Taking the band on the road

The band I'm in, we started earlier this year.. things are moving along nicely. Here in the Houston area there are many many places to play. I'm sure we could spend the rest of our lives just playing local gigs in town if we wanted.

But I love road trips, always have... and someday, perhaps in the next year or two, I'd like to venture out and have the band play all around Texas and the neighboring states.

How does a new band approach road trips? Did you have a manager book everything? I imagine its all about keeping expenses low.. how do you find places to stay, play, the contacts needed in each city.. the cheap hotels that are actually safe.. where do you store your gear at night.. all that and more.

Just curious to hear from people in bands that actually take their show on the road. Whats it like, and how did you get started?


Be safe out there....

We spent three yrs on the road. We signed on with a management/booking agency who booked all the gigs and had us busy 3-4 nights a week. We covered 4 states and had one band member taking care of all the hotel/motel reservations and keeping up with the business end of things. We had two vehicles-a box truck for the gear & two roadies and a van for the band. Expenses ate up most of the money but the experience was worth it.

There are about 101 ways to do it. In fact now with almost everyone online somehow it may be 101 squared. One way we tinkered with is to find a similar working band somewhere you'd like to play and swap a week with them. They have to be cool with it and the place they work (and you work) has to be cool with it. Another thing we did was to find a band that wanted to come here and they opened for us. We went to their place a few weeks later and opened for them. That was ok but the money wasn't every good.

I play in a Celtic band, so we play a lot of Highland festivals. Usually they folks running the festivals take care of our lodging. We have to pay for transportation and meals, but we factor that into our price. If your band has some kind of ethnic ties or theme, you might check into festivals that hire those kinds of bands. There are all kinds of wierd festivals and conventions out there. Sci-Fi and Comic Collectors want to party as much as Blues Festivals folks.

I know of some bands who will book up to a month's worth of weekend gigs that pay well and play fill ins that don't pay so well in between where they can sell merchandise to cover expenses. If you do festivals, start booking nine months to a year in advance. ALWAYS have lots of merch to sell and make it easy for your new found fans to buy it.

Bring merch.

Send out contracts ahead of time.

Don't be a cop magnet on the road: Don't speed, and don't pull over to piss on the side of the road.

This seems obvious but might not be if you've never played outside your home town: always advance the gig the day before to find out when (and exactly where) you're expected to show up.

Learn to play pool if you haven't already, since you'll probably spend a lot of time killing time in bars between soundcheck and set time.

Bigger gigs like festivals or college gigs will often include lodging. Bars will sometimes know a local motel that they recommend for out-of-town bands.

Otherwise, when my band was touring, we got a book from Motel 6 (Formula 1 in Europe) that listed all their hotels. In my experience, chains like Motel 6 or Super 8 are almost always better (cleaner, better beds) than whatever ****-hole local hotel is in their same price range.

Don't bring the whole band into the lobby with you when you show up to register, just bring one or two guys. Tell them how many rooms you want and don't say how many people there will be unless they ask (in my experience, most hotels don't care too much about "extra" people, especially if you're showing up in the middle of the night to book two rooms that would be vacant otherwise).

If you're not comfortable sharing a bed with one of your bandmates, you can put the mattress on the floor; one guy sleeps on the mattress, one guy sleeps on the box spring.

I always preferred to get a hotel (as opposed to crashing at some fan's house) because I find it very hard to sleep on the floor or on the couch. If you're young, you can probably get by with crashing at people's houses.

In terms of booking, I don't have any real advice on that... I didn't handle it for that band, and it was almost twenty years ago now, so everything's changed. It probably would help to get an agency or someone who could make contacts in other cities, but with the internet, it might be possible to find and contact clubs directly.

For gear, as I recall, we would leave most of it locked in the van and bring our guitars inside with us. We were a seven-piece band traveling in a 15-passenger van where we had taken out the last bench and stacked all our gear in that space. Smaller bands could probably do the same with a regular minivan, depending on how much gear you have.

