Green Knuckle Material - TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the pop punk band, Green Knuckle Material, recommends advice for being a musician on the road. You can check out the tips below:

Hey Knuckleheads! It’s your boys, Green Knuckle Material! We’ve had the pleasure of going on a few different tours, and it’s always been a great time, for the most part. However, we definitely have some tips to share from our experience that will help improve yours!

Tour Tip #1: Book Your Itinerary in Advance
The first tour tip is to have good quality shows, along with your routes to get there, booked ahead of time. Yes, you can tour by the seat of your pants (whatever that expression means), but it is far better to have your shows and routes planned out before you hit the road. Doing so will make sure you maximize your time playing rather than calling ten different restaurants on a Tuesday night to see if they have an open mic. Yes, we really did that, and if we’re being completely honest, that open mic slapped! Still, it’s way better to know exactly when and where you’re playing, as well as how much you’re getting paid for the show. Speaking of pay, that leads me to Tip #2.

Tour Tip #2: Busk Whenever You Can
Let’s face it. If you’re a touring musician, you’re broke. It’s okay. We are too. Because of this, you should be busking in every city/busy area you come across. What does that mean? It means all the members of the band, yes, even the singer who “needs to rest his voice” (such a diva), grab their instruments, head to the nearest busy corner, put out a tip jar, and start playing your music. Doing this in every location can add up to hundreds, maybe even thousands of extra dollars. You’d be surprised what you can make in just an hour of doing this, especially if your singer can sing Despacito (ydK is such a show-off). Sometimes, it’s enough to pay for your gas to get you to the next gig, or even, God-willing, to cover your next hotel room. Speaking of hotel rooms, let’s check out Tip #3.

Tour Tip #3: Have a Place to Stay
This one is non-negotiable. Picture this: you wake up coated in grease, with a pounding headache, smelling worse than the dumpster you’re parked next to, baking in what can only be the most accurate representation of Hell you’ve ever experienced. It only takes waking up, hungover, in a ninety-degree van one time to absolutely hate your touring life and question every decision that ever led you to it. Therefore, it’s extremely important that you set up a place to stay ahead of time to avoid this at all costs. If you killed it busking, and/or saved up enough money to afford hotels, these are a Godsend. And, even if you can’t afford a hotel, at the very least, you should be hitting up friends, family, other bands, even fans, or anyone you know within a few hours’ drive of your gig, so that you can get a hot shower, some food, and a good night’s rest on a couch, bed, or even a comfy floor. Trust us, and thank us later.

Tour Tip #4: Take Care of Yourselves: Vitamins, Food, Sleep, Exercise
When touring, the health of your band members should be a number-one priority. If one of you gets sick, you’re all going to get sick. This means you can’t play the show or make money, and few things are more annoying than a whiny singer with a sore throat. Therefore, make sure to have an adequate supply of Vitamin C at all times, work out regularly, eat three meals a day, and get eight hours of sleep. A membership to Planet or Retro Fitness can help a ton with getting proper exercise, and we’ve had success getting free food from Chipotle while on the road. Just make sure you call ahead and verify they still do that for touring bands.

Tour Tip #5: An Empty Bar Still Has Staff
While every tip we’ve mentioned has been important, none of them are as important as this. The reason you’re touring is, yes, for the experience, but ultimately, it’s for the fans. You need to engage every person you come across. Become friends with them because they’re the people who will come see you when you come back, and they’re the people who will help your touring dreams come true. Every person counts, and you should be playing to one person as if it’s one million people. An empty bar still has staff.

Bonus Tour Tip: Keep Dreamin’
We promise you the road will get tough. We promise that you will be miserable sometimes. We promise that you will play for empty bars. We promise that you will question your decisions. We promise that you will get frustrated with your bandmates. We promise you that even if you follow all these tips, you will hate your life sometimes. However, we also promise you that you will make lasting memories and friendships and experience life in a whole new way, good or bad. Don’t lose faith, stay persistent, and we promise it will get better. Keep dreamin’!

Keep up with Green Knuckle Material their website, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.