Touring Resources, Articles and Words of Wisdom

Prepared by Music BCfor the Career Development Series “Get in the Van”

April 18th, 2009

BOOKING BASICSHow should an independent artist approach venues?Call to ask the name of the manager responsible for booking; make sure you get the spelling correct on the package – you only get one shot at making a first impression!

Most venues like to be sent a promotional package; in fact, the majority of venue operators do not like being approached personally their place of business. Follow up with a phone call a week or so after the package has arrived.

It’s a good idea to start some kind of tracking system so you can make notes about when you call and what was said, as well as keep addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and contact names at your fingertips; index cards work well for this.

What should be included in the promotional package?Assuming the music is appropriate for a club, a demo or full-length CD of good sonic quality and a brief band history/fact sheet. Make sure your contact information can be easily found on ALL pieces of your kit (it’s best not to make it difficult for the booking manager to figure out how to contact you!). A photo is nice but not always necessary.

How insistent can an artist be in terms of what the club provides for sound gear, lights, staging, and so on?Smaller venues won’t be able to present a lot of options. If a sound system is provided at all, it’s often a simple set-up, and hopefully adequate for the room. Artists would be responsible for whatever else they want. However, this sometimes means the artist can be as creative as they wish, room permitting.

In larger venues, a fairly extensive sound and light set up is usually available, though it’s sometimes at a cost, usually because someone has to set it up and run it. Another factor (especially if an act is on tour) is whether there will be time in the schedule for messing around with lights. Make sure this is discussed early in the process.

Who is responsible for promotion – the venue or the artist?For the most part, the artist will be responsible for getting “bums in seats”, including postering outside the venue, and setting up any press or radio specific to the show. Most venues send listings to all of the local papers and radio stations and many print some form of monthly calendar for distribution, either by direct mailing or posters that are hung up around the city to coincide with the listings.

Ultimately, if there isn’t a crowd, an artist won’t be re-booked, so the artist must be prepared to push their shows.

How much financial risk will a venue take?This totally depends on the artist and what the venue thinks the artist can bring in, so obviously some nights will be riskier than others. A mis-booked or bad act can clear a venue on a slow night and kill all the business, so an artist shouldn’t be surprised to encounter reluctance or skepticism from the booking manager. An act that is serious about establishing a career must realize that the first show (attendance, performance, attitude) in any venue lays the ground-work for many shows to come. Thus, an enormous amount of work should go into the first show at any venue if that is a room the act knows will be good for its career.

How does a venue calculate the fees being offered?It quite honestly depends on what the venue thinks the artist can bring in. Generally there is some form of policy in place for most nights; quite often one price is offered for an act’s first appearance and one price for anytime after that if the night was successful. Some venues provide bonuses for really busy nights with high bar sales and / or attendance. Entry-level artists can’t always expect guarantees, however – don’t be surprised if it’s expected that the artist will play for the door.

Survival Tactics on the Road

by Chris Tessmer for The Session

Talking to non-musician friends about touring often makes me want to bang my head against the wall for hours on end. They always have a romanticized view of touring, and have a warped “Making The Band” perception of how us music-type people live and travel. The cramped living quarters and travelling arrangements can lead to tension within a band, but that’s to be expected when 99.9% of the places you stay pale in comparison to your own warm bed.

Movies are generally good at portraying the touring world accurately. The Canadian cult-classic HARD CORE LOGO, directed by Bruce MacDonald, is a movie about a group that reunites for one last tour. The movie is hilarious - showing how the band quickly degenerates into one big in-fight. The reason why the movie turns out as funny as it is, is because it hits the nail right on the head. Touring isn’t easy. People fight. Feelings get hurt, and bands fall apart. That’s why it’s so important to follow a few simple rules when touring.

1. Be respectful of others within your band

Essentially, your time on the road is not the best time to start criticizing each other about every little thing. If your guitarist’s slobbiness is putting a cramp on your van’s style, ask him politely to try and be a little cleaner because it’s going to be your home for the next few weeks. Jumping on his back and calling him a pig will get you nowhere but down the trail of hard feelings. That three hour drive from Edmonton to Calgary can feel like nine if even one band member feels like they’re getting a raw deal from their bandmates.

2. Count to 10 and try again

As cheesy and old as this saying may be, learn to bite your tongue. What good can possibly come from telling someone in your band they’re an idiot because they missed the turnoff for the gas station? It’s highly unlikely that they tried to miss it because they wanted to spend an extra 20 minutes in the van with you. By just counting to 10, taking a deep breath, and deciding whether or not it’s really worth complaining about something, you can save yourself and your band the onslaught of WWIII.

