Keeping It Together on the Road
The life of a touring musician is a paradoxical thing: we work when most other people are off...at nights and/or the weekends. We rarely play a gig that allows us to sleep in our own beds and our kids are grown and gone before we know it. In some ways, "Life on the Road" is the simplest of propositions. We gotta get up and get to the gig. Life at home, by comparison, is infinitely more complicated. I've often considered the actual performing part of touring is a reward for weathering all the weirdness that it takes to get you to curtain time. I know too many of my comrades who've hung up their traveling shoes, not because they weren't making enough money in this business, but because they couldn't maintain a semblance of a normal life. So, after over two decades of riding the roads, rails, and airways of the planet, I'd like to offer a collection of random thoughts about how to keep it all together during those time before the show and after the audience splits...
Keeping Sane... When I'm at home I've got responsibilities that go far beyond being a musician. I'm a husband, a father, a neighbor, a volunteer for several organizations, UVA basketball fan, erstwhile catcher in a city hardball league. I mean, I'm almost a normal guy. Other than the fact that most weekends find me far from the parties and little league games and various social functions my wife, kids, and friends frequent. So I have to invent some routine...a series of habits that I take with me on the road to preserve what I call the "rhythms of home." I try to keep up with the news, catch my daily fix of "All Things Considered," exercise. It's not the same as being there but it keeps me connected with some constants in my life and lets me know I'm, somehow, fielding some of the same information my family and pals back home traffic in.
Here are some other examples of what might work for you: Touring is a rigorous, exhausting ordeal, at any level of the business. Lots of sitting, eating bad food, short nights, etc. You know the story. I maintain an exercise regime that I've allowed to become a welcome and centering habit. I joined a gym (Gold's, in my case) that has nationwide affiliates. This means I can get into member gyms around the US and Canada for free. There are a number of other gyms like this. Secondarily, many health clubs belong to a network (the International Physical Fitness Association, or IPFA, is one) and will reciprocate memberships. Check out whether the one you belong to or are considering joining belongs to one. YMCAs, of course, are worldwide.
If you regularly attend a church, mosque, or synagogue, try to keep it up on the road. The yellow pages is the first source to check out.
Call home regularly. Don't be fooled by the myth of "quality time." It's a rationalization yuppies (and musicians) invented to make themselves feel OK about allowing themselves to be overworked while their children grow up without them. Kids (and spouses!) want regular, meaningful contact. Kids want you just to be there...even ignoring them, it often doesn't matter. So call home regularly. The same time every night or every other night, if at all possible. How 'bout right after their suppertime? Right before their bedtime? I used to plan my intermissions around my six year old's bedtime every night. In that regard, get a calling card. Some earn frequent flier miles. AT&T is a union company. Lot's of things to consider.
Keep It Simple.... Now, I don't necessarily mean this is uncomplicated. There are simply an inordinate amount of hassles and big/small worries for which there are some solutions I've found really helpful...
Get a good flight case. For every instrument. No on needs to arrive at a gig with a busted ax. I use Calton Cases (of Calgary, AB) who make the case of choice for most of the guitar, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle players I know. Even when I'm not flying there's plenty of unwanted knocking around. My Caltons are not much bigger than a regular case and I'm usually not even asked to sign that damn waiver for the airlines. Protect your good instrument with a good case.
Get the AFM's Instrument Insurance. You're simply crazy not to have it. It's the best there is. It's cheap, comprehensive, replacement value, and, best of all, it understands they way musicians work and live. Get it. Period.
Join every airline/hotel/etc. frequent flier program you can that doesn't cost. It'll be worth it before you know it. A free trip for the family or when the travel costs to a gig are prohibitive is something you'll get real mileage from. A free upgrade certificate on a red-eye flight, or just a chance to stretch out or quaff a free beer after a truly weird gig...oh man! There are also ways to get free six-month trials in those car rental bypass-the-counter clubs. I got a free trial to the Hertz Gold Club about five years ago (they normally charge about $50/year) and, by renting from them occasionally, they've extended that free membership ever since. Avis and National also have them. I usually have my car and I'm back at baggage claim before my stuff is even coming down the belt. Stand in line for a half an hour at the counter some time (and who hasn't done that?) and you'll wish you'd joined. I've also found that many premium hotels, Hiltons especially, drop their rates dramatically on the weekends. In fact, I can usually stay at a Hilton for less than the cost of a Holiday Inn Friday-Sunday nights. Once you get used to the quiet, a good bed, better security (remember your instruments and all that cash you're carrying around on tour!), decent room service, and a better than average hotel restaurant, even a $10 or $20 difference is worth it in the bigger cities. If you spend truly large amounts of time flying, it might pay to join one of the airlines' lounges. They ain't cheap (most start at about $125) but they're quiet, smoke-free, have places to rest up, call home, use a Xerox or a fax machine. All the costs for this and the above things are, of course, tax-deductible.
Keeping Up... Even if you've got an agent, a publicist, a manager, a secretary, and a gardener you've got to keep up with things at home and in your office... Make sure your answering machine can be reached by remote access. You can't afford to not get your messages until you get home after a 3-week tour. Are you on Email? That's a cheap way for people to contact you. I know people who carry on Email relationships with their friends and family while on the road. The AFM Bulletin Board is one place to start. Make sure everyone in your personal and professional life that needs to know how to reach you on the road has a detailed itinerary. This would/could include your family, your agent/manager, your record company, best buddy, parents, etc.
Keeping Track... How can you possibly remember all the gigs you've done? The name of that promoter's little boy who thought you hung the moon? What you got paid last time? What songs you played? The fact that that one place never has enough working mics? It's an information nightmare unless you're organized somehow. I started out with index cards, then fill-in-the-blank forms I created. It was still lots of filing, retrieving, copying things a dozen times, carrying loads of lose-able little scraps around. I finally succumbed and bought one of those nifty little laptop computers...just like the one I'm using on this flight to Mobile, AL to write this article... Here's what's on my Powerbook... My setlists for every gig going back to 1988. It's invaluable for those places I play every single year. You only get one chance to not do an identical show. My calendar. My address book. My database of gigs, past and future, complete with personal notes about which promoters are baseball freaks, who likes sushi, where the good cross-country skiing places are nearby, who wanted me to let them know the next time I was going to be in the area for a piggy-backed gig. Songs and assorted writing I'm working on. Financial records. How much did I make at this gig last time? If you get a modem, you can send/receive faxes and Email.
Keep It Possible... Here are a few miscellaneous things that don't really fit in any of the above categories... You'll need a good shoulder bag or brief case. Everyone is different, I won't even attempt to recommend a particular one. But in mine I always have: A Walkman and earphones to review works in progress. A set of earplugs for noisy flights, hotel rooms, and naps in unusual places. One of those inflatable pillows. A folder with my contracts for the gigs (Don't ever forget these!). At least one book I'm reading. Reading keeps me relaxed and feeling at home while I'm out on the road. A couple of those high-calorie energy bars...for when the sound checks get out of control and you can't split for supper.
And finally... a folder with brochures and applications for the AFM. Every poor sucker that shares a bill with me or is my opening act gets hit up. My Local (Local 1000) has a great brochure describing the benefits of union membership. No one can organize better than a regular rank-and-filer like you and me. We know first hand the benefits of union membership and if/when all musicians are organized our jobs will be more lucrative, sane, and secure.
Obviously, not all of the above for everyone. Some of it is painfully obvious. Some may be a revelation to you. No need to reinvent the wheel. Hope it's helpful and that your journey is smooth, every gig SRO, and the road home short.