The Touring Musician

A Small Business Approach To Booking Your Band On The Road

touringmusician



“Record companies would have us believe there is no money in jazz. Hal Galper’s book shows the newcomer, as well as the jaded road rat, that this is simply a self-serving untruth and gives us the ammunition to maximize the global marketplace. This is an important book for everyone in the business, from players to club managers. Loaded with tips on getting to the gig, even with a bass. I laughed, I cried, I learned!”

Phil Woods

“The definitive tour manual. This book will help transform road worriers into road warriors. Hal has left no stone unturned when it comes to the business and mechanics of taking a band on tour. Great for musicians, managers, road managers and agents alike. Keep it on your desk and pack it in your suitcase…it’s a complete reference guide to the road.”

Michael Brecker

“There is so much that I could say about the virtues of this book. It is exhaustive in its detail covering every possible contingency; it is savvy in comprehending the peculiarities and quirks of the jazz business specifically; and above all it is inspiring in that it empowers the reader to make headway through the complexities of the music business. Besides that, Hal’s humor, anecdotes and friendly tone make the reading itself pleasurable. This has to be a milestone in how to books!!”

Dave Liebman

“THE TOURING MUSICIAN has information brilliantly and meticulously compiled for surviving as a traveling musician. This text has incredible detail in every section that only actual experience can give. There is also a great deal more than just pertinent information for traveling. There are sections that will help you search within yourself for your true convictions for being a creative musician in the first place. Reading this book will help you better understand you and be more in control of your career as we live and function in the new millennium. All of us can learn from the straightforward, sometimes hilarious, clarity of Hal Galper’s hindsight experience, good and bad. All who travel need to include this book in their personal library even if they have management. Bravo Hal!”

Rufus Reid

“Musicians have traditionally relied on others to direct their musical careers: wives, girlfriends, agents, bookers, managers, club owners, landlords, et al. These people have to a large degree determined when,where and what type music they play. Hal’s book clearly and humorously shows how to effectively control your musical life and pursue your musical career goals with confidence. No longer can we say “we didn’t know.” This brilliant book leaves no stones unturned and will save many musicians from unnecessary detours. Thanks Hal!”

Jamey Aebersold

“I have been reading your book, Touring Musician, and find it fascinating and informative. There are a lot of things that I have tried or seen tried that did or didn’t work for whatever reason, but you’ve brought it altogether in one place with a lot of helpful tried and true examples of how to go about getting things done.”

Cecil Bridgewater

A Note To The Reader

Times have changed since The Touring Musician was first published in 2000. Updating the book to reflect current conditions would require re-editing it yearly. Dollar figures, contact info, air-travel conditions, URL’s and such may have changed but these the reader, with a little research, can update wherever warranted. Otherwise the business concepts in The Touring Musician, negotiating gigs, routing tours, budgets, etc., are universal and remain unchanged.

The Touring Musician is a 4MB PDF file and, depending on your bandwidth, may take a while to load.

The book reads best on your computer screen at 125% and prints out well. I ask the reader to maintain publishing security by not disseminating printouts to others.

Navigating through the book is easy. You can use to the Bookmarks to get to every chapter heading but I recommend using the Table Of Contents pages as they are linked directly to each subject heading. Hold the cursor over the subject you want to go to and the hand will turn in to the a pointing finger when over a link, then click.

The techniques in this book come from the practical experience I gained booking my own bands and touring internationally for 4 -6 months every year for ten years.  Starting from scratch, I made every mistake there was to make. As they say, a smart man learns from his own mistakes but a wise man learns from others mistakes. I hope you will learn from mine.

The Touring Musician

A Small Business Approach To Booking Your Band On The Road