Customer Reviews

The Touring Musician: A Small Business Approach to Booking Your Band on the Road

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hal Galper's book covers all of the essentials that every musician needs to know about how to find work,secure work, and stay working! The Touring Musician provides the necessary tools and knowledge to build a successful independant career; tools that, unfortunately, many musicians were never taught and sorely lack.

Approached from the mindset of a small business, Mr. Galper shows musicians how to find performance opportunities and how to market yourself to secure work. The Touring Musician sheds light on how to effectively organize yourself and your band, how to deal with promotion and the press, and how to convince venues to hire you. In addition, this book teaches musicians how to overcome many of the common barriers to their own success. Written in a friendly and engaging style, the Touring Musician is clear and easy to understand, with numerous examples and real world anecdotes. It is applicable to any style of music, and frankly, to performing careers of any type. Hal Galper effectively destroys the cliche that "there just isn't enough work out there" ! Even if you are a fairly successful musician, I guarantee that you will find new ideas and techniques to expand your career.

If you are a musician, YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO GET THE TORUING MUSICIAN and learn the tools within it from cover to cover. I have been a professional musician for ten years and since utilizing the techniques in this book, I have scheduled more work, and higher paying work, than ever before. Every musician that I have lent this book to has immediately purchased it!

There is real satisfaction in doing what you love; this book will help you realize your professional goals. I feel that the Touring Musician is one of the best investments I have made in my career. I strongly encourage you to do the same.

I'm only about 3.5 chapters into this book and to me it's the best book on getting the business end of a music career I have ever come across. I have a stack of music business books about yea high and they are mostly very good, but Hal's is far and away the top gun. He not only demonstrates the logistics of getting a band started, how to ask a club/venue booker for gigs, how to set up the money end, but he also looks at the inner psychology of what it takes to be a touring/performing musician, and does it so that all the hard work you take on looks manageable. Not only is this a good book for entry or mid-level musicians, it's a great read for ANYBODY who would want to start his or her own business. Sometimes it's a little dry and hard to read, but the information it contains is so valuable I don't mind at all. I highly recommend this book from a "road rat" who has been there and done that.

"The Touring Musician" is extrememly helpful to me, even though I am not a musician. I am a freelance public relations consultant and I am just entering into the music business. One aspect of what I will be doing is booking tours of jazz musicians. Part II of the Book, "Booking Your Tour" was detailed and informative. The chapter on venue contacts gave vital information on the different types of venues, their pay range and their particular requirements. The chapter on contacting venues and negotiating gigs gives sample dialogues for making contacts and give tips on the main negotiating points. And the chapter on tour routing and budgets presents a detailed scenario that is realistic and contains many of the fine points of routing a tour. I also appreciated the uselful information on touring in Canada in Chapter 11.

This book is just what I was looking for to start my booking agency. Thanks to the author and the publisher.

Drawing upon his own experience as a solo artist and a sideman with legends of the modern jazz world, pianist Hal Galper has written 'The Touring Musician' which I consider to be the best source of information and practical advice for the performing musician currently available. He covers every aspect of booking and touring that you will encounter in the ocurse of your musical travels. From mental attitude to setting up a home office, contacting and getting gigs, budgets, hotel and travel reservations -- I need to write a novella to convey all the details. He includes websites and phone numbers for a great deal of the companies and organizations you will deal with (airline tickets, hotel reservations, vehicle rentals, office gear) and offers his own worksheet designs to maintain the financial end of things. Hal also shares his personal touring successes and mistakes -- the entire book is related in a friendly, personal manner and always offers encouragement in what, for me, often seems an overwhelming endeavor. As a solo artist myself, I have been searching for this type of detailed professional advice. I recognized Hal's name during my search and checked the book out. Within minutes, I bought it. Within days, I read it and highlighted and underlined... Though written from a jazz player's experience, this book is definitely valuable to any musician who has decided to build a successful career. I offer my sincere thanks to Hal Galper for this writing this book.

Mr. Galper gives you everything you need to be a successful musician in business. the information is also helpful if you are starting any other business. I was really inspired and this book has been a god send.

I purchased this for a relative and they absolutely love this book. It has given them clear cut help, guidance and not to mention Confidance -- something needed in the world of the Music Business.

If you're in a band with touring aspirations -- or managing a band trying to break out nationally -- this book is essential. It breaks down all the elements of preparing to book a tour, making the calls, setting up everything logistically so it makes sense... and doesn't sugercoat how difficult the process can be.
I've read other books on the topic... this is certainly one of the very best.

Lots of experience went into this book. I will use it for my guide on the road. Only thing, I wish the author would have covered more of the angles and pit falls of the business of gigging - the agent(s), recording studios, venue owners, and lawyers - only his personal experience; not other road-rat wisdom (in dealing with scams and dead-beats). The author should keep writing new editions of this publications (the music changes in shady colors?). I give the book 4 stars, minus one star for its lack of comprehensiveness.