’t put all your eggs in one venue. Also, once you do get a venue, still bring the contact info for the other two because sometimes you can jump on last minute bills.

What if your gig gets cancelled?
This happens. A LOT. But don’t get too bent out of shape about it. You have a contract and you can always leverage that. If this happens to you, find a local music magazine or newspaper and see if you can find a venue that can accomodate you on short notice. If you travel with a PA, find a non-conventional place like a pizza place or college common to set up an impromptu show.

3) Set a budget: Step 3 is the money step. You need to come up with a budget to cover the necessities: gas, tolls, food, lodging, promotions and vehicle emergencies.

• Gas and Tolls: Using Google Maps or Mapquest, try to estimate how much gas money you will need to get to your gigs. Specially when its your first tour, don’t expect to make enough money for gas from the shows. Plan ahead.
• Food and Drinks: You need to eat and you can’t be emaciated if you are expected to rock every night. Make a “per day” expense plan and don’t go hungry. Tip: bring a charcoal grill along and stop by the grocery store every few days. Hot dogs, burgers, lunch meat and peanut butter and jelly are great road food. Also, buy plenty of water and have a first aid kit around. Don’t eat gas station food all the time. It will make you fart like crazy.
• Lodging: If you absolutely can’t sleep the band in the van, I recommend you set aside a little cash for hostels, hotels or campground fees. Cheap motels can be a quick fix for under $50, but upgrading sometimes is necessary if you are in a shitty part of town. Hotels.com usually has good last minute deals. Tip: Bring a pillow and a sleeping bag. Sometimes, venues will let you crash on the pool tables or in the backstage area (if they have one). Also, new fans might open up their home to you. Don’t be a jerk and save your money. Plus, you will have some great tour stories.
• Promotions: Plan on making at least 5 posters for each gig, a few hundreds flyer handbills and sending CDs to local radio stations and promoters. All this costs money to make an send. Also, look into MySpace or Facebook online advertising to help create awareness for your band in those towns. They can do some cool things with social networking sites and it doesn’t cost too much.
• Emergencies: Things happen on the road: your van breaks down, the trailer hitch breaks, Timmy broke his arm while skateboarding… Have some cash in case of emergencies, or at least have a credit card readily accessible.

4) Contact venues: Now the hard work begins. After you have your target list of venues, contact them to find out what their booking process is. Many clubs have part-time booking agents with bizarre hours. Others only like email contact. This is where your networking skills and patience need to kick in. Create a spreadsheet or list of each venue, booking contact info and preferred follow up method. Play by their rules, and you should be OK. Don’t be too pushy or overly annoying, but don’t be afraid to follow up. Also, don’t pick venues that only showcase national touring acts, because they will not book an unknown band. Start small and build your fanbase and then work your way up.

5) Contracts: After you have agreed on a date and on terms with the booking agent, send them a one-page contract so that everything is in writing. The contract can be simple and should include: date of performance, booking agent who booked the show’s name and contact info, location of the venue at the time of booking (just in case), other bands on the bill, ticket costs and payment structure (if any), load-in and set time details, and sound information and contact info for sound man. If they need it faxed back and forth, Fedex Kinko’s has a fax you can use. Tell them that this is just a formality to protect all parties involved. They should appreciate this and they will think you are very professional for doing so. It’s a business. Remember that.

6) Promotions: This is what booking agents need to hear: “Also, we have a promotions budget, so we plan on…”. Spell out everything you are going to do and do it in a timely manner. Remember, start promoting the show at least 6 weeks out and really work your online community. Without this step, even if you don’t pull any people, booking agents will usually not book you again. Trust me. This is very important. Also, don’t be shy about contacting magazines, publications and college radio stations. These can all be key allies and help you get people out. In addition, network with people in your target towns through MySpace. Invite them to come out and ask them to bring friends.

7) Follow up: A week before the gig, I recommend that you follow up with the booking agent to make sure everything is still good. Confirm load-in, set times and the bands on the bill. A week or so after the gig — assuming you didn’t act like a jackbag and piss off the staff — contact the booking agent again and try to schedule a follow up gig.

How often should you tour?
Good question. As often as you can. But, as you grow your “touring circuit”, try to hit them up every 2-3 months. This will allow you time to properly follow up and promote the follow up gigs.

Enjoy. Share. You gotta go to know.
Ivan

About Ivan
Ivan has an Advertising degree from UF, 9+ years in corporate and consumer marketing, 10+ years in design and promotions. When he is not dressing up like a clown for children’s birthdays, Ivan runs his own independent record label and boutique “advermarketing” agency, Mohawk Bomb Records. Join Ivan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mohawkbomb

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