3. Take “me time” on the road

People are social creatures, but there comes a point when you just need to be alone. There’s a reason people have girls’ or boys’ nights out...they need to get away from their significant other for a few hours. Consider your bandmates your “significant other” on the road. You depend on them much like you would a spouse. That’s why it’s important you take a little bit of ‘me time’ when you have free time. Pick up a magazine at a gas station, and go have a quick coffee with yourself at the corner cafe. If that’s not your cup of tea (sorry), take a nice casual walk around the block. You’d be surprised what kind of shops you can find in some of the places you play. Best of all, you’d be surprised how much more you like everyone when you spend more than a bathroom stop away from them.

4. Take “band time” on the road

This may appear to completely contradict the previous point, but the truth is you need to solidify your friendships more than ever when you’re on the road. That is, of course, assuming that you’re friends with the people in your band. The key to surviving the road is trying to live as much as possible like you normally would. If you and your band usually have a band meeting/meeting of the minds on Saturday afternoons, spend a few minutes over a wobbly pop when you get a minute that Saturday. Don’t just continue business as usual though. Have fun with your bandmates. If you have a day off with your bandmates, and you don’t have to drive all day to your next show, plan a fun day with as much vigour as you would booking a tour

Lastly,

5. Honour yourself

Life on the road is tough on a body. At home you don’t think twice about when you’re going to shower next, whether or not you’re going to get enough sleep, or where your next meal will come from. On the road, these are the variables that decide if, and when, you’re going to get sick. In every major city, showers can be had at the local truck stop. Truth be known, these are usually kept cleaner than our showers at home. For less than $5, you can leave clean and refreshed, ready to rock on for another day.

Sleep is a little bit harder to come by. For those of you that sleep easily while riding in a vehicle, congratulations...you’re probably one of the easiest people to deal with in your band. For those that don’t, take advantage of the time between soundcheck and the time you hit the stage. Most venues I’ve been to have at least a couple comfy chairs or couches hidden away somewhere. Don’t be afraid to ask where they are.

When it comes to food, you just have to be smart. As affordable and easy it is to just have a couple of chocolate bars for dinner, it will catch up to you in the long run. Diet has been proven to affect behaviour. If you’re not eating well, you’re not going to feel well. If you’re on a tight budget, stop by a local grocery store. Buying sandwich meat and bread will cost you less than $5, and you’ll feel a lot more full then you would be if you got your meal from the last gas station.Courtesy SaskMusicwww.saskrecording.ca

How to make the most of a Canadian tour By Gary Stokes

Planning is everythingTour planning is crucial. Make sure the dates and traveling times are logistically feasible. Consider each venue, its size, as well as the stage, sound and lighting requirements for a gig there. Once you determine if extra gear is required, find local suppliers in each town while always keeping in mind the overall tour budget.

Advance work Along with the tour planning goes the advance work. Once the shows are confirmed you need to plan, basically every hour of every day and night for the traveling group. That means setting up itineraries for when you leave, when you arrive, hotel check-ins if there are hotels, sound checks, meal times, interviews, etc. As part of the advance work with each club, find out in advance which manager will be on in the club that night, who’ll be paying you and when (before or after the show).

Another part of advance work is doing interviews with local press at least two weeks before the date of the show and then again when you arrive in that town, usually with college or commercial radio.

Promotion is criticalToo many bands rely on the promoter, then complain that they had a lousy gig, nobody showed up, and they also have nothing to build on. Take on the responsibility of promoting the shows yourself.

There are all kinds of source books you can use to find out about local promoters, venues, publications, college stations, etc. It means some time on the phone-if you’re setting up a two- or three-week tour across Canada you’ll need a week or two to do advance for the trip.

You have to have a really together mailing list. Fans come up after gigs and you can’t be shy-it’s very important at a grassroots level to get their names and numbers, be friendly. The next time you go through their town you can call them in advance and get them to spread the word.

Doing it yourselfMost young bands can’t afford a tour manager. My advice is to have one additional person come along on the tour, usually a friend who is responsible and knows a little about business. If that extra person can do sound or help out with the lights or with gear, then so much the better.

If you don’t have a road manager, split up all the duties and try to spread the work out equally among band members. Designate who’s going to do the interviews, who’s doing advance work with the clubs, who’s handling the merchandising and CD sales; designate one person to handle getting paid each night. These roles have to be clearly delineated, preferably weeks before you hit the road. Part of what makes any operation run smoothly is having everybody know their role. Road managing is a function of organization.

Vehicle considerationsAlways get the most reliable vehicle you can afford. If you’re touring in the winter in Canada take tire chains, extra blankets, a first-aid kit, some gasoline antifreeze, extra windshield de-icer, some emergency food supplies in case you break down in the middle of nowhere. Any band going on the road has to be able to change a tire. Before you ever hit the road I highly recommend that you load up the vehicle with all your gear and then change a tire just for the practice.

Budgets ruleBudgets are very important on the road and you have to live within your budget. You should count on one out of every five or six shows getting canceled or if they’re not, then the money won’t be what you planned on. Don’t budget on your best-case scenario-balance that with your worst-case and you’ll be somewhere in the ball park. Figure out, before you leave home, where the money’s going to come from if you do have problems. If only one person has a credit card to cover emergencies discuss up-front how that person will be paid back.

