Touring - Get Out of Town!

Part 3 ... Your Thoughts & More

By Kit Benge
kit@harmony-central.com

December 29, 1999

First off BIG PROPS go to all you Harmony Central readers who wrote me about part one and part two of this series. I have been writing a long time and can never remember such a response. Almost daily for 6 months now you have asked intelligent questions, made me laugh with your road stories, and entertained the hell out of me. Hopefully this installment will make up for the long delay between parts two and three (pimpin ain't easy), and will get you juiced for the idea that if you work hard...YOU CAN DO THIS.

As a tribute to the described readers above, I wanted to answer some of the questions you have posed to me over the last few months. You guys covered a lot more areas of promoting, touring, and travel than I ever thought of, besides...who am I to stand in the way of an adoring public. Check it out below, and we'll see you on the road....

Kit,

What is the best way to ship musical instruments? I need to get a pedal steel, electric guitar, fiddle, and suitcase from Boston to Las Vegas. I will be competing in the 'Country Music Associations of America Talent Search', representing the state of New Hampshire (as New Country Band of the Year). My concerns range from cost to timeliness to safety. Any thoughts? I will be flying on Continental, and they allow three check-ins and one carry-on. Is this a normal way that musicians transport their instruments? Or are there other options? Any help will be appreciated. I leave in two weeks. My stay is 8 days.

Congrats! Always glad to see a New England country band get some props. I am a big Swinging Steaks fan (from Boston). They received one of the best pieces of press I ever seen from a Nashville newspaper when they played there a few years ago. It read..."So you daughter wants to go to a club to catch a band called the "Swinging Steaks" and they all have long hair and look more like rockers than cowpokes. To make matters worse, you are a merle haggard fan and these guys are Yankees from Boston! Get your shotgun and check um out".

With regards to your question, I will assume that you don't have pro road cases for the gear. If cost were REALLY a concern, I would just pack VERY WELL. All Mail Boxes etc have lots of bubble wrap and they pack strange things all the time. Once more, if you want to save money, do it yourself, but do it well. If you have some extra money, consider sending it via airfreight. It will cost you extra, but I have always found it safer.

In either case, make sure you spend the extra money to have it insured for more than the $1250.00 or so that you automatically get for checked baggage. It just seems that when an airlines insures something for about $3000, they take better care of it. You can also tell the agent at check-in (especially if you are about an hour early) if they could make sure that the boxes/cases are "Hand Carried". This service is free and while causing more work for them, they usually will do it with no problem.

Carry some dollar bills with you EVERYWHERE when traveling. A well-placed fiver to a bellman or porter can save your back and put you at ease. This will ensure in most cases that your gear won't fly down the baggage carrousel when you get to Vegas like a car at the Mint 400. Someone will take your gear off the plane and hand deliver it, usually through a big door in baggage claim or to the airline baggage office.

Hi Kit,

Great columns on touring, thanks for breaking down the basics. In your opinion what would be, if any, the differences in planning if you are just a solo act? Thanks for you time!

Much easier. For one, solo acts sometimes might only get half of what a group would get, but it would mean only one mouth to feed, sleep and entertain. It also means that because you are the only one or maybe with a soundman/drive/tour manager that you can call the shots better. No discussion about when and where to stop for food. None of the "jeez...I always wanted to eat at Catfish and Such" statements from the peanut gallery (drummer?).

No seriously...The upsides are many and include having more control over what YOU want your live show to be, allowing you to book what and when you want without regard to bandmates' wishes, and allowing you to be more flexible in where you stay, eat, and stop. The downsides? It gets lonely out there (a problem cured with a little thing called Groupies if you have the time and the foolishness to partake of that kind of thing. It's Downright Dangerous!), and it can mean that you are the only one dealing with the business of the band instead of three people working together. If you have to hire a tour manager to take care of these details, DO IT. It is well worth the money.

Hey Kit,

I live in Los Angeles, so I know my band has a huge advantage. But I live in The Valley, and the only place is the Cobalt Cafe, which holds one hundred and has a crappy sound system. None of our fans are willing to drive out to the Whiskey A Go Go or the Roxy. We occasionally rent out a wherehouse for a day, with three or four other bands, and play a festival, but we only do that twice a year. Any advice?

Sometimes it's better to be the biggest band from a small town than just another band in the metropolis of bands. I know a lot of bands that come from 25,000 people towns in the middle of nowhere that are not signed but rake in $3000 a show. Consider each place you play as one that you can put on a killer show in. I have turned absolute DIVES into very cool spaces by adding a great sound system, cool lights or decorating the place. Bar owners will look at you kind of weird at first with you wanting to come in early and get all this stuff done, but your audience will love it! The idea of playing out is to KILL, otherwise don't do it. It sounds like you guys are ready to tour, now comes the hard part. Getting all of your band members to take time off of work at the same time, booking, promoting, etc. In your market, consider a short hop up to San Francisco playing Fresno, Bakersfield, and Santa Cruz on the way up, and San Jose, The East Bay, and Santa Barbara on the way back.

You are on the right track when it comes to renting a wherehouse and promoting your own show if you do draw, but if the goal is to get signed, then don't sweat how many gigs you play, just make sure that each one counts, and that you move forward by attracting the right people to see your band. Just because you live next door to Sony Music doesn't mean a hill of beans other than you will get to hang out with the cool crowd and network somewhat better. I do find it interesting that EVERYONE in LA seems to have a band, and there is another one just like you in Oslo...in Pittsburgh...in Vermont, that have just as good a shot. I would much rather be the s*** in my hometown than fight it out in the cities with a million other great bands.