Interview with an Independent Tour Manager

You’ve probably never heard of Frog Holler. So why would you give up your evening and $7 to go see them? That’s a question that Lane Campbell, an independent tour manager, wants to answer for you. Or at least get you asking…

Unlike a professional tour manager, Campbell does not actually travel with the band, but he sets up the shows, arranges promotions, and helps with the travel plans. He does this in his spare time. From home. With a full-time job.

Glorious Noise wanted to demystify the whole idea of booking a tour for a fairly unknown band. Turns out it sounds like a shitload of work. But it’s not impossible. So if there’s a band that you love and you want them to come to your town, maybe you should help them set up a tour. Or at least offer them your floor to crash on.

GLONO:

Have you arranged tours for other bands before

this one?

Campbell:

Yes, I’ve done this several times now. The most

notable band would probably be the Possibilities, a

(now) power-pop band from Athens, GA. I fell in love

with this band back in the summer of ’95 while living

in Minneapolis. At the time, they were a bunch of kids

doing alt-country, but they were good. They opened for

the Dashboard Saviors at the Uptown, and I remember

bassist Bob Spires sporting a “Bob” t-shirt that I

found hilarious. Over the next few years, this band

began to enter near-mythical status for me, as I tried

in vain, numerous times, to find a record of theirs,

trying to go through Peter Jesperson, among others.

Peter had been hosting his own radio show in

Minneapolis, called “Shakin’ Street” (after the MC5

song), and he played the Possibilities a few times on

his show. It wasn’t until a couple years later that an

Internet contact got me copies of their self-released

cassettes, and not until ’99 that their first proper

record was released . . . bringing us to the summer of

2002, when I hooked up with the band to help put

together some Midwest shows for them. Long story

short—7 years later, I found myself ensconced in this

band’s world, and I felt like a kid. A happy one.

My first experience was with a band called Roadside

Attraction, from outside LA. At the time, I had no

clue. None. I was calling clubs in the yellow pages,

didn’t know about drink tickets, and was just

clueless. Pieced together a little something for them,

and they appreciated it, but mainly it was a learning

experience. I’ve remained good friends with them, had

some visits back and forth between LA and Chicago, and

it really spurred my interest and confidence in doing

this.

Typically, the tours I’ve put together are about 5-8

shows, mainly in the “big markets,” meaning either

larger cities like Chicago and Minneapolis, or college

towns like Columbus and Champaign. Sometimes, I’ll

help bands with a show or two. It’s something I’ve

been doing now for about three years, on and off.

GLONO:

Why did you choose Frog Holler?

Campbell:

Frog Holler was referred to me by a friend here in

Chicago who’s always wanted to see them play here in

town. The band’s from rural Pennsylvania and prior to

this tour, had never come anywhere close to Chicago,

and this friend of mine had been bugging them about it

for awhile now. When they said they’d need help, he

recommended them to me, and it all went from there.

Before this, I knew very little about the band—a

friend of mine had put a song of theirs called “Stray”

(from 2001′s Idiots) on a mix CD for me, and I loved

it, but for whatever reason, I never pursued their

records. Over the last few months, I’ve become a big

fan.

GLONO:

How do you know what venues are cool?

Campbell:

It’s relatively easy to track down the “cool” venues

in the major cities. One glance at a venue’s website

pretty much lets you know if it’s a club worth

pursuing—if they’ve got Ted Leo, the Shins, and Damien

Jurado all playing over the course of a few days, you

know it’s worth a few dozen phone calls to the club to

put a band in their room.

I’m fortunate to have several friends in music, either

performers or “business-side people” who’ve

recommended some great clubs that I may not have heard

about otherwise. For instance, there’s this great club

down in St. Louis called Frederick’s Music Lounge, a

tiny club, holds maybe 100-plus, and it’s run by this

eccentric character named Fred Friction. Fred plays

some music on his own (best known for his spoon

playing, he used to join Uncle Tupelo when they’d do

in-studio performances back in the early 90s), and

does everything he can to help bands. He has his own

radio show in town, puts you in contact with the right

press, and is very fair about setting up the right

date and treating bands like professionals. Outside of

the music world, I think this is a club that could

easily fly under the radar; however, luckily, some

friends steered me his way and it’s been a blessing.

GLONO:

What do you do to promote the shows?

Campbell:

Promoting shows is one of the biggest challenges in

putting together a successful tour. Generally, the

bands that I have worked with are not touring

regulars, and it’s been pretty common that the tours

I’ve booked have been first visits for these bands to

the majority of cities on the itinerary. Additionally,

distribution’s a major issue for these bands, and it’s

often next-to-impossible to find their records outside

the local indie, consignment-friendly record shop three

blocks from where they went to grammar school, so the

challenge is big—interest people in paying money to

see a band they’ve never heard of. It’s tough.

The no-brainers are press and plaster. All press

outlets are contacted, given CDs and press kits in the

hopes they’ll do a story on the band. Cross your

fingers. The record stores get plastered with posters

announcing the show. Other things that can be done

include setting up record in-stores or in-studio

performances at radio stations. If the show is local,

I do my best to interest all my friends in the show,

which may include email blasts, CD giveaways, and,

occasionally, hyperbolic rants comparing the band to

“the Who in their prime.” Anything to create interest.

