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Sleeping bags. Make sure you bring them when you tour. You'll need them.

6.) Snacks. You will want to keep some food inside your van. Plus, this will save some money when it comes to budgeting for food expenses.

7.) Reliable transportation. Don't be an idiot and take your friend's 1990 Dodge Caravan with a zillion miles on tour. Unless you're extremely lucky, your tour will be cut short because of mechanical failure.

8.) Does everyone in the band get along? This is huge. You are going to be around these people 24 hours a day. Arguing and fighting on the road will ruin your touring experience and probably break up your band.

9.) Entertainment. You will have lots of down time while touring. Portable gaming systems, Ipods, board games, frisbees, books, etc. will help ease the boredom. Also make sure your vehicle has a CD player that works. Main-stream radio is pretty terrible. Do you really want to listen to eight hours of main-stream country music as you trek through Kansas? I didn't think so.

So you've checked and double-checked that you have everything you need for a tour. Great! Now you need to book it.

Let's continue with the idea of a seven-day tour. To book a week-long tour (or any tour for that matter), you will need to start booking it two to four months in advance. This will give you enough time to book the dates and promote the shows. There are a ton of great DIY booking sites, such as byofl.org that have extensive lists of venues for rock, punk and alternative bands. For each date, you will want to send out 10 - 20 emails. If you're an unknown band, you can expect to receive a response from about 1 out of every 10 emails. So for a seven-day tour you will want to send out 70 - 140 emails (or make 70 - 140 calls). I know this seems like a lot of work and a little excessive, but if you want seven shows in seven days, you'll need to contact a ton of venues/promoters.

So you did it, you booked your band's tour, and the day has finally arrived. You're hitting the road. Remember, touring isn't all fun and games. You need to make sure you manage your time well. Try to get to the cities you're playing each night early. Soak in the sites and culture, it will make your touring experience that much more enjoyable. Don't set your sites too high, especially if this is your first tour. You will probably lose a little bit of money. You will probably play to really small crowds, but don't let that drag you down. If your band is good and you truly enjoy playing music and touring, people will start to catch on, and the next time you tour the crowds will get a little bigger. Eventually, if you stick with it, you'll find yourself playing to bigger crowds and actually making a few bucks each night. If you're extremely persistent and a little bit lucky, you just might find yourself touring full-time. But it all starts with that first tour. So get to it. Everyone's waiting for you to rock the world.

Learn more about this author, Robert Beatty Jr.
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