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Post subject: what's it like to live as a fulltime touring musician?
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:43 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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question for those who have had the experience. whats it like being a full time musician? i mean yea, major fun just playing all the time (duh! haha), but i hear there are many con's as well to the lifestyle

please everyone feel free to share your thoughts and experiences. sum up the pro's and con's to the lifestyle of a full time touring musician. it would help me alot, sometimes i just dont know what i want. thanks alot all


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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:06 pm
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from my expeirence prolonged touring is nothing but a pain. You never rest properly, you become sick of the other bandmembers and homesickness kicks in too.
That is all particular to my psyche though. Its different for different people. A singer i know (now 67) sold his house and just tours constantly. He loves it.

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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:14 pm
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nikininja wrote:
from my expeirence prolonged touring is nothing but a pain. You never rest properly, you become sick of the other bandmembers and homesickness kicks in too.
That is all particular to my psyche though. Its different for different people. A singer i know (now 67) sold his house and just tours constantly. He loves it.


+1 never had the chance to tour but i dont think that i would like it after a while :(


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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:20 pm
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nikininja wrote:
from my expeirence prolonged touring is nothing but a pain. You never rest properly, you become sick of the other bandmembers and homesickness kicks in too...


Agreed. Additionally, you are treated as a commodity more than a human being where your life is clearly not your own any more. After a while, you get this gnawing thought that just doesn't go away: Where is the glamour in all this? Of extreme importance too is the fact that if you don't constantly police yourself, you will find yourself in over your head with some very bad habits. A word to the wise is sufficient on this one.

If I knew then what I know now, I'd never have done it in the first place. One thing's for sure, I'd never do it again.

Yet (as was already stated), some people eat this kind of lifestyle up. Consequently, it all comes down to YMMV.

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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:18 pm
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in my early 20's, I spent four years on the road as a solo act, playing lounges and opening at college shows.

On the upside, you make good money and live a fairly carefree lifestyle. It's easy to meet women, buy what you want, that sort of thing. AS you guessed, the best part is that you spend a lot of time either rehearsing or performing, so you get really good (I don't have half the facility I had as a player when I was on the road).

On the down side, you don't make any real friends, and having "no permanent address" gets to be a real drag. It's easy to spend too much time high or drunk, watching TV in the hotel, and that leads to depression. I traveled alone, but even guys I knew who toured with bands said the same thing: the loneliness is what gets to you.

Unless you have a built-in defense against going a little crazy - or you just don't care if you DO go a little crazy - I can't recommend it.


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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 8:14 am
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I'm going to agree with most of the answers so far -when I was fresh out of college, I went on the road. WE had a duo -me on keys and guitar, and my buddy on drums. We were pretty good. made great money for the time (mid 70's) met tons of women, and some famous people along the way (Bob Hope, Art Garfunkel, Kenny Loggins to name a few). That was the fun part. The not so fun part was being away from friends and family, and it does become a routine that gets old after a while -I did it for 5 years. Am I glad for the experience? Most definately - it was something I'm glad I did - 'cause now I don't have to do it any more :D

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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 8:46 am
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Great answers, I read this with alot of interest.

Here's the thoughts from someone who never did it. If you really think it's what you want than try it, to be fair to yourself that's all you can do. The old "you'll never know til you try" thing.

My only regret is that I didn't try it, I never really sought out the opportunity either since I'm by nature a pessimist. I've made a good life but that is the one thing I'd at least like to have said I'd tried.

All of this is opinions, use them and make your own decision.


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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:13 am
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If yer in a cover band it's great. Rooms, meals, steady paycheck & hours, staying in one place for awhile.

If yer in a struggling originals band it's a little more trying. Getting stiffed, crappy motels or couches, lots of load ins & outs, long drives between one or two nighters.

Never toured in a major national setting, but that has to be a little easier. Guaranteed rooms, meals, pay and roadies.

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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:49 am
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Better to try it and regret doing it, than not trying it and regretting it.