Have funYou have to take a tour seriously, sure, but you also have to leave some time to enjoy yourself. Leave some breathing space to get into a town and look around, hang out, hype your gig a bit. Try to schedule a couple of hours each day just to relax. Or to sleep-in once in awhile. These things make a difference. If you hate touring you’re not going to perform well. Bands whose members have day jobs often make the mistake of trying to cram too much in on a tour and then they end up hating it because it’s grueling and they don’t have any fun.

Best times to hit the roadWinter in Canada is a hard time to tour. When universities are in session you have a better potential draw in towns where schools are located. In summer, schools are out and people are on vacation, but that’s festival season so maybe you can take advantage of that. And touring in the summer can be more relaxed if you’re willing to stay at camp grounds and take a day off to go swimming at a lake. September/October and April/May tend to be the best times to tour.

Rules to live byAttitude is everything. Don’t commit to shows you aren’t 100 percent positive you can do in terms of getting there. Be on time. Be polite. If you approach a tour with a positive attitude, do your homework and the advance work then you can see some positive gains from going on the road and have fun too.Gary Stokes is a sound engineer who fell into road managing simply because most small and mid-level acts touring Canada can’t afford to hire two people. He has managed tours for Barenaked Ladies, Rheostatics, Sarah McLachlan, Lava Hay, Jane Siberry, Pursuit of Happiness, Wild Strawberries, and many others.

Lessons From the Road A guide to what NOT to do on tour. By Nat Jay “How was your tour?” everyone’s been asking with enthusiasm. “It was...exhausting,” I say. “Did you have the time of your life?” others ask. “Well, not really. There were definitely good moments, but it was a lot of work.” They stare at me, confused. I think when you say that you are going “on tour,” people immediately get stars in their eyes as they imagine packed stadiums, luxury buses, and riders that include items like blue m&ms and plush toilet seats. I also think that, as artists, before we tackle life as a touring musician, what we envisage is maybe not as glamourous as that, but still something revered and exotic. The truth is, an artist’s first tour can only be described as one thing: a learning experience. Last year embarked on my first ever 10-show tour in Ontario and B.C. For this tour, I was the booking agent, the tour manager, the publicist, the merchandise manager, and the artist (which is what most end up being on their first few tours). This may sound like a lot of work. Well, it is. And naturally, there are details that get missed. Though I do believe some of these things are a kind of initiation and sometimes unavoidable, I am willing to open up my book of mistakes and make myself look like somewhat of a fool in hopes that you won’t make as many as I did. Lesson #1-Clarify Before You Go a. Clarify the amount that you are going to get paid by the promoter/venue booker. This may be a door deal or a guarantee, but it is important that you get this information ahead of time, preferably in writing, so that you have this to refer to when it comes time to collect your earnings. After I finished playing one night, the booker at one venue asked me, “How much did I say I’d give you?” I was so tired and wanting to go to sleep in my fancy, one-star motel room that my answer was, “Um, I don’t know actually. I don’t think you ever said.” Subsequently, he went and checked back in his email, where he found an email he had sent me that stated that he could offer, “not very much.” Great. To him that meant fifty dollars—sixty because he hadn’t fed me—which was actually more than most places, so I couldn’t complain. However, if I had demanded this information ahead of time, there may have been room for some bartering. On this night, there was none. After obtaining this info, I would also recommend having a print-out of it on hand to refer to, just in case a promoter tries to pull a fast one on you. b. Clarify what other artists you are playing with. Make sure that there is at least one local artist on the bill. I got booked with one other band from Halifax and neither of us had any draw. The only thing that brought people out that night was the NBA Final, which they turned off so that I could play. Needless to say, I didn’t make many fans that night. Even if there are local acts on the bill, connect with these artists beforehand and talk to them about doing some promotion together. I arrived at one place where the local artist said, “Yeah, I forgot about this gig, and then Jeff called me up to make sure I was coming and I thought I might as well do it.” Not surprisingly, no one came. Lesson #2-Bring A Friend I quickly learned that touring solo has its disadvantages. Yes, it was some good “me” time: I could do whatever I wanted, didn’t have to share a bed/room with anyone, and didn’t have to feed or pay any band members. However, I realized a few aspects of being on your own that weren’t quite as appealing: a. I got lonely. I had to hang out by myself almost every single day. Luckily I stayed with some cool people (other artists, friends, etc.) that showed me the town a couple times, but generally there was a lot of solo time, which gets boring after a few days. It also sucked when I was playing in a venue I’d never been to (most of the time) and afterwards, having no one to sit with. So while trying to look like the cool artist that just delivered a wicked set, I looked like the loser with no friends. Yes, this was a golden opportunity to meet new people, but when you are tired and you’ve been talking to people for a week straight, and you’re sober (please note: you might not have this problem like I do), sometimes you just wanna hang out with your buddy and make fun of the crazy drunk fan who is currently slow dancing with herself.