We would always try to park (in order of importance) (a) as close to our room as possible (b) in a well-lighted area, and (c) backed up against a wall or something, if possible. For the places we were playing (mostly college towns), we never had any problems... that might have been a little more risky if we were playing a lot of inner city gigs.

Good luck and have a blast!

OK, this is the best advice I can give to somebody who has never been on the road.

Do it for the MONEY, if you don't you will have to quit.

This is the second-best advice I can share:

This first appeared in the book "Alt-Rock-A-Rama" and is presented here for your reading enjoyment.

COUNTRY DICK'S RULES OF THE ROAD

Hi! I'm Country Dick Montana and I get paid to act like I'm eleven! I just finished a six-week tour of Canada and the Midwest and I can't wait to get back out there in those un-airconditioned vans full of hungover Beat Farmers filling the air with involuntary responses to the outrageously violent ride (bad roads, worse shocks) while constantly arguing about some music you hate that's distorting the crappy little speakers that cut out on every bump after zero sleep 'cause we had to leave real early to be interviewed on the radio by some dickhead that got stuck covering for the one guy who's ever heard of us who split 'cause his dog was havin' puppies and he's got the only copy of our product that anyone's ever seen so we climb back in the van and Joey snaps the base of the passenger seat in half which inspires a cry of "I told you that would happen, you ****!" and most of my fresh whopper to miss most of his face and splatter 'cross the driver's side of the van Jerry washed just this morning as we head down to the border to enjoy our four-hour momentum break while the bastards rifle through every square inch a few more times than they need to make us miss the soundcheck for where we star tonight as the only "non-local heavy metal" band but Rolle, seeking more distinction, takes so much Valium he can't remember pushin' me into the black hole at the side of the stage where they were on the other side but luckily the corner of the monitor board stepped in to break my fall and crack a rib which I knew bummed out my kidneys 'cause they were workin' the first two weeks of this tour but had finished passin' the stone two days before I met this rib that just 'bout cried thinkin' of how much fun they all coulda had workin' me together in that van...Ahh...But enough about me...Let's get you packed!

Crack open a beer. Grab that suitcase and listen up, 'cause this is important: always assume that whatever you take you out there will be lost, broken, or stolen. So leave all your precious items buried in the yard (and don't forget where).
All right, toss all your medical supplies, vitamins, lotions, sprays-whatever's in the bathroom-into a suitcase. Be sure to include every single pain killer you can get yer hands on! Don't ask-take! Trust me, it's worth the bitching out.
You will also need:
1 million cassettes and CDs (124,712 for misplacing; 91,039 for givin' away; 380,000 for thieves; 250,000 for breakage; 197,457 for throwin' out windows; 4 for playin'; rest for layin' 'round the floor)
All your clothes
1 cheap camera that your roommate probably won't even miss
2 rolls of duct tape
Most of a roll of somebody's stamps
1 rabbit's foot, 1 mojo bag, and 1 suitcase full of good luck candles
2 comfortable shoes
Everybody's sedatives
A copy of the "Beat Farmers' Bowl Report" - a detailed rating of North American rest rooms in categories ranging from acoustics to seat condition and water temperature. It'll become your best friend.
1 Swiss army knife
4 skin mags
An ice chest
2 pairs of sunglasses, 1 to hunt around for several times a day and 1 to replace the ones that just blew off when ya stuck yer dumb head out the van window
1 "Do not disturb" sign
5 international symbols for radioactivity
A condom
Some Super Glue and an extra large, all-purpose rock-solid alibi.
Bonus tip-if you're flying, pack a load of liquor into your carry-on before arriving at the airport!
Do:

Remember which states currently hold "immature" (under seven years of age) warrants for your arrest.
Drink the local brew-and love it!
Practice peeing in Bud bottles and ****ting without sitting.
Know how to say "rest room," "bar," "taxi," and "hospital" in the tongue of wherever the hell you are.
Have the front desk refund you the $1.80 you may lose to that vending machine, now that you've got it.
Be in a country and western band whenever you get pulled over. It also helps to have an older brother suspended from the Chicago force for driving around town with his partner's suspected killer cuffed to the back bumper, and dig this: in the South, you can drink and drive naked in a carved ivory convertible with SATAN LOVES YOU painted on the sides and a senior citizen tied to the hood if you're related to the quarterback. So be that.
Save your receipts.

