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music is killer and your live show is balls-to-the-wall you should start to notice unfamiliar faces in the crowd. Before you know it, you and your band will be the talk of the town. Obviously, this is easier said than done. But if you really want to take your band to the next level, you need to build a base at home.

Okay. So you've destroyed at your local venue(s) for the past few months, and you're itching to hit the road. Here is a check-list of what you'll need before you go on tour.

1.) Merchandise. Make sure you have a CD, t-shirts, stickers, pins and whatever else you can think up to sell while you're touring. This is how you'll survive. Plus, it's fairly pointless to tour if you don't have a CD to promote.

2.) AAA. Make sure your vehicle has some sort of towing and roadside assistance plan. Chances are you will need it, and if you do, having AAA or something similar will save you hundreds of dollars.

3.) A Budget. Figure out how long you want to tour, and then budget X dollars. If you don't know how much you'll need to tour, here is an example. Let's say you plan on going on a week-long tour. You plan on driving 300 miles in between every stop. This means you will travel at least 2,100 miles during your seven day journey. At this rate, you can expect to spend $40 - $50 in fuel every day. You will need to budget at least $350 for fuel. You will also need to eat. Two meals a day is fairly typical for a touring band. If you have four band members, you will need to budget a minimum of $10 per member, each day for food. This is another $280 for food. So at the bare minimum, for a seven-day tour with a four-person band, you will want to budget $630. Avoid booking hotel rooms and spending money on the non-essentials. Most of the time, someone (whether it be the promoter or a fan) will let you crash on their floor. On a side note to budgeting, if your band loves to party, good luck staying afloat. Alcohol is expensive, not to mention after a few nights of heavy drinking, your body will pay the price. My advice, party in moderation, unless you want your touring experience to be cut short.

4.) A tour route. Once you figure out how long you want to tour, you will need to make a tour route. If you have no idea how to go about doing this, just go to your favorite bands websites and check their tour schedule. Most of the time, experienced touring bands have a booking agent. Booking agents, for the most part, have a pretty good idea of how to route and book a tour.

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