You haave no idea what you’re talking about — business is not a one size fits all structure that can be imposed willy-nilly on anything and everything. It doesn’t work that way — it’s not just a bunch of numbers that you add up on paper. The tour is to PROMOTE AN ALBUM. The album sounds a certain way. Imagine the Rolling Stones or The Beach Boys or Miles Davis or Aretha Franklin or James Taylor or any artist/group you can think of with only two members.
Furthermore, the venues won’t book a duo if the recording hasn’t been designed as a duo, and even if it has, they want “the full band”. They won’t book a smaller act because they think that people won’t pay to see it.
Newsflash — pubs and bars don’t pay enough to have a touring act — that’s why you almost never see a touring act in a pub. Most pubs and bars don’t charge admission, so there’s no door fee.
We always get dinner. But that still leaves breakfast and lunch. And hotel,
Getting a guarantee of $1000 is science fiction — that’s why there are what we call anchor dates. If you don’t know what that is, you shouldn’t opine. I’ve been doing this for ten years and have run a bunch of national tours. Including a national tour for a solo artist and that cost more money than it made.
You don’t go to perform where it’s geographically easy — you go WHERE THERE IS A MARKET FOR THE MUSIC. FOr the kind of music that I work with, Seattle is one of the great places. It’s alos not geographically inconvenient onece you ge there — a short distance from Olympia and easy to get to Portland Or — which is also a GREAT MARKET.
You can’t leave it up to the club/venue to promote — they don’t know how and won’t promote your show over others. They simply send out a monthly press release. They won’t promote your record.I know from experience.If you leave it up to them you have 8 people in the audience.
Distances between the U.S. cities that have appropriate venues are so great that driving is not an option when you are working with professional musicians and not teenagers in a garage band.
And now, please tell me what business you are in so I can tell you how to run it.
The music industry has seen to it that smaller acts won’t get on radio or tv.
You have to be owned by the corporations to be promoted on the media corporation’s outlets.
You are thinking of the older music industry, the way it existed 30 years ago.
Those days are gone.
450,000 bands versus 14,000.
Plenty of smaller venues that are not beholden to tickemaster-livenation.
Here's 3 in Houston alone:
http://rudyards.s425.sureserver.com/
Maybe you've heard of some of these acts. Maybe you haven't.
Will Kimbrough
Joe Ely
Butch Hancock
Bob Log III
Deadbolt
The Spits
Pierced Arrows
Bobby Bare Jr.
Asleep at the Wheel
Two Tons of Steel
Peter Case
In Austin you can find upscale food/music venues like La Zona Rosa and Threadgills.
The Black Keys until recently toured as a duo, and about 75% of their concerts remain just the two of them on stage. I’m sure The White Stripes wouldn’t have any trouble booking a tour were they to return to touring.
Plenty of bars booking road acts in Austin and Houston. Bands from within Texas, from out of state, and from outside this country.
http://www.spacecityrock.com/shows/
Just because it’s not on MTV or in Rolling Stone, does not mean that it doesn’t exist.
Not everyone wants to be Lady Gaga.