Do not:

Write any songs about being "on the road."
Even think about getting laid in England.
Open the mini bar.
Order spaghetti at Denny's.
Pee on toilet seats (I will find you!)
Tell Mojo Nixon your room number
Direct morning rush-hour traffic in Omaha with your pants around your ankles.
Leave your crack pipe on the dash.
Take souvenirs from the crypt of a voodoo queen. Remember, Zombies are even worse drivers than drunks.
Ask a cop where the nearest drive-thru liquor store is, what it's gonna take to get a message through his thick skull, how long the Village People have been broken up, or for change back from your five dollar bribe.
Use someone else's bus sock.

Random advice:

Harness the power of the guest list! It can cover your forgetful ass by being stocked with celebrities ("Of course, I put you on the list! Just tell 'em you're Nancy Reagan and John Wayne Bobbit!") and save your money ("How much would it be if I put you + 2 on the list?").
The party's in the roadies' room.
The sketchier you are, the better you'll look in artist's renderings.
You should be able to see more than just your face in the rearview mirror.
Onstage only play half of your most popular song and act all compromised about it in an English accent that's regularly dropped, and be clear about nothing except your genius and worshipability.
In interviews, remember to drift off in mid sentence, avoid eye contact by three to four inches, go to the bathroom for half an hour at least once, refuse to answer questions concerning your name, place, and date of birth, weight, height, and one more thing selected at randomand emotionally produce a photo of a dog that died when you were four. In England you should be from Texas and animatedly hostile towards these "tea-timin', sync-lipped lard feeders" that won't let you have a gun 'cause they're "wimpy-whiny-wipers of royal weenie-wackage that couldn't handle a drive-by drum machine memory bank trashing!" In the rest of Europe, just be from Texas.
For a duration-length, maid-free environment, combine surprise and high volume with a pottymouth tizzyfit highlighted by agressive nudity.
Even if you don't drink and hate tomato juice-start each day with a bloody Mary! You'll see.

Dealing with your accommodations:
Always demand a room on the top floor, and quickly establish yourself as the biggest problem in the joint (minor and even major problems mean nuthing to a total disaster!). If you are not the biggest problem on the premises, then you're probably up against a preexisting condition of considerable nastiness.
It is wrong to purposely damage your room or anything in it. However, if management and staff are evil, or you realize that your room sits above violated burial grounds, then what you need is a project of untraceable origin to keep your mind clear of "bad things." (Note: Do not try this at home!)
March to the market and pick up a zip-lock baggie and one whole, uncleaned fresh fish. Now, return to your room and place your uncleaned and securely zip-locked tight aquatic bomb behind the grill of the Time-Release Natural Disaster Storage Unit (a.k.a. the Heater Vent). Mother Nature will take over from here, as she proves that although Fishy may be quite dead, he's still not quite done!. And sure enough, after a feverish week or so of super-natural gas-accelerated frenzy, the highly pressurized action becomes uncontainable in a dramatically explosive manner so sensorily devastating that even evil gets the hell out!
Of course, you'll be long gone by that time, or at least you'd better be! It's checkout time, so haul ass!!

Agitator and String Tree nail it!

it costs more than you think. do your upmost to avoid "deadheading" back home at the end of a leg, it may be the only way you arrive home with any money.

