4 Ways to Start Working on a Music Tour
Now, when I say "music tour," I feel that I have to define it. Music tour, for me, of course, means being on the road for weeks, months, perhaps years at a time with primarily a single artist or some sort of single band performing nightly at a combination of music festivals, concert halls, nightclubs, and more.
Now, disclaimer, this is a relatively surface-level article. I have an in-depth guide on the Final Advance website, that goes into the nitty-gritty about how different roles are basically found on the road and what you can do to start pursuing a specific role in a touring group.
Now, of course, tours sometimes could outline an album release cycle or it could just be an annual return tour for each artist in their relative markets. I've had some of my fondest memories being on tour this past year, and I have a YouTube channel dedicated to all the behind-the-scenes of touring. It's my No Wey Home YouTube channel.
Tip 1: Go to music shows and observe
Now, let's talk about four ways for you to start working on a music tour with little to no background in touring. The number one tip I always give to anybody who wants to get on the road is to work a day in their lives as a touring person by going to a venue, chatting with them, seeing what they do. This will give you a sense of the kind of workflow you should expect when on the road because that's all they do every single day, every single night.
I find that some people say they want to go on tour because they are enticed by the element of travel. They think it's a fun, luxurious lifestyle, and while it certainly does have its perks and moments of fun and travel, there's a lot of work behind it. I think that seeing somebody work a day in their lives as a touring person by going to a venue, chatting with them, seeing what they do, you can begin to get a better grasp on if this is something you really want to pursue. Not to mention chatting with the stage hands. Any kind of crew or front of house members that you can interact with at a show will give you the opportunity to talk to them about their day and inquire if perhaps their team is hiring.
Tip 2: get a background in technical production
Now, the second way to find work on a music tour with little to no background or experience is to get a background in technical lighting, video, or anything production-related. LDs, VJs, production managers, they are all very technically focused roles, and it's important to become very familiar with these technical aspects for these roles if you want to pursue being on tour. For example, if you want to be an LD for lighting, you need to learn about different types of light fixtures. If you want to get into video, you have to learn about pixels and paneling with video walls. If you want to be a production manager, you need to learn about rigging and union labor laws because you're going to be dealing with that literally every single day. See, if you don't learn these things now, you'll have to learn them down the road in much more high-stakes environments, which is okay, but you can set yourself up for success early on by getting this experience today.
Tip 3: build a resume of relevant experience
Now, the third way to find work on a music tour is to build up your resume of relevant experiences. If you don't have a full background of touring already under your belt, which is probably why you're here watching this video, you probably want to start with a resume that shows off some level of work that is remotely close to what you want to do. So, for example, if you want to be an artist liaison on tour or an executive assistant to an artist or to a tour manager, it's probably good to include on your resume any kind of hospitality background you may have. Likewise, if you want to become a production manager, maybe you can put on your resume your corporate experience from when you were a team leader or something like that that demonstrates your ability to lead a team to success. References are also very important when being considered for anything related to touring. In my experience as a tour manager, if I want to hire somebody, I will almost always reach out to a reference or I'll just hire somebody that I know has worked with one of my trusted colleagues before. And when it comes to the format of the resume, it doesn't have to be complex. You can literally just have a single PDF, single-page format with just your most recent gigs at the top, going down to your oldest gigs or whatever your project experience is. And it's important that you write out in your resume specific tasks that you performed in those roles. So it's one thing to say you were a product manager at some company, tell me what you did in that role and how it relates to touring.
Tip 4: Work with beginner bands
And the fourth way to find work on a music tour is to begin working with beginner bands. There's a ton of beginner bands, I'm sure, in your local area who would die to have some assistance from someone like you, even if you don't have that technical background, being somebody that helps carry their cases, runs their lights, tunes their audio, does guitar swaps on stage, whatever the case may be, working with these smaller bands will get you the experience. And in the case that they end up going on tour, you will more than likely be the first one that they call. This is especially huge for media. If you want to become a touring photographer, videographer, the number one way that I've seen media folks get into the industry is to start working with a small local band, build up a portfolio, go to their shows, network with other bands. And next thing you know, you are getting called to do all these various events or shows, which then turn into, okay, we want you on the road with us full time. You never know how big a band might get or if that band knows other bands that you might work with. So by working with the smaller bands, it's a very easy access point to get integrated with them, with their colleagues, and within the industry.
In this course we will look at the most common jobs available on a music tour and how to start pursuing these roles today. Video and text lessons with instructor contact options. Anytime access for a one time payment.