b. Things that might be funny together, are really scary and frustrating when you’re alone. For example, getting lost might be hilarious if you’re with a friend, fumbling over a giant map on the 401 and having just missed the 427 exit. Alone? Complete freak out. c. Merch can be hard to handle, mainly because there is no one selling it for you while you’re onstage. And as soon as you’re finished performing, you have to pack up your gear so the next band can come on, talk to the promoter about settling up, get something to drink or eat, talk to fans and other musicians. If you have someone you trust taking care of it for you, it’s certainly a weight off your shoulders. d. It’s hard to carry everything. Maybe this is because I’m a bit of a wimpy girl and I also pack too much. But a guitar in a hard case, a suitcase, a merch case, a backpack and a purse is still a lot for one person. It’s also not a practical amount of items to be carrying into stores or restaurants. On a hot day in Toronto, I found myself and all my luggage sitting on the corner of King and Peter awaiting the airport shuttle bus. I was parched. I was directly outside a Shoppers Drug Mart. And there was not a hope of me and all my luggage getting up those four stairs and into that store to get a bottle of water. “Hey friend,” I would have said to my travel partner, “Watch the stuff. I’m gonna go get us some water.” Lesson #3-Get Organized a. Get all your merch tools together. Because I had picked up my debut album from the manufacturer the day before I left for Toronto, I was not used to having merch of any kind. CDs, plus whatever merch you have (T-shirts, buttons, stickers, undies, etc.) should fit neatly into some kind of HARD container (A backpack? Not ideal. I came home with a stack of cracked CDs) that can also carry everything else you need. This might include a tidy and professional-looking email list--not one that is folded into four, has food stains on it and has been crushed in the bowels of your backpack (yes, I felt like an idiot); a sharpie--for signing autographs (get used it) and writing set lists; business cards--some with your personal info on it for industry types and some without that you can hand off to fans; pen and paper--to keep track of sales; an envelope, pencil case or cash box--to keep your money in. After this complete lack of organization, I now have a nifty set of vintage suitcases (a smaller one for CDs, a bigger one for T-shirts), a guestbook for fans to sign their name, email and add a comment, and plenty of stationary. b. Get good directions. Get them off Mapquest or Google Maps, and even if you do, check with a real person to make sure. A lot of my friends who are in bands that tour the country have a GPS system in their vans, which becomes their bible for the tour. Always have a cell phone with you and someone you know you can call, either locally or elsewhere (that has Internet access) to help you if you’re in a bind. In my rental car, I got completely lost in the pouring rain of Kitchener/Waterloo and ended up calling my mom for help. From Kelowna, she was able to look up directions for me online from the random residential neighbourhood I was lost in, right to the venue. These days you can cook up all of the above on your iPhone or Blackberry as well (except a mom to comfort you when you’re lost and crying, of course). c. As mentioned before, bring print-outs of the email correspondence with the promoter in order to avoid any confusion or dodginess. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone before you leave town to try and get answers out of these guys. I was. In my sometimes ineffective, passive-aggressive approach to life, I relied on email, which wasn’t always forthcoming. This is where you need to set the sensitive artist aside and slap on the “don’t mess with my act” booking agent hat. As they say, “you live, you learn,” or in this case, “you tour, your learn.” I am sure that I will still make some of these mistakes, and plenty of others, on subsequent tours, but I’m also sure that I’ll get better at it and more accustomed to it with experience. It is definitely a part of my job as a musician that I didn’t realize was so much work, with so little glamour to accompany. At no stage in the game is touring a glamourous venture (even in a giant tour bus, when you have to sleep next to/on top of/below your five smelly/snoring band members). But it’s when you’re up there (and for the fourth night in a row), guitar in hand and singing your heart out, that you understand why you put up with it, and why you grow to love the road as a second home.

Nat Jay is a recording artist and freelance journalist in Vancouver, and a member of Music BC’s Board of Directos. She can be reached at: info@natjay.com/www.natjay.com/www.twitter.com/officialnatjay.

top 39 annoying things that bands do

1. Bands that feel compelled to bang on their drums and guitars in an annoying display of lack of talent before the doors open. Usu-ally this occurs when we are trying to talk to someone on the phone or give instructions to employees. There is a place for this type of behavior, its called your basement.

2. Out of town bands that show up and say “We decided to bring another band with us, don’t worry, they just need gas money and pizza.”

3. Out of town bands that watch you order their pizzas with “the works” and after they arrive tell you “Oh, we’re all vegetarians, can we get buy-outs instead?”

4. Local bands with managers.

5. Local bands that have a girlfriend as their manager (Can you say annoying pain in the a**?). This usually marks the beginning of the end for most bands at the Creepy.