Try the weekend run first to see how it goes. Branching out to a few towns within driving distance of home.
For instance me being in the middle of northern Indiana my summer sound gig bookings were all within 60-75 miles from home,just far enough to not want to drive back home after the gig. I've done shows in the past that were 6 hours south of me in Evansville, Indiana to turn around and come home. By smart booking one in Indianapolis friday and Evansville saturday. The drive home on sunday. I would get out of the day job at 3pm friday make it 3 hours drive to Indianapolis,gig sleep in a hotel/family member house/or band friend. drive to Evansville saturday morning. Gig saturday night then home drive sunday. not a bad weekend run.
The west run was over to Chicago for 2 nighters. North run was to St.Joseph, Mich. or Kalamazoo,Mich. which could would be an easy drive back home,but if they were in the same weekend run its not worth the drive back in gas money when the same cash could buy a motel room. The east run was Fort Wayne,luckily the club had a band house around the corner for touring bands to stay at,yes they bought a house.

it costs more than you think. do your upmost to avoid "deadheading" back home at the end of a leg, it may be the only way you arrive home with any money.

This is good advice, but on the turn around try not to book the same club in the town you passed through. Try booking on the overlap,skip a town or two on the outward run that you will gig on the way back through.

My typical contract rider for bookings.



CONTRACT RIDER

Dated _____________________, between “ ” (Hereafter known as “Artist”) and __________________________________ (Hereafter known as “Purchaser”)
This Rider has been prepared by the management and crew of ____________. The guidelines set forth within the rider are listed to ensure the Promoter, Artist, and Audience the best performance possible. This Rider has been prepared considering production costs and Artist’s requirements. Should you have any problem fulfilling the provisions of this Rider, please contact ________. If there are any revisions you wish to make to this Rider, they must be confirmed in writing by ______________.

Enclosed are three (3) copies of the Rider. Please initial, sign and return two (2) with the signed contracts and deposit.

1. BILLING
In all headline situations, Artist shall receive 100% Headline Billing.
Billing on marquees and in all printed advertising and publicity shall read ____________. No other spelling, spacing, punctuation or capitalization shall be used in billing the Artist.

2. THE DOOR AND BOX OFFICE
The doors will not be open to the public without the consent of Artist’s tour manager. At any engagement where Artist receives a split or bonus based on ticket sales, Purchaser agrees to give the Artist’s representative the right to enter the Box Office at any time (before, during, and after the performance) to examine and make extracts from any Box Office records relating to the gross receipts of this engagement. A written Box Office statement, certified and signed by the purchaser will be furnished to Artist within one hour following the performance.

3. SECURITY
(A) Purchaser shall guarantee proper security at all times to ensure the safety of Artist, Artist’s Crew, Auxiliary Personnel, instruments and all equipment, clothing and personal property. Security protection shall commence upon the arrival of Artist’s equipment and not end until the completion of load out. Purchaser shall be financially responsible for loss due to lack of security.
(B) Purchaser shall provide at all times the following minimum number of identifiable security personnel to secure Artist and Artist’s Crew, and provide Artist and Artist’s Crew free access to, and safety in and around, venue and all work areas: One (1) guard at each backstage entrance upon Artist’s approval
One (1) guard to secure Artist’s vehicle(s)

4. STAFF AND CREW
Purchaser agrees to pay for and provide at least (2) able-bodied, sober, English speaking stage hands to assist the Artist’s crew in unloading, setting up, breaking down, and reloading of Artist’s equipment. One of these stagehands will serve as a licensed runner with a safe insured vehicle. Such person will be in attendance from load in until Artist’s final departure from the venue.

5. STAGE
(A) Purchaser agrees to provide a secure stage with a minimum dimension of 16 feet by 24 feet by 3 feet, and if possible a minimum of 15 feet headroom/clearance from the lowest light instrument.
(B) Purchaser agrees to provide a solid, safe, and professionally built stage and sound wings. Purchaser further agrees that front stage area will be staffed by experienced personnel who will ensure that no persons in the audience can gain access to the stage or in any other way hinder Artist’s performance.
(C) Stage must be ready for load in upon arrival.

6. STAGE LIGHTING
Artist is to have full use of all house lighting equipment. Purchaser agrees to provide a house Lighting Director with knowledge of all house power and lighting systems. Purchaser should have fresh light gels with various basic colors for the show.

7. PA SYSTEM & SOUND CHECK
At least one hour will be made available to Artist for sound check before the performance. No unauthorized person shall be present at this time. Purchaser shall provide a professional sound system, with competent sound system tech, as per technical requirements. The ___________ provides there own traveling F.O.H.(front of house) sound engineer.

