Feb. 15, 2012 - Issue #852: The Coffee Issue
Hittin’ the road
Featuring Rob Wright, Art Szabo, Ben Sures
Brixx Bar & Grill, Free for Alberta Music members, $10 for non-members
As a member of Edmonton's rock 'n' roll zoo Les Tabernacles, Rob Wright gained plenty of experience booking tours. So much so that when it came time to get a real job, he got one booking tours for other bands. Now a booking agent for SL Feldman in Vancouver, Wright will return to Edmonton to participate in a panel on touring called Hittin' the Road for the Alberta Music Industry Association. Below are his top five tips for DIY tour booking—but he's got way more, so don't skip the talk.
Have realistic expectations
"I certainly don't want to discourage people from grandiose plans, but keep things somewhat realistic. If you've not yet released a record, maybe you shouldn't embark on a North American tour. It's OK to have the pie-in-the-sky dreams and longer goals to work toward, but it's important to really build things out and not just jump immediately.
"It's important to realize you're running a business ultimately whether you like it or not—art is art but if you want to make it your living it's gotta be a business too and you've gotta be pretty diligent about putting hard work and effort in if you wanna see some results. The best things come to people who are willing to put in the time and effort and not look to others to fulfill their dreams and wishes."
Use the phone
"An email is a pretty easy thing to ignore. I mean, you don't wanna harass the shit out of anyone and call them 15 times a day and annoy them, but I think that you can be a little more persuasive or just personable on the phone as opposed to an email.
"That said, there are club bookers where you'll get them on the phone and they'll go, 'Just email me, just email me.' You'll have a five-minute conversation on the phone with them and they'll go, 'Yeah, can you just email all that to me?'"
Get a publicist
"I think one of the best things a band can do and one of the best places a band can spend money initially for marketing is on a publicist.
"It's not likely that you're going to have a whole ton of money but maybe you can focus on the major markets at least and you can probably find somebody for a relatively reasonable fee. Ultimately, the promoter may or may not be really on board with getting the word out about your band and that's something that's really essential, particularly for an indie band that doesn't have a label or a publicist in-house at that label to trumpet the band and get the word out about them.
"Getting in touch on a street level, getting in touch with blogs, people who are going to be the ground level supporters, is a really important thing."
Realistic drives
"Don't drive overnight. It's tough in a country like Canada, but try to book shows that are four or six hours apart from each other, or give yourself a day off if you've gotta drive 15 hours.
"I've done it before myself, I've done the overnight drives, but I wouldn't recommend it. Book yourself a realistic routing, giving yourself ample time to get to shows. Also, you won't be exhausted at your shows: you'll be able to give a better performance."
Pick your battles
"Don't get wasted every night in a row. Do it every other night and take lots of vitamin C. It can help you to not get sick.
"When I was in Les Tabs I would get lung infections fairly often because I would just push things too far. Drinking lots, that sure never helps your immune system. Eat a fucking vegetable and take some vitamin C." vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus
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