6. Bands that bring their own “personal” sound-tech. After seeing him try to operate the soundboard for 5 minutes the house soundman concludes that this guy has absolutely no clue how to operate a PA. Accordingly, the band sounds like total s***.

7. Bands that have more roadies than band members.

8. Bands that spell their names with a strange spelling twist e.g., junkeez, katz etc. After meeting the band, however, we are left with the impression that they didn’t intentionally try and spell their name with a twist but rather they probably just don’t know how to spell.

9. The out of town band that was lucky to get the gig, brought absolutely nobody, bitched all night long about their time slot, when told they had 1 song left in their set play 4 more anyway who when being paid out $50 in gas money asks “Is this the best you can do?”

10. Bands that arrive and state that they talked to someone at the club and were told they get to play 3rd at 10:30 and can play for an hour. When asked the name of the person they talked to they suddenly forget their name but are sure they talked to “someone”.

11. Bands who all arrive at the same time but no one is willing to play first. Subsequently the show doesn’t start until 11:30 and every-one has 10 minute sets.

12. Top 3 signs that the band will bring no one to the show - 1) 2 Weeks before the show they say “We’re gonna pack your place!” - 2) 1 Week before the show they ask - “What’s your capacity?” - 3) Upon arriving at the gig they ask “So how many people do YOU usu-ally get on a Wednesday night?”

13. Bands who draw is so bad that even their guests don’t show up.

14. Bands who have no guests because they have no friends.

15. Bands who bring absolutely no one to their first gig and then call back incessantly to ask for another show and can’t understand why they haven’t gotten asked back. That’s fine, we don’t have to eat this month and we really dig watching you guys rock out to our empty club. Bands who fit this category don’t need to bother calling back because the booking guy will always be away when you call.

16. Bands who after drawing no one at the end of the night apologize by saying, “geez, after you booked us we booked ourselves to play at the Hi-Pointe last night and we told all our friends to go to that show, that’s probably why no one came tonight. BTW, when do you think we can play here again?” (Note: see above for our response).

17. Bands who pester you to book their bands “side-project”. Side-project is another name for self-indulgent crap so embarrassingly bad they can’t dignify it with a name and gives them a cover why none of their friends will come see them “perform”. Note to bands: think of your side-project as a project never to get booked again.

18. Bands who show up wearing “All Access” laminates around their neck. (Note to these bands: We honor these laminates for the bathroom and parking lot areas only.) I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up but you don’t see me walking around wearing a spacesuit at the club. We’re convinced these people are recovering air guitar addicts from the 80’s.

19. Bands who right before their set ask to play without a PA so it won’t be deducted from their pay. (This has actually happened before). Sure, we’ll just ask the sound guy to go home for a 1/2 hour.

20. Bands that want to play in front or the side of the stage.

21. Bands that suck and then ask if you’ll swap them out a shirt. You know, our shirts actually cost us money and I really doubt any-one at the club wants to wear your shirt. How about if we swap stickers and call it even?

22. Band members that ask 10 times throughout the night for a water or soda (usually in a nasally whining voice). Typically this oc-curs when your in the middle of doing something important like counting down the drawer or dealing with actual paying customers. They usually like to precede their requests with a “Do you think its possible I could get a....” etc. etc. We feel like responding “Do you think it’s possible you could shut the f*** up and go away?”.

23. Parents of bands... this could be a whole top 39 list on its own... Parents who either a) insist on standing next to the owner all night and talking his ear off about how great their 14 year old kids band is (who BTW sound like they had never picked up an instrument in their lives before they started “playing” that night) b) insist on standing next to the the soundperson all night and making stupid sug-gestions on how to improve the sound of their kids band to the soundperson all throughout their set c) going to the bar while they wait for their kids band to play, consuming way too much, and then going to stand next to the owner and talk his ear off about how he used to jam in a band that was huge 25 years ago but now their kids band is going is going to hit mega-stardom any day now and makeup for his missed.... oh right, this is only supposed to be a paragraph.

24. Bands that leave gear behind. This happens at least several times each week and then we get the deluge of frantic phone calls in the following days about have you seen this or that piece of equipment and on the phone act like we should know where their stuff is. Its amazing how something that is so important to them the next day gets so carelessly left behind the night before. We’re the Creepy Crawl, not Bob’s Nightclub and Repository of Leftover Band S***. Keep track of your shit and take it with you when you leave!

25. Bands that send us emails that say: “We’re XXX from XXX. We wanted to play your club on XXX date. How about if you book us a show, put a bunch of good drawing locals on that bring a lot of beer drinkers and then you guys can make a lot of money and we can put on a great show in front of a big crowd and get paid. That way we all win!” Here’s an idea, why don’t we book a show with a bunch of good drawing locals that bring beer drinkers, we make a lot of money from the show and you can keep your sorry asses in XXX? (Really, we’re not making this stuff up, we actually get these emails).

