By Liam Duncan
These
days, it’s al-
most assumed
that bands
hit the road
and lose their
shirts. The image of the starving artist is a tired cliché, but one that
many people buy into.
In fact, many artists also end up believing that they can’t
make money touring. This perceived risk often prevents them
from ever trying to hit the road.
Before I get into why I think this is false and you should be tour-
ing, let me first say that some artists are wise to wait. For example,
profitably touring a seven-piece band is very difficult. Only you
can know if you’re ready to get on the road and take the financial
risks involved.
“I’m not a big fan of touring for the sake of touring,” explains
Tim Jones of Pipe & Hat, an artist management firm and record
label from Winnipeg. “To me, you end up losing money if you’re
chomping at the bit to get out there and end up going on a tour
that doesn’t make sense.”
That said, I’ve been profitably touring with my original band,
The Middle Coast, since I was 17 years old. I also interviewed Mur-
ray Wood of Edmonton folk-tinged indie pop trio Scenic Route To
Alaska. After releasing their album Long Walk Home last fall, they
toured for literally three months straight. Nobody would do this if
it was losing them wads of money.
“The way we did it right off the bat was to do what was eas-
iest first,” shares Wood. “We started with smaller tours in Western
Canada, built up those markets, and went from there.”
Similarly, my band’s first tour was 10 days long and we came
out with $400. Our second tour was 18 days long, and we came
out with around $800. We weren’t exactly rolling in it, but all of
our food was paid for, all expenses covered, and we didn’t really
lose any money except in lost wages from our part-time jobs. And
we were young, so that didn’t matter.
y
i
d
touri ng
3
PART
42 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
BUDGETING
FOR THE ROAD