Technical Requirements: 4(four) Monitor mixes with sufficient power. Stereo Front of House system, Aux fed sub configuration with sufficient power shall be provided.
Input list as follows.
1. Kick
2. Snare top
3. Snare bottom
4. Rack tom
5. Floor tom
6. Hi Hat
7. Overhead L
8. Overhead R
9. Acoustic DI
10. Guitar 1
11. Bass DI
12. Guitar 2
13. Acoustic DI 2
14. Vocal left
15. Vocal center
16. Vocal right

Effects Requirements are as follows.
Reverbs are to be Yamaha SPX, Lexicon, or TC electronics
Delays are to be Lexicon, Tc Electronics or Roland SDE 3000
NO DIGITECH!





8. STAGE MANAGEMENT
At least twenty (20) minutes will be made available to Artist for setting the stage and tuning the instruments immediately preceding the performance.

9. DRESSING ROOM
One (1) clean, well-lit heated and air-conditioned dressing room must be provided for the sole use of Artist. The dressing room shall have hot and cold running water, soap, ten (10) clean dry towels, mirrors, and private toilet facilities. The dressing room must be kept locked and secured during Artist’s performance and at all other times when Artist is not occupying it. A key must be made available to Artist’s tour manager.

10. CATERING Purchaser agrees to provide the following**:
A. 6 - Hot balanced meals (not fast food). A meal buy out is acceptable at $20.00 per head. 4 band member,2 crew
B. 24 - Bottles of good quality drinking water ( Aquafina, etc.)
C. 24 - assorted soft drinks(Coke, Pepsi ,Mt. Dew)
D. After show deli/vegi tray
E.
D.



**Catered items - Any additions, substitutions or changes shall be advanced with tour manager.

11. ARTIST CONTROL
Artist is to have complete control of the performance. All support acts must be cleared by The __________ Management or _________.

12. PARKING
Parking spaces convenient to the back stage area or entrance shall be provided to Artist, for exclusive use of Artist’s van and trailer/tour bus

13. POWER
Purchaser agrees to supply Artist with a power supply for one (1) tour bus.

14. TAPING
Purchaser, Purchaser’s employees, and Purchaser’s contractors shall not reproduce Artist’s performance in any way through tape recordings, videotapes or any other means, nor permit such recordings by any other persons through microphones placed on the stage or in the room.

15. MERCHANDISE
Purchaser agrees to provide a secure, well-lit area and two (2) tables for merchandising. This area shall be located in a position that will be easily visible to the public.

16. COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS
Purchaser agrees to provide Artist with a minimum of Fifteen (15) tickets for the contracted engagement.

17. INSURANCE
Purchaser warrants that it shall have sufficient insurance to cover any loss or damage to Artist’s equipment or possessions, and liability insurance to cover any accident with respect to Artist’s performance and personnel connected to the contracted engagement.

18. BACK LINE EQUIPMENT
If Purchaser is to provide back line equipment, Purchaser will provide equipment to meet the specifications outlined on the Technical Rider.

19. FORCE MAJURE
In the event of illness, labor union restrictions (including strikes, riots), failure of transportation, fuel shortage, act of God, or any other event beyond the control of Artist, Artist shall not be responsible for any costs incurred in the setup, take down and promotion of the contracted engagement. Artist and Purchaser will seek to reschedule the concert if at all possible, in view of Artist’s other commitments.



Agreed to and accepted,

Purchaser Artist’s Representative



__________________________ _________________________

The trouble with this thread is we don't know enough about the OP's band. Covers or originals? Style of music? How much time can everyone get off work together? Give us a bit more info BB.

Also when people come in with pro-type advice it isn't always helpful to non-pros. For non-pros just trying to get little tours together the difficulty is finding venues that don't need you to 'bring a crowd'. There's little incentive for them to book you. So you need to find friendly venues/managers and even then you need to give them some faith that you will draw a few people, maybe because you play a genre that's appealing. If you are just another covers band, and they have plenty locally to choose from that always bring a crowd in, then why should they hire you?