26. Bands who when you tell them they have 1 more song left because they’re running late into their set decide to play a 45 minute opus full of self-absorbed guitar solos which in the course of playing covers in its entirety side 2 of Pink Floyds’ Dark Side of The Moon.

27. Bands that pester you constantly to open for a particular touring band because they swear they worship their musical footprints and are the heaven endorsed guiding light of their musical lives. On the day of the show and after you told them sorry but the show was already filled up they don’t even bother to come to the show. However, someone at the show reports hearing they decided to catch the Story of The Year show at the Pageant that night.

28. Bands that can’t play longer than a 15 minute set.

29. Bands that can’t draw two people but keep telling you that they can play as long a set as you like. “We can play an hour, an hour and a half, two hours if you want.” That’s kind of a like a doctor rushing to the scene of a car accident and asking the victims “If you need me to help prolong your bleeding I can do that.”

30. Bands that beg to play a longer 45-50 minute set. They do this knowing everyone else only gets a 1/2 hour slot. We finally relent and rework the whole show to accommodate them and they still wind up playing the same rush-through-it-because-we’re-dips 23 minute set they play every other night they play. Apparently they live in a different time dimension than everyone else on the planet. They thank you profusely at the end of the set for letting them “headline” for their fans but we make sure they buy us and everyone around us shots at full price.

31. Bands that give big lectures on stage about how important it is to support “the scene” but at the end of their set want to get paid ASAP and don’t want to wait until the other bands get done.

32. Bands that give long-winded lectures about respect... how we need to respect each other, the world we all live in, ourselves, God, our fellow man, other “artists”, Picasso, Left-handed midgets, respect this, respect that etc etc... What are these guys in the Mafia? The next morning you discover the parking spot they were parked in the night before is completely covered with empty water bottles, soda cans and Taco Bell.

33. Bands that are booked for a show but email every 12 hours to tell you they have changed their name and to please update your advertising. Call yourself Bobby & the Blowfish for all we care, pick a name and STICK WITH IT!

34. Pathetic reasons why bands cancel. Bands that cancel 10 DAYS ahead of time because they have to go to a funeral! We feel so sad for these bands. Geez, I didn’t know your grandpa was being stored on ice for 10 DAYS! Who is he, Walt Disney??? If your going to friggin lie, try and come up with something half-way believable please.

35. Shows where the 4 local bands collectively can’t outdraw the one out of town band you threw on the bill for gas money but through their own initiative and hustle actually manage to outdraw the 4 local bands (this BS actually happens!) We feel sorry and embarrassed for the out of town band who usually when getting paid out their gas money ask us quietly “whats up with the locals, who don’t they have anybody come see them?” and we tell them as loudly as we can “BECAUSE THEY ARE PATHETIC LOSERS”. Invariably (and we do mean invariably) their has to be the one local band who shoves the out of town band on the way to the door guy, lives 20 minutes away and brought a negative number of people, (they sucked so bad they ran off our happy hour crowd early) ask how much did they make and we tell them zero “BECAUSE THE BAND FROM 1/2 A CONTINENT AWAY OUTDREW YOUR PA-THETIC BAND”. Actually we don’t say that because we’re so pathetically nice, we usually say “ you guys rocked, let us know when you want to play again!”.

36 - 38: Bands that don’t correctly understand the definition of these terms -

Load-In TimeCORRECT UNDERSTANDING: If a band has a load-in time of say 6:30 from that time they may attempt to enter the premises and inquire about loading in of their gear. If they by chance happen to arrive early they can occupy themselves with other activities to fill in the time, such as: visit the library, worship at a local church or synagogue or beating up the homeless guy living in the dumpster.

INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING: If a band has a load-in time of say 6:30 they arrive at 1:45 in the afternoon and knock incessantly on the back door. Usually they knock while the owner is in the basement knee-deep in standing s*** working with a plumber to fix a leaking drain pipe. After trudging all the way upstairs to find 5 snot nosed kids asking if they can load-in now (and hang out all day!) they are politely told to f*** off and come back at 6:30.

PromoterCORRECT UNDERSTANDING: This is a person who actively works to promote a show. They promote by distributing flyers, plug-ging the show wherever they can and try to get as many people as possible to come to the show. If they have an out of town band booked on the show they take financial responsibility to ensure they get paid and are taken care of in whatever way they need. They also take charge in organizing the show and making sure all the bands know when they are scheduled to play and how the money works for getting paid.

INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING: This is a person who after asking repeatedly to put on a show does the following 1) fails to pro-mote show in any way 2) fails to communicate any show details like lineup or order of the bands to the club (or the bands themselves) 3) makes themselves very scarce at the show , assuming they show up (they sometimes make a pathetic phone call just before doors to say they’ve just contracted a rare disease called pussitis and to please take care of the out of town band). If they do show up and when questioned about things like band order, who’s taking care of the bands etc. only respond with a blank stare.

