How to book a tour in England

I met a bartender the other night,

who seemed to know me,

at least she knew my name.

I don't know if I had met her before,

but she was very nice,

and pretty,

and we talked a little about England.

I told her I could give her advice,

if she emailed me,

and I thought I'd share my response with you.

I'm not sure why,

I just think it's kinda interesting:

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hey pete I just had some questions about your tour.  all these places seem like really great places top play....did any of them have places for you to stay while you were playing there?  Did you rent a car to get a train ticket? and did you tour solo or with your drummer?? I'm really considering this is sounds like such a great thing.

-rebecca

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okay.

well,

I've been four times now.

If you get a car,

you need a GPS,

they call them Sat Navs,

and you can rent them for 40 pounds for a month.

You can also rent a car,

with a Visa card,

and save on the insurance.

Visa has an automatic car rental

insurance built in, as long as you pay

the whole thing with a visa,

you can find that info through your bank.

American Express has a similar thing

on some cards, it can save you hundreds

of dollars.

Again, without the Sat Nav GPS thing,

you're going to be lost all the time.

even with it, alone, you're in a for a tough trip.

I would suggest taking the train the first time.

It's fun, relaxing, exciting, crazy,

and very safe. It's more like the Metra

than Amtrak.  You can get from

the absolute top of the country to

the bottom in nine hours.

I did it once when I messed up

geographically.

If you take the train,

you need these two websites:

www.britrail.com

for passes

and

www.nationalrail.co.uk

for train times, schedules,

and trip durations.

It will also help you figure

out how to plot the tour,

based on distance.

this site was handy in finding

different towns that are close to eachother:

http://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/counties-map.html

I would pick a county,

pick a town,

look it up,

and find venues.

email them,

or even better,

if you can add international

calling and wake up early,

give them a call.

The accent is thick

on the cell phone,

and that gets tricky,

but they are almost

unbelievably friendly.

If they ask for a price,

tell them you are trying

to get a 100 pound guarantee,

some will say no,

some will say 75,

some will say 40.

but some, unbelievably,

will just say yes.

The UK music scene

is very type casted.

i.e.

they say exactly what the night

is going to be, and pigeon hole

everything.

You are acoustic.

put in "acoustic nights UK"

into google and watch what happens.

now put in "metal nights UK"

and see what I mean.

England usually works

on a system of "promoters"

who organize the gigs,

handle the money,

and best of all,

get people in the seats.

it doesn't always work,

but in my experience they

are excited to work with

acts from the US.

Your touring history

isn't as strong as it could be

to sell yourself as a national US artist,

but its still worth a try.

They book at least six months ahead

in some venues, a much longer lead time

than I've found over here.

If you start working on now for a

tour in June or July, you can see

how it goes, and decide what to do.

I did two weeks on my first tour,

gigging every day.

some didn't pay,

but one paid 200 quid (pounds)

in the current exchange rate,

thats four hundred bucks.

add one for fifty quid and

you've got your plane ticket.

I had an easier time,

because I was following

in the wake of another

comedy rock band that

do well over there.

They had told some people

about me, and I had a little to go on.

We play different types of venues,

I don't like the acoustic nights,

so I stay away from them.

people get freaked out by me

at those nights.

But you can target the acoustic nights,

pick two weeks, plot a basic route

using the maps, and start filling in gigs.

As for places to sleep.

My first tour I booked a bed and breakfast

for almost every night,

now I just go,

and figure I'll find a place to sleep.

I did 22 gigs in 24 days on my last tour,

it was me and my manager,

and we got one hotel room.

actually two,

but I ended up in bed

with a forty year old,

but that's a very different story.

the English are very friendly,

and almost always someone

will ask if you need a place to stay.

I can sleep on a dog if I drink enough,

so I made it okay,

but that part is up to you.

every single town

that has a music venue

also has a cheap bed and breakfast.

when I say cheap,

I mean 20-30 pounds.

that includes a full meal

in the morning.

if you're getting some good pay

at the shows, it's worth it.

Also, you can ask the venues

if they have a room for musicians

to stay in, some do.

I never would have been able

to do it without help,

so I'm happy to pass it on.

Ask as many questions

as you like, any time,

and if you haven't heard back from me,

ask again.

I'm lazy,

and I smoke a lot of pot sometimes,

but I'm definitely willing to help

as much as I can.

-p