It can be done, by phoning venues and finding friendly ones who will give you a slot, and maybe a place to crash or suggestions of hotels or B&Bs they know about and that maybe will give a discount. Also some venues will be fine with letting you leave your gear there overnight.

I've done it here in the UK like that and it can be fun. The biggest problem is that you are going in 'blind' to venues you know little about and you can end up playing in dumps, or to empty rooms, and then maybe sleeping on dirty floors/beds/sofas... I don't think I'll be doing it again, unless I can get some certainty of what I'm letting myself in for.

I always drive back the same night. Less expenses, less hassle. When I was younger we'd drive 300 miles and sometimes get 50 bucks. Now I don't work every night, but I work smart. Weekend nights are your best money for clubs in my experience, but bread and butter can come from wherever you can get it, like private events, merch, etc.

Add hotels, food, and van repairs to a tour without good promo and soon you don't have any money left. So if you do it, plan it out real good - which can be hard because promo is hard if your coming into a new town for the first time. Luckily now there's Twitter and stuff like that definitely changed the buisness. The 60 mile radius is a great place to start, then you can work your way out so that if and when you do do a tour you'll have fans in the town already. Make sure you're a AAA member, which comes in handy. And bring a black sheet to throw over anything that might be easily seen that you cant watch or lock in the trunk. Back in the other way when you park.

College cities/towns are more likely to accept progressive/alt.rock/alt.country original bands. And alot of clubs in those towns will put you on a double bill if you are new to the area. Plus college towns have club/bars that have entertainment through the week.

If you are a country/rootsy/southern rock type band,talk with the other bands that roll through your area to find out what other clubs they play. and try to get into that circuit.
alot of the larger clubs/venues book on rotation of 8 to 10 weeks So that your band is not oversaturated in there market.

Probably an obvious one, but bring a firearm along as long as the law allows and it can be done safely, responsibly, etc.

Howdy ya'll..

And thanks for the many great replies!!

As for us, our band is one year old, alt country, texas music, some classic country and old classic rock.. We've got about a dozen originals too that are going over very well, and plan to record a CD sometime next year.

After that, its all about just playing anywhere we can, locally and on the road, all around Texas. I plan to use some vacation days to make 3 and 4 day roadtrips, long weekends, where hopefully we can book several nights in a row and then swing back home. I'm not quitting my day job, but still hoping to take this band up several notches.

But no hurry tho, I'm just thinking long term, and wondering how other bands managed to take their show on the road when first starting out.

take care....


ps.. I want to be like Neil Peart... let the rest of the band ride in the truck pulling the trailer while I ride a motorcycle from town to town. Can't wait! :lol:

One thing to consider is networking with friends and family. Since this is part-time, say you have a bother in St. Louis and you like to go there and visit. Have him get some names of places and maybe even touch base, find out who to contact and so on. Maybe your uncle is outside of Dallas and has a favorite place to see bands so you could book on the way to STL or on the way back. Maybe the place in Dallas has a sister bar in New Orleans so you could make a loop. Maybe the loop is all inside TX for you like SA, DFW, Houston and back through Austin on the way home. There used to be a family that owned I think 32 big dance halls down your way. I think we played 20 of them but that was back in the early '80s.

College cities/towns are more likely to accept progressive/alt.rock/alt.country original bands. And alot of clubs in those towns will put you on a double bill if you are new to the area. Plus college towns have club/bars that have entertainment through the week.

If you are a country/rootsy/southern rock type band,talk with the other bands that roll through your area to find out what other clubs they play. and try to get into that circuit.
alot of the larger clubs/venues book on rotation of 8 to 10 weeks So that your band is not oversaturated in there market.

good advice. and take time to get to know (and maybe split bills with) the bands in your area. if another group compliments your group well in a show then maybe your audiences can expand together. remember: you are not trying to go play in a club or bar, you are trying to become an ATTRACTION. clubs and bars just happen to be some of the places you start out doing that.

hey southpaw, NO DIGITECH!! right on my man!