Stephen Kellogg – TOUR TIPS

This new set of Tour Tips was written by roots-rock artist, Stephen Kellogg. You can check out his tips for being on the road, after the break.

1. Don’t eat like a little kid. Most places are going to offer you burgers, fries and nuggets every night, but if your tour is going to last for any amount of time, give your body food it can fight off late nights, smoke, germs and physical wear and tear with.

2. Listen to your shows. Try to make each show better than the last. There are few goals as productive as this when it comes to touring. Sometimes you lose your true north on the road, and the point should be to deliver the best possible music to the people.

3. Drive in teams. If you aren’t at a point where a tour bus is part of your scene, then you’ll need to have someone drive. Always have a wingman and make sure they take 100% responsibility for staying awake and making sure that the driver is alert and in good shape. If the driver is tired, pull over and swap out. Lost too many great artists out there…

4. Don’t evaluate your life while sitting in a janitor’s closet waiting to go on (I got this from someone else’s list years ago but it has done me in good stead). Plenty of time to do all that when you get home and have some perspective.

5. Spend 10 minutes a day talking to loved ones. Best to do this out of the van where you can speak without a filter. Don’t just rattle off a list of what you’re doing, listen to your people back home, hang with them, remember your ‘roots’.

6. Don’t build a case against your bandmates. The thing is that you see the good, the bad and the ugly of your touring partners when you’re together every day. You are constantly exposed to all of their annoying habits and guess what? They are exposed to yours. So you can get totally irritated with them or you can see them as your compatriots who like you, are putting differences aside in the interest of a higher good…music.

7. Build a community on the road. Whether it’s with the bands you’re touring with, the ornery venue staff, or the truck stop waiter. Meet people, write down their names, get their info when appropriate, and be kind to everyone. Often the crusty sound engineer will become a friend (or at least ally) for life if you treat them decently.

8. Being drunk is rarely charming and if you’re gonna be that way a lot, you better be able to get your work done and play like Keith Richards. Drink lots of water, have Ibuprofen and Gatorade on hand for big nights.

9. Priceline hotels. You can stay in decent places for pretty cheap, and since everyone can get your music for almost nothing, this seems like some kind of justice.

10. Have fun. If you’re not able to have fun, there is very little point. Unless you’re making tons of money, in which case reference rule #4 about perspective before you do anything rash like quit the band because you’re mad at your bass player. It’s easy to miss once you get away from it for a minute. Have fun out there!

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