Learn how to book tours and guarantee they’re successful at bringing out fans, selling music, and reaching new audiences with this collection of articles full of touring advice and resources.
After the breakup of seminal emo band, The Get Up Kids, frontman Matt Pryor said he found himself at a confusing spot within the work environment. Since he had been on tour for so many years, it seemed to be all he knew. He soon realized that being in a small but successful rock band taught…
It’s January again, and just like every January, Pollstar has released their 2015 year-end touring data. Pollstar only publishes the top 100-200 artists in every category so don’t expect your forever-touring hobo-sludge band to be on here. In fact, don’t expect anything you wouldn’t already expect to see here; you’ve got your Taylor Swifts, your…
Money, such as it is, is hard to come by in the music business of the 21st century — so most bands have to jam econo just to break even (if that). Fortunately, there are lots of cost-efficient options for the modern touring band — especially those who are only able to make regional jaunts. So I thought…
By Slow Leaves What is often overlooked about Winnipeg, is that it’s subtle brand of near perfect mediocrity is precisely what provides such fertile grounds for honest artistic expression. The city is not grand enough to incubate the large scale arts trends found in bigger cities. But it’s the perfect size to grow genuine art…
Countless idealistic, fresh-faced musicians move to NYC every year, and far too many of them are preyed upon by shady bookers who cancel last-minute, take unreasonable cuts of the door, and bill them with other bands who share no genre or potential audience reach. One of the first shows I booked in the city required…
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with a group of musicians to discuss the essentials that first-time touring bands often forget. During those conversations, another topic came up: the things they used to bring on tour that just ended up taking up space. If it’s your first tour, your mind is racing at a…
By Rachel Grimes The quality of the sound in an environment is always so captivating to me, and seems to be something that either makes me comfortable or uncomfortable immediately. Here are some of my favorites around Louisville, Kentucky. This morning I walked outside early and heard the sound of a long, low barge horn…
By Dillon Riley As a young band starting out in a local scene, securing gigs and building a following can seem like a daunting task. While social media platforms, online streaming, and word-of-mouth certainly help level the playing field, creating buzz around your new project is still an uphill battle in this or any other era…
Running a band can often make you feel like the first person who’s ever tried to blaze a trail through the messy mystery that is the music industry. How anyone manages to walk the line between disorganized “creatives” and the monolithic corporate structures to make it big — or even just get a decent cut of…
Until about a year ago, my band fit the “bedroom musician” stereotype. I didn’t realize it at the time, but a small part of me was living what I call the Bieber Dream Syndrome — imagining that posting our music online was enough to gain a following out of nowhere. Sadly, with the majority of musicians now…
