DRUMMER CAFE

Ok, my band is planning to take off a year, or half a year after graduating from High school and pursue our music interests. We basically wanna try to tour America. The only problem is that we have no idea how to go about doing this. We don’t have a record deal, but we do have a CD, and we just want to do this to play our music around America, so money is no issue, as long as we eat were happy. Basically, I want to know how we should go about doing this, or if we can do this.

 Do you hook up with a touring circuit and then go around the country with other bands- if so, how? Or do you have to book your own places everywhere you go? Or is this not possible unless you get a record deal?

 Right now were trying to decide or find out how to do this, I tried searching the internet without much luck, so any insight would help a lot. If there’s links to other topics that would be appreciated too.

I know there’s probably 50 million other bands with the same idea as us, so I also wanted to know if it was viable or not.

Have you thought about the expense of touring? Gas, hotels, every meal in a restaurant, vehicle repairs, etc.?

Unless you're independently wealthy, money will be an issue. A BIG issue.

As an unknown original band, even if you do book a bunch of dates, you will make very little money at first, definitely not enough to pay the expenses I listed above. Remember that you will not be playing every night, but you WILL need a place to stay every night.

Not trying to discourage you - just wanted you to take a realistic look at what you're planning.

Locate and use a regional booking agent.  A good one can keep you playing.  Remember that transportation. lodging, and meals will more than likely cost more than you will make the first months.  

I hate to be the one to bring it up, but your profile says you live in Vietnam. Im thinking that in the political climate in the U.S. right now I really think it would be difficult for you to even get a work visa for your whole band to come over. I could be wrong on this but I would think it would be very difficult. I think the first thing you need to do is contact someone in your government or the U.S. government  to see if this is even possible for you to attempt. Im not quite sure yours will let you come here for that. If I am wrong Im sorry for bringing it up but that is probably the reality of it.

Thanks for bringing this up, both me and my bassist are americans so this shouldnt be a problem, the singer/guitarist is swedish and the bassits dad works at the american embassy, so he could probably pull some strings for the guitarist.


True, and this is an issue that could pose some problems, and i'll have to raise it with the band, but I think were still prepared to take that risk and see how it goes.


Excellent idea, I'll keep that one in mind

Thanks to everyone for their advice and concerns. Im more concerned that we'll show up in a city and there will be no gigs to play.

We'll try getting in contact with agents or bands, it would be better to have it mostly organised before we begin, but i get the impression that we'd have to book all our gigs just before we have them.

If anyone else has anything to point out or say, dont hesitate to.

On a side note, i wonder why nobody has thought of setting up bar and club tours with unsigned bands around the country, or state. Or have they and im just not aware of them?

I'll back this up with a real-life scenario. Keep in mind that I'm not complaining. This is just the way it goes in LA.

Let's say that you want to play The Whisky on the famous Sunset Strip. Depending on the night, you will pay them anywhere from $250-$450 for the privilege.

What you get for that is a handful of tickets that you have to sell for your set, which is supposed to last 35 minutes. So if you pay $450 for your spot, that works out to about $12.86 per minute.

Imagine if you were walking down the street in LA and someone tried to sell you a $10 or $15 ticket to see an original band you'd never heard of to play at midnight on a Wednesday. Would you bite?

When DELTA 9 played there last (before I was in the band), their set got cut short to 25 minutes. Also, they took the stage TWO HOURS LATE because of schedule mix-ups. That really helps your fan base (NOT)!

That's what they got for $300.

The band also paid an additional $80 for a "pro" video of the event, and the sound was screwed up on the first half of it. The sound man didn't care.

DELTA 9 was offered a free night to make up for it, thanks to their manager's efforts (Wood Fowler). Otherwise, it would have been a boot in the a$$ out the door and NEXT! They don't care that you "rock out".

If you want to play in LA, you can expect a TON of work, a TON of expense, and not much return. I can say I've played every club on The Sunset Strip. Nobody's impressed by that, especially the locals. That and $8 will get me a beer. Don't forget the 2 drink minimum and the $10 parking.

You can play outside of Hollywood and make some dough, but not much. The further away you get from LA, the bigger your crowd and the more money you'll make.

Add this to the modern young person's notion that music should be free, and you've got a whole new situation. This falls under a different topic.

I think that an original band would be best served playing an area where there isn't much competition and little in the way of entertainment options. Establishing yourself in one area, instead of playing once everywhere, is best.

There's a couple of good books you might want to check out; Hal Galper's THE TOURING MUSICIANS GUIDE TO THE ROAD (which has the best tutorial for putting together a tour calendar and budget I've ever read) and Dave Leibman's book.

Your options kinda depend on what kind of music you play and where you want to. There's a sort of jazz singer that tours with just guitar and bass and about half of her tour dates are at a book store chain. The chain doesn't really pay, but she has the opportunity to sell a lot of CDs etc. But these kinda gigs don't really hire large loud bands. Likewise, folks acts have a network of "living room" or "salon" concerts, you get accomodations, the bread from the admissions and a home cooked meal. But again, no death/goth/Tuvan polka bands.
There ARE networks of alterna/metal/etc. bands who will trade shows, but you basically got to have a market for them to come to.

But the bottom line, if you're just driving a van into town, how are you gonna know where to eat, much less where to play. You gotta have more of a plan, either through paying people to help (agents, promoters, etc.) or through networking people who play the same kind of music.

Although, if one of the cats is Swedish, maybe see if there's any kind of cultural exchange grants that would help cover tour expenses. I don't think you're gonna have as hard a time getting in from Vietnam as say, Indonesia (not a very large Muslim population in Vietnam), but that's gonna be a hard nut to carry (3 plane tickets from Asia!) The US has a series that sends jazz musicians to various regions, pays their way, pays them. There's an audition process and the commitment is 3 to 6 months. Search "Jazz Ambassador grants".

Not at all, all the advice is welcome, I'll keep in mind the mailing list, as for a CD we plan to have one out next month. A question about CDs, how much do you think we should charge for a 10 track CD?


I'll look into that, I  know that they get lots of grants from the govt, and I know they get college grants if they go abroad.


We play soft rock/ alt rock mostly. I think this has pretty much eliminated our chances of touring, but at least Im informed now. So I guess its time to go hunting down record companies...


Ya I know, I dont know where I'd be without the cafe!