If radio play can be had, that’s a bonus as well,

usually on community or college radio.

GLONO:

How important is the internet in

this whole process?

Campbell:

The internet has made the world a much smaller place,

and it’s a great, and essential, resource for booking

and promotion. Many clubs focus on email as the

primary contact method. Of course, the drawback is

that email is a lot easier to ignore, and there’s the

uncertainty associated with an email you may think is

floating. With most bands having their own websites,

and MP3s, it’s pretty easy to contact a lot of clubs at

once to pursue gigs. However, this is only one

resource, and full reliance on it would be deadly.

GLONO:

Does the band get a guarantee at these shows or a

percentage of the door, or

what?

Campbell:

It really depends on the club, as well as the band, of

course. I would say that in general, most clubs offer

a percentage of the door because the shows I have

dealt with typically involve bands with uncertain

drawing potential. Some clubs do offer guarantees to

“national touring bands,” and it’s generally a couple

hundred dollars. Often, clubs will offer a guarantee

versus the door, meaning the band is guaranteed a

certain amount, and if the money taken at the door

exceeds a certain level, the band then gets an

additional cut.

Almost unanimously, clubs offer some type of drink

and/or food allotment. Beers are so integral to the

rock and roll experience that no self-respecting club

would ever fail to offer a band some drink tickets.

GLONO:

Who picks opening bands?

Campbell:

This is typically handled by the club, although,

oftentimes, the band I am booking becomes the opening

act. The goal is to match styles, to an extent, to

build upon potentially similar fanbases. Sometimes, it

becomes a 10-band bill in the hopes that each band

will draw 6 people and it’ll be worthwhile to the

club. Occasionally, mini-tours will be arranged on a

package deal, where two relatively unknown bands will

tour together, sharing costs and splitting the take,

but more commonly, on this level, the band will be

added to a bill.

GLONO:

Where does the band sleep?

Campbell:

Floors and couches. I’ve had several bands stay at my

place. It’s cheap, it’s fun, it’s easy. Crashing on

the floor is the way of life for most of these guys.

GLONO:

Are the people at the venues who book bands cool

for the most part or

assholes? Any horror stories?

Campbell:

I’d like to say that they’re all professionals, but

that’d be a lie. There are a handful of clubs that are

great-they shoot straight, help you out, return calls,

etc., but by and large, it’s a headache. Out of 100

calls placed to clubs for a band that’s not on their

priority list, you can expect 0 returned calls.

I’ve had a few bad/humorous experiences. One time, a

band I was working with asked me to set up an in-store

for them, and it became Spinal Tap Revisited. The

record store, since closed, had absolutely no foot

traffic, and the only people there were a friend and I

and a couple of kids playing with jacks.

Perhaps the worst experience I had was actually

band-related. I put together a show for a guy who

plays in a pretty high-profile act. I spent a lot of

time trying to make the show successful. I secured the

gig, made all the necessary contacts, and even made

some progress toward getting some decent promotional

tools in place, including an in-studio performance and

a couple of writers interested in doing a preview.

Well, this band, once the guarantee from the club was

secured, did absolutely nothing to cooperate with me

on promoting the show. They ignored repeated requests

for posters, blew off the in-studio, and never

followed up with the press contacts. It was a

nightmare, they would not return my calls. About 30

people showed up for the show and I haven’t dealt with

them again.

As far as clubs go, no horrible experiences, other

than the expected unanswered calls and emails, the

shifting around of shows which can often screw up a

tour, and the general meandering that goes on when a

club is dealing with a band they are worried will be

playing to an empty hall.

GLONO:

Can a band make any money touring at this level?

Or is it pretty much seen

as getting the word out?

Campbell:

I’d say it’s difficult the first time around to make

any money. If a band has to rent a truck and/or

equipment, pay for gas, occasional lodging, food,

booze, and other expenses associated with the tour,

it’s unlikely they’ll recoup those costs. The idea is

to build an audience in each of several towns, put on

great shows, impress the clubs, so that next time, the

band is getting guarantees and better draws, and

eventually, day jobs become afterthoughts and the band

can live off its earnings. Several road-weary bands

have traveled this path to some success, bands like

Slobberbone, who have toured their asses off to the

point where they can now draw 200-300 people in each

of about 7 or 8 cities and do okay for themselves. It

takes time, but it can be done.

GLONO:

Do you have a day job? How much of your time

does this take up? Is it

worth it?

Campbell:

Yes, I do, I work as a consultant. Fortunately, it’s

pretty flexible, I can come and go as I please, work

my own schedule, which allows me some time during the

day, when talent buyers for clubs are in their

offices, to work on the tours. It’s very

time-consuming, and with a less flexible job, it’d be

next-to-impossible.

Hell yeah it’s worth it.

Frog Holler is currently on tour. They’re playing the Hideout in Chicago on Friday, November 7, and Frederick’s in St. Louis on Saturday, November 8. They’ve got a bunch of MP3s available on their site, and you can buy their cds online or at shows.