Gary Stokes: How to make the most of a Canadian tour

Gary Stokes is a sound engineer who fell into road managing simply because most small and mid-level acts touring Canada can't afford to hire two people. He has managed tours for Barenaked Ladies, Rheostatics, Sarah McLachlan, Lava Hay, Jane Siberry, Pursuit of Happiness, Wild Strawberries, and many others.

Planning is everything
Tour planning is crucial. Make sure the dates and traveling times are logistically feasible. Consider each venue, its size, as well as the stage, sound and lighting requirements for a gig there. Once you determine if extra gear is required, find local suppliers in each town while always keeping in mind the overall tour budget.

Advance work
Along with the tour planning goes the advance work. Once the shows are confirmed you need to plan, basically every hour of every day and night for the traveling group. That means setting up itineraries for when you leave, when you arrive, hotel check-ins if there are hotels, sound checks, meal times, interviews, etc. As part of the advance work with each club, find out in advance which manager will be on in the club that night, who'll be paying you and when (before or after the show).

Another part of advance work is doing interviews with local press at least two weeks before the date of the show and then again when you arrive in that town, usually with college or commercial radio.

Promotion is critical
Too many bands rely on the promoter, then complain that they had a lousy gig, nobody showed up, and they also have nothing to build on. Take on the responsibility of promoting the shows yourself.

There are all kinds of source books you can use to find out about local promoters, venues, publications, college stations, etc. It means some time on the phone-if you're setting up a two- or three-week tour across Canada you'll need a week or two to do advance for the trip.

You have to have a really together mailing list. Fans come up after gigs and you can't be shy-it's very important at a grassroots level to get their names and numbers, be friendly. The next time you go through their town you can call them in advance and get them to spread the word.

Doing it yourself
Most young bands can't afford a tour manager. My advice is to have one additional person come along on the tour, usually a friend who is responsible and knows a little about business. If that extra person can do sound or help out with the lights or with gear, then so much the better.

If you don't have a road manager, split up all the duties and try to spread the work out equally among band members. Designate who's going to do the interviews, who's doing advance work with the clubs, who's handling the merchandising and CD sales; designate one person to handle getting paid each night. These roles have to be clearly delineated, preferably weeks before you hit the road. Part of what makes any operation run smoothly is having everybody know their role. Road managing is a function of organization.

Vehicle considerations
Always get the most reliable vehicle you can afford. If you're touring in the winter in Canada take tire chains, extra blankets, a first-aid kit, some gasoline antifreeze, extra windshield de-icer, some emergency food supplies in case you break down in the middle of nowhere. Any band going on the road has to be able to change a tire. Before you ever hit the road I highly recommend that you load up the vehicle with all your gear and then change a tire just for the practice.

Budgets rule
Budgets are very important on the road and you have to live within your budget. You should count on one out of every five or six shows getting canceled or if they're not, then the money won't be what you planned on. Don't budget on your best-case scenario-balance that with your worst-case and you'll be somewhere in the ball park. Figure out, before you leave home, where the money's going to come from if you do have problems. If only one person has a credit card to cover emergencies discuss up-front how that person will be paid back.

Have fun
You have to take a tour seriously, sure, but you also have to leave some time to enjoy yourself. Leave some breathing space to get into a town and look around, hang out, hype your gig a bit. Try to schedule a couple of hours each day just to relax. Or to sleep-in once in awhile. These things make a difference. If you hate touring you're not going to perform well. Bands whose members have day jobs often make the mistake of trying to cram too much in on a tour and then they end up hating it because it's grueling and they don't have any fun.

Best times to hit the road
Winter in Canada is a hard time to tour. When universities are in session you have a better potential draw in towns where schools are located. In summer, schools are out and people are on vacation, but that's festival season so maybe you can take advantage of that. And touring in the summer can be more relaxed if you're willing to stay at camp grounds and take a day off to go swimming at a lake. September/October and April/May tend to be the best times to tour.

Rules to live by
Attitude is everything. Don't commit to shows you aren't 100 percent positive you can do in terms of getting there. Be on time. Be polite. If you approach a tour with a positive attitude, do your homework and the advance work then you can see some positive gains from going on the road and have fun too.

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