|
Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Touring Tips By Daryl Shawn
From the editor: Daryl Shawn is a fingerstyle guitarist who never ceases to amaze with his clever arrangements of songs you didn’t think you could ever like better. He’s also a very nice person, so I’ve promoted his web page and videos on more than one occasion. Recently Daryl did a solo tour in which he was able to catch up with friends in three states, entertain hundreds of people, make countless new friends and fans, and return home in good health with money in his pockets - something that hasn’t always been the case. He first published these notes as a favor to some musician friends and kindly gave me permission to republish them here. Enjoy - Paul D. Race
I've been doing solo tours since 2007, and since then, I've made just about every mistake in the book. I've starved, froze, run out of gas, gotten lost, slept in Greyhound stations, and played to zero people all across this country. I've also played some great shows, and wouldn't trade any of it for anything. Here are some bits of advice I thought I'd share:
- Go to Trader Joe's and fill up a bag with your choice of nutrition bars (Clif Bars, Luna Bars, etc). The 99 cents you spend on one of these will allow you to save $10 on a diner breakfast, not to mention the hour you spend at a table. Plus, for those times when you find out after the gig that all the restaurants are closed in town, this will save you from going to bed gnawing on your pillow. I like the individual-sized servings of almonds too, another good snack.
- You will never be wanting for fried food on the road, and sometimes, it's all you can get. When you have the choice, get something extremely nutritious to balance out the fries. Subway allows you to do a salad of anything you want, from their whole counter, for $6. Skip the bread (and meat and cheese), and get a dose of health.
- Be prepared to be as gregarious as possible. Especially at house concerts, people will judge you by how friendly you are, as much as how musical you are. And be prepared to converse with people whose beliefs and values are completely different from your own. You are a diplomat of your own country; smile politely, swallow your tongue and find common ground.
- Fill up the gas tank as soon as you hit a quarter tank. You do NOT want to risk running out, or wasting time far from a highway searching for a station.
- Merch will keep you going. Magnets and stickers in addition to CDs. And if you have multiple albums, bring enough copies of all of them. On this last tour, I brought boxes full of my new album, and a handful of older ones. But a number of people wanted a wider variety of music, or else they'd already bought the new one online and wanted something else. I ran out very quickly and missed out on sales.
- For guitarists, have a pack of strings and a string winder within reach at every show. On the first night of this tour, I popped a string just as I was about to launch into the first song. I was able to take care of it quickly without sweating before my set.
- Bring a mic, cable, direct box and mic stand to every show. I don't know how many times where the house mic or cable or stand or direct box was broken. At one joint, the venue wanted $25 to rent the mic and cable for the night (!). I was able to get out of that by having my own.
 New for this tour, I bought an Adir Steel Suggestion Box and a Kensington Desktop Computer lock as a security device. Each night, I locked it to a leg of the merch table. It worked great - the majority of my sales came when I wasn't at the merch table, by people putting cash in this box. I also got a lot more tips.- Time is the most precious resource. As soon as you hit the road, every moment is spoken for. Accomplish as much as you can beforehand, and if you find a spare hour, use it wisely. This tour, I screwed up in keeping in touch with my mailing list. By the time the last dates rolled around, I didn't have a spare moment and I never sent out a personal invitation to the folks on my list in those areas, I know I missed out on some attendance.
- Start booking at least three months in advance, and for every new town, hit up at least five venues. In all these years, only once have two good venues confirmed a show with me in the same town at the same time.
- Never EVER ever leave your guitar in the car, even in the trunk, even for a second. I recommend getting a rigid foam guitar case with backpack straps (I've used Kaces polyfoam cases for years.) so it's easy to slip on your back and do whatever you need to do.
Good luck!
- Daryl Shawn
http://www.darylshawn.com/
Stay in Touch
As always, please contact us with corrections, complaints, clarifications, etc.
God bless,
Paul
SchoolOfTheRock.com
| Visit related pages and affiliated sites: |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
