Does anyone have any advice about touring and getting as many bookings as possible? My band are thinking of touring during summer some time, (probably next summer now) and have never toured before. Thanks!
First, fix your website. No point in having gigs if I can't find out where they are (and as an aside, change the word gigs to "Appearances." Gigs are what you have, not what your audience goes to see. It's similar to the difference between "jobs" and "work experience.")
The black on black Nav button has got to go as well. Took me ages to find it. All navigation tools should jump out and hit your customers right in their optic nerves . You're selling yourselves, make it easy to buy. Work the artsy-fartsy stuff in around that.
Ok, so on to the actual touring stuff. First step, buy a van. Second step, learn to drive it. Third step, all get licenses. Not much point in going to step four until you get that behind you.
I'm serious. Jeezum crow you guys are young. You don't want to hear this, but you aren't ready to tour, and you're already doing alright for yourselves by the looks of things. Just keep doing that for awhile and fill in the blanks with as many *local* gigs as you can. You need more experience just performing.
Step four, by the way, is get a lawyer. Step five is get an agent and let him/her worry about getting the bookings (you look like you should be attractive to one). Most young bands do that in the reverse order, because they only discover they need a lawyer after the contracts are signed, and then find out what the contract really meant. The whole bloody point of the lawyer is to keep you from signing those contracts in the first place, not to try to bail you out afterwards.
Ok, so how do you get local gigs? That's easy, you just go ask for them. Do that a few hundred times and you'll start to build the experience you need to ask for gigs out of town without getting screwed in the process.
Tours
Tours
Does anyone have any advice about touring and getting as many bookings as possible? My band are thinking of touring during summer some time, (probably next summer now) and have never toured before. Thanks!
# Posted on February 27th 2005 by jimbob
Re: Tours
First, fix your website. No point in having gigs if I can't find out where they are (and as an aside, change the word gigs to "Appearances." Gigs are what you have, not what your audience goes to see. It's similar to the difference between "jobs" and "work experience.")
The black on black Nav button has got to go as well. Took me ages to find it. All navigation tools should jump out and hit your customers right in their optic nerves . You're selling yourselves, make it easy to buy. Work the artsy-fartsy stuff in around that.
Ok, so on to the actual touring stuff. First step, buy a van. Second step, learn to drive it. Third step, all get licenses. Not much point in going to step four until you get that behind you.
I'm serious. Jeezum crow you guys are young. You don't want to hear this, but you aren't ready to tour, and you're already doing alright for yourselves by the looks of things. Just keep doing that for awhile and fill in the blanks with as many *local* gigs as you can. You need more experience just performing.
Step four, by the way, is get a lawyer. Step five is get an agent and let him/her worry about getting the bookings (you look like you should be attractive to one). Most young bands do that in the reverse order, because they only discover they need a lawyer after the contracts are signed, and then find out what the contract really meant. The whole bloody point of the lawyer is to keep you from signing those contracts in the first place, not to try to bail you out afterwards.
Ok, so how do you get local gigs? That's easy, you just go ask for them. Do that a few hundred times and you'll start to build the experience you need to ask for gigs out of town without getting screwed in the process.
KFG
# Posted on February 27th 2005 by KFG
Re: Tours
Ta very much
# Posted on February 28th 2005 by jimbob