East Cameron Folkcore – TOUR TIPS

This new set of Tour Tips was written by the folk band, East Cameron Folkcore. You can check out their tips for being on the road, after the break.

1) Socks! Buy a new pack of socks, like 6 pair or a dozen right at the beginning of the tour. After being on the road for two to three weeks, sleeping in strange places, optionally showering, eating only bread, hummus, and raw veggies and the occasional hamburger, and feeling generally out of your comfort zone, put on a brand new pair of socks and the whole world feels wonderful. With a pack of them, you get to this every day for at least a week.

2) Drink Water! When consuming a steady intake of alcoholic beverages and convulsing your muscles in strange unnatural ways every night, you gotta stay hydrated. Otherwise you’ll cramp up, your vocal chords may sound like a 13 year old’s or just be gone, and your body will likely do things that you never thought it was capable; like spontaneously just not working.

3) Stretch and Meditate! It’s good practice to stretch every day. Again with the muscle convulsing, but also you’ll be spending long stints of time cramped in a bus or van, or sometimes a sedan. That’s not really a natural way for us as animals to spend our daily existence. Meditation is good as it clears your mind from stress and concerns and allows you to concentrate and most of all enjoy your night/day in a new city and throughout the show. I meditate before every show we have on the road in the intention of summoning as much energy as possible so as to use that energy during the show and with the audience.

4) Bring something else to do! Last tour I brought Fruity Loops with me so I could play with beats in our down time. Other good ideas are books, portable WiFi, iPod, sketch-book, crochet kit, build-your-own monster mask kits, skateboard, tools and materials to begin building a self-sustaining renewable energy source… which will come in handy when the van breaks down, or you know… the future of the human race.

5) Don’t forget how awesome this is! I’ve seen A LOT of bands get worn out and start acting bitchy. We’re no different. It hits us all at some point. However, always be cool and professional with the people you work with and remember that you’re on the road, traveling the country/world with some of, or all, of your best friends. That is an incredible thing that you get to do, regardless of how much money you make, how many people are in the audience, how shitty the monitors may sound, how much your stomach hurts from tour food, how much you may miss loved ones at home. Touring is still a gorgeous and unique way of experiencing the world. If you’re about to blow up, go for a walk, cool off, and be happy that you’re there and not waiting on some people that have a million questions about the wine and have no idea that you’re a rock star.

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Did you find these tips useful? Let us know in the comments below!