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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:02 am
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Most interesting. Thank you for sharing, those who did it.


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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:07 am
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A full time local band is much different than a full time touring musician.

The idea of touring is often better than actually doing it. You get no sleep, the time flies by, all the places you want to take time to check out - you rarely have time to actually do, and any band member that is even a little less than perfect will wear on you fast.

The good things, you usually feel great when you're on that stage and the crowd is diggin the show, you get to travel all over (but not enough time to do much there), you get a LOT of playing time (sound checks, shows, practices, writing, radio shows, impromptu shows, etc), you feel like someone "important" who's "living the dream" - and you are, really.

It's great to have the assistance that takes care of everything though (smokes, food, rooms, sight seeing, radio shows, signings, cash, clothes, music store locations, getting you wheat grass or some other goofy request, etc). It's really nice to be able to just go and not have to worry anything really, since someone else is constantly looking out for you, getting you things, and telling you what's next.

If you've never done it, really want to, can afford to (often doesn't pay a ton), and have the skill and stamina to be able to do it, you should definitely try that some time in your life - without a doubt.

Now, I'll just do short legs of tours here and there. Some local regional tours, that's it - as far as touring. Local shows I do often, in different scenarios, but those aren't the traveling/scheduled/time-frame "tour".


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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:19 pm
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My experience has had it's ups and downs. At some points, you get to meet some cool musicians, have after hour jams, get to see a lot of places and you develop some good chops. :wink:

(jammed with Steve Howe, from Yes, at a Holiday Inn around Georgia back in the early 80s- they were there for a show the following night at an arena/stadium).

On the down side, living out of a suitcase, being stuck in some hotel in, say Newark, for 5 or 6 days with nothing to do. :?

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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:39 am
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awesome input everyone. its cool to hear from those who've done it.

i love music with such a burning passion, and always wonder how i might fare if i lived my life out that way, living off playing and touring. it just seems like a given, so simple. but again, theres much i dont know, so i started this thread to find out.

in college a career advisor asked me what i love most. i said music, however i wasnt sure if that would provide me with a secure career path. so she said that music was my "avocation", and so i ended up graduating college last year with a Bachelors degree in Industrial Arts. i now work as a manufacturing engineer...yet still wondering what could still happen.

i chose this path for the job security. we are very busy producing aircraft parts, so there is plenty of work. and i do pretty well in this field. however i am 23 yrs. old and fear that time may end up passing me by real fast without any appeasing my soul.

i've been trying to assert in my mind whether or not i'm missing out on a lot of fun and opportunity should I never fully devote to music for any period of time. the most i do right now is play on weekends on the local scene with whatever band i happen to be with at the time. the deciding point arrives when a band achieves success and tours around a region, or even the country. and obviously i cant hold a job at the same time if we go too far away for a decent time span. once i lose my job then there's no turning back, and so when i return home, then what?

you can see i have a cyclone in my mind right now with lots of "what if's?" and such. its a nightmare. im basically torn between what i love and what logic says i must do. i care most about music than anything else, but i dont want to regret any big choices later and be left in the cold.

i believe in chasing your dream, but i think i'm too practical to step out on a limb and go for it amongst the large risks involved. plus the family is never easy to convince.

not sure if any of you can react to all of this.


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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:15 pm
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Sounds like you have a decent job that you like. Stay with it. You can have the best of both world, play in evenings and weekends as you've been doing.

As you've said, if you give up your job there's no turning back. If you invest everything into music and it doesnt turn out the way you anticipated you might end up hating music for screwing up your life.

Unless you are that good and some big shot producer offers you a deal you cant pass, stay with your current lifestyle...

Just my $0.02. My not be worth the source code it was typed in.


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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:33 pm
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I agree.

Don't quit your day job, unless it really sucks and you KNOW you can make more doing music full time. I have a very good day job that I'd never want to quit, and I still have no problem doing shows at nights, weekends, and find some way to work on a laptop remotely or take a day or two off here or there when I need to.


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