Gas Money:CORRECT UNDERSTANDING: Gas Money is a term used to designate an amount of money to get a touring band to their next show. It sometimes includes a little more than that so they buy themselves some fast-food on their way or if they are lucky enough to cover a room at a Motel 6. Generally gas money would be considered anything from $30 to $75 and depends on how well the show goes.

INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING: $200 is not gas money. $200 is we’re partying all night on the East Side and getting privates at Roxy’s for everyone in the band.

Touring Band:CORRECT UNDERSTANDING: This is a band that is engaged on a “tour”. They come to the Creepy Crawl while on their tour and often come from far away places such as the far corners of the country, Canada, Europe or Asia. They are on the road for extended periods of time, sometimes for several months at a time, in a van or bus and experience many new places along their journey. These bands are always entitled to at least gas money or more.

INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING: Driving up from Festus does not make you a touring band.

A “Following”:CORRECT UNDERSTANDING: A “following” is a collection of fans that attend the performances of a particular band. This is what bands try to develop to get ahead in the business and grow over time and is a measure of their general popularity. The larger a bands following generally means they will be booked more often and on better nights at the Creepy Crawl

INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING: A “following” does not mean all the people that attended The Queens of The Stone Age show you opened for to cover the last minute cancellation of a contractual local opener counts as your bands following (perhaps the rush to the bar by the entire club and club staff when you started playing was an indicator). And, yes, this means the Jager girls at the club that night probably didn’t come to see you and probably won’t be following you to your next show.

by CreepyCrawl.com

How to get into the college market in 4 steps

by Derek Sivers, CD Baby

I’ve made a good living playing colleges for the last 4 years. Been hired by over 350 colleges around the Northeast. I made good money doing it, but also wasted TONS of money sometimes, doing things wrong. Here’s my best advice, from experience, on what works and what doesn’t...

1. Get the database of colleges and complete contact info for the current person that does the hiring of entertainment at each college.

There are about 2800 colleges in the U.S. that constantly hire entertainment. You better have a good data-base or contact management program. I recommend Indie Band Manager. Though other popular ones are Filemaker, ACT, MS Access, Claris Works, MS Works, MS Outlook, Goldmine, etc.

I used to maintain a database of college contacts. I stopped in 2006. If you search the web a bit, I’m sure you’ll find someone selling a current list.

2. Send a one-page flyer to every school.

A GOOD one-page flyer with picture, price, testimonial quotes, contact info. Fun, colorful, exciting. De-scribe things in their terms. Don’t talk about the drummer’s background or the member names. Prove in 6 seconds why you will be a reliable good time for an evening at their college.

Name your price clearly! (I recommend $950 for a band, and $450 for a solo act. If they like you, charge a little more next time. But for a new, unknown act even in their circles, don’t expect more than this.)

My advice on how to make a good college flyer is here: http://cdbaby.org/collegeflyer

3. Tell them, on the flyer, to call for free CD and video.

Send it ASAP when they DO call. Follow-up until they say no thanks. Once they say “No” do NOT call them back. They hate that.

4. When one school books you, call ALL the other schools in the area.

Send them great promo material. Have colorful posters, table tents, postcards. And do not be depressed when you play to 4 people on a Tuesday afternoon in a flourescent lit cafeteria. Be nice, take the money, go home, thank them, and keep in touch...

Voila. That’s it. The best bang for the buck in the college market.

(And believe me I tried MANY other ways of doing it. Don’t waste your money. Do it this way.)

COLLEGE FYI:

1.Sending 500 flyers will usually get you 4 phone calls. 2 of those will hopefully turn into bookings. But it only costs $150 to mail 500 flyers, and you’ll make that back with one gig.

2.They often book a semester in advance. In October they book their February - May entertainment. In March they book their September-December calendar.

3.Don’t email. Don’t call unless it’s crucial. Just send a short flyer that can be read in 10 seconds. Send more than that and they won’t read it. Trust me. (I once spent $3000 sending every college the ultimate kit with video, CD, 10 pages of info, etc. I didn’t get one single phone call!!! A few months later I sent a single effortless one-page flyer. I got 20 calls and 10 gigs. Go figure...)

4.Student activites people that hire you are the squeaky clean girls than run for class treasurer. College radio people are the rebels with pierced faces. The two camps do NOT communicate. If you want college radio play, it’s a whole different world. Don’t think that they’ll just fall into place for you.

5.Don’t bother joining NACA and going to the conferences and all that mess unless you’re totally com-mitted to it. Yes it may get you some more gigs, but you’ll spend $3000 to find out. Those conferences are way too expensive. My band HIT ME got the big mainstage showcase one year and yes we booked 30 gigs that weekend. BUT - it took me three years, 12 conferences, and about $20,000 to get it. My best advice to start, is to save the $, go with my plan #1-4 at the top of this page.

TOUR FUNDING!

