While playing local gigs is the first step in live performances, the next natural rung on the ladder is touring. For unsigned bands without a booking agent, however, this can be a monumental task. Building a local following is important, as is perfecting a band’s stage presence. Once a band has conquered both, however, it will be time to further the band’s horizons and increase its visibility in other areas.
DIY Methods for Booking Tours
There are many pay-to-play methods (some of them can even be called “schemes”) inherent in the world of music. Before a band hands over any of its hard-earned assets, however, it should look into ways it can create a viable tour schedule on its own.
Tapping into Established Venue Contacts
For instance, if the band has put on several successful shows at a local casino, it is worth approaching the individual who books those gigs to ask for booking contacts in that casino’s branches in other states. Taking that one step further is to ask the venue’s booking agent to call ahead and introduce the band before the band’s representative calls and follows up with a promo package.
Finding New Music Venues
Colleges typically offer live performances on campus, and are excellent locations for a band to scout out. This will take a bit of upfront research on the part of the band, however, as it is extremely important to contact the correct person at the school.
A band can start by compiling a list of colleges in nearby states and making calls until the correct entertainment director is located, then following up with a promo package (as discussed in Getting the Music Out There). It is very important to follow the specific instructions provided by the booking contact, as colleges can be quite finicky in the format of the information it receives for this purpose.
Putting the local yellow pages to work is another good way of researching potential venues in other places. Starting with the band’s hometown as the nexus, the band should work outwards in all directions to select desirable locations. From there, a search of the local yellow pages in the category of “live music” will yield results for potential venues. Once a list has been compiled, the band can start making introduction calls.
A map must be used when booking gigs for a tour, even a short one, as it will likely cost the band money and travel time to make such circuits. While a band will not always get a gig on the date (or in the time slot) that it had hoped for, applying common sense to the order in which to visit other cities can save frustration (and a lot of driving).
Resources that Help Musicians Score Tour Dates
There are many ways for a band to book its own tours without paying for a booking agent or manager, but if the band has the cash (perhaps saved up from gigging locally), then the Internet offers additional resources. One such resource is Indie on the Move, a free site which states its mission as “ . . . .helping bands perform live shows without the aid of a booking agent, manager, record label, or any other industry professional . . . .”
While Indie on the Move has as its sole purpose helping bands to book tours, there is an extensive array of sites that offer not only ideas for potential venues, but that also offer travel tips and articles, advice related to budgeting for a tour, stories from bands who have had both positive and negative tour experiences, and other valuable information. Music Nomad is one such site, and provides additional categories in music production and selling a band’s music.
A band looking to kick off its first tour should do plenty of homework before renting a van and starting out on the road. There are many dangers and pitfalls that can befall inexperienced travelers, particularly those who have a van full of expensive gear. Staying safe on the road is a topic all to itself that will be addressed in an upcoming article in this series.
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