The Shinobi Ninja “Rock Hood” Tour is set to start Thursday, January 27th when we will be rocking at Castaways in Ithaca,NY, with rappers Dylan Owen and Kosha Dillz. Then 30+ stops and a few thousand miles later we are in Austin Texas, for South By South West Music Festival. All in a days work? Not even close.
Booking shows is like being the ultimate middle man; you deal with the people at each venue, either the owner or booking guy; the band, either their manager, or agent or in some cases the talent directly; all the supporting bands for each stop, so their manager or agent; promoters in each city; radio stations for some sort of collaboration work; and anyone else who has anything else to do with the tour. Advances, contracts, deals, %’s, emails, calls, phone numbers, street teams, promoters, friends, family, practice, new songs, beer, pot, late nights, early mornings, coffee, skipped meals, music, grinding, music, hustling, music, I love it. You coordinate more people into one fluid direction all with the same purpose doing the same thing, than you ever had before and it can be crazy and stressful and.. so exhilarating at times.
There is pressure to make something concrete and positive appear out of no where, like a magician. You need to connect with strangers and meet new people, and make everyone involved happy and feel like they are getting exactly what they want.. and then you have to deal with money. Fuck money. I wont even get into money. But its the major factor in this business, (DUH!) and is the reason everyone is hustling all the time, and it can make or break.. well everything.
For this upcoming “Rock Hood” tour I am also jumping aboard as Shinobi Ninja’s tour manager, what does that mean? Who the f knows? I suppose I will find out as we travel down the east coast, and hopefully I’ll know what I’m doing by the time I get to Florida. But as a kinesthetic learner, I’m confident I’ll be just fine. Wherever you are, we are coming to a city near you. Come see us. But if you cant come experience the Shinobi’s Rock Circus, at least come here and read: Day in the life of a tour manager on the road will be coming soon, as soon as I get on the road.
Until we meet again..