FACTOR Tour Support Deadlineswww.factor.ca

April 30th, June 26th, Aug. 28th, Oct. 30th, Dec. 15th, 2009, Jan. 29th, 2010Program Information

The Tour Support Program’s objective is to support domestic and foreign touring activities by Canadian artists and to contribute to the development of the Canadian music industry both domestically and internationally.

The maximum amount of funding available is $15,000 which represents 75% of the total eligible budget, not to exceed the total cash expenditure, or the amount of the shortfall.

The sound recording that this tour will support must have sold a minimum of 2,000 confirmed units.

Funding for this program is provided by Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters and the Department of Canadian

Heritage’s Canada Music Fund’s New Musical Works Component.

Canada Council of the Arts Touring Support for Professional Musicianswww.canadacouncil.ca

You may submit your application at any time, but the completed application form and all required support material must be postmarked a minimum of six weeks before the planned departure date. Be sure to allow sufficient time to complete the application form and to organize your support material.

This program offers Canadian music professionals (individuals) an opportunity to travel on occasions important to their artistic development. Music professionals include instrumentalists, singers, composers, librettists, arrangers, performers, conductors, singers/songwriters, artistic directors and opera stage directors.

Eligible Applicants

To apply to this program, you must be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status, as defined by Citizen-ship and Immigration Canada. If you are a permanent resident, you must provide evidence of your legal status.

Music BC MITAP programwww.musicbc.org

As many of you are aware, this program is currently being reviewed by the new Minister and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, & the Arts. As soon as we have an update on the status, we will let you know! We appricate the support of everyone who wrote to us and the ministry, and hope that we have positive news to share shortly...

Touring the United States:

P-2 Work VisasFEE STRUCTURE AND APPLICATION PROCESScourtesy of the Vancouver Musician’s Associationhttp://www.vma145.ca

The Canadian Locals of the AFM are able to provide P-2 Work Visas to their members. These P-2 Work Visas facilitate hassle free border crossings into the US. This is a major coup negotiated with the United States Citi-zenship and Immigration Services (U.S.C.I.S.) by the AFM Canada and the AFM New York. The following eight points highlight the current procedures required to obtain a P-2 Work Permit.

1) Applications must be received in the Canadian Office of the AFM 120 days in advance of your planned de-parture date.

2) A flat fee of $320.00, US money order or bank draft, is required and made payable to Department of Home-land Security. (no personal cheques, cash or postal money orders). An expedited review process is available from the U.S.C.I.S. for the additional fee of $1,000.00 US. Two separate US money orders will be required i.e. one for $320.00 and the other for $1,000.00. An expedited P-2 Work Visa application will be processed within 30 days of receipt by the U.S.C.I.S.

3) A cheque in the amount of $35.00 (Cdn) is required, made payable to the AFM (Canada), to pay for courier fees to the U.S.C.I.S. service center located in Vermont. If your application is rejected there are no refunds.

4) An additional cheque in the amount of $25.00 (Cdn) is required, made payable to the Vancouver Musicians’ Association (VMA), to pay for courier fees to head office in Toronto.

5) The only crew permitted to travel with a band is technical support persons, i.e. light and sound personnel. (Note: support crews must file separate P-2 applications and pay an additional $320.00 US processing fee). No additional $25.00 (Cdn) courier fee will be charged if all applications are sent as a package.

6) Extended medical insurance is required; attach a proof of coverage to your application.

7) Make sure all AFM contracts are duplicated and typed or printed neatly. All members and their Local num-bers must be affixed to the contract. Both the engager and the leader’s signature must appear on the contract(s). All application forms must be legible and include the correct port of entry i.e. the proper name of the US ground crossing or Airport.

8) Your P-2 Work Visa(s) will be delivered to the border crossing or airport indicated on your application. You will no longer be able to pick up your visa(s) at the VMA office. You will receive notification when your P-2 has been accepted. The notification will be mailed to the leader’s address that is noted on the contract(s). In the case of late filings, the approval notice may be faxed to your local AFM office.

http://www.sonicbids.comSave money on postage by submitting an eletronic press kit online!

http://www.vma145.caMusicians Association, info on visas and how to tour the states (legally)!

http://www.indieguide.com/category/view/Booking_ResourcesLists other sites with valuable information!

http://www.coca.orgCanadian Organization of Campus Activities, for booking college gigs!

http://apca.com/Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities, (American) http://www.ocff.ca/members/festival.htmlOntario Council of Folk Festivals - listing all the folk festivals in Ontario!

http://www.byofl.orgDIY touring resource listing venues, promoters and more!

http://www.couchsurfing.comNeed a place to crash? Worldwide network of people with couches for you!

http://betterthanthevan.com/A community of free places to stay for bands on tour

Places to promote your shows online!www.artistdata.com www.eventful.com www.sonicbids.com www.newmusiccanada.com www.last.fm www.facebook.com www.myspace.com

links and resources

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