How to Book Your First Tour: A Step-by-Step Guide for DIY Bands
Introduction
Picture this: You and your bandmates are crammed into a van, watching the sun rise over an unfamiliar highway as you drive toward your next show. The radio plays someone else's song, but in a few hours, you'll be the ones on stage, playing your music for faces you've never seen before. This is the dream that drives countless musicians—the open road, new audiences, and the pure adrenaline of live performance in cities far from home.
Core Thesis: Booking your first tour isn't about living out rock star fantasies or expecting to get rich quick. It's a strategic exercise in planning, relationship-building, and grassroots promotion that requires persistence, organization, and realistic expectations. Success comes from treating your tour like a small business venture rather than a romantic adventure.
What You'll Learn: This comprehensive guide will walk you through every aspect of planning and executing your first tour: assessing your readiness, creating smart routes and budgets, crafting professional outreach that gets responses from venues, and promoting your shows effectively to turn strangers into fans. By the end, you'll have a clear roadmap for transforming your local band into a touring act.
Planning Your Route and Budget
Before You Start: The "Are We Ready?" Checklist
Assess Your Current Status: Before you start reaching out to venues in other cities, take an honest look at where your band stands right now:
• Do you have a solid 30-45 minute set of original, well-rehearsed material? Venues expect bands to fill their time slot professionally, and audiences can tell when a band isn't prepared.
• Do you have a consistent local following that you can use as proof-of-concept for bookers? If you can't draw people in your hometown where everyone knows you, it will be much harder to attract strangers in new cities.
• Is your live show engaging and professional? This means reliable equipment, good stage presence, and the ability to connect with an audience beyond just playing your songs.
Define Your Goals: Clarity about your tour's purpose will guide every decision you make:
• To promote a new single or EP? This affects your routing (hit cities with existing fans) and your setlist (feature new material prominently).
• To build a fanbase in new, nearby cities? Focus on regional markets where you can realistically return and build relationships.
• To gain live performance experience and tighten your set? Any markets work, but prioritize venues that offer good sound systems and supportive environments for developing artists.
How to Plan a Smart and Logical Tour Route
Start Small and Regional: Your first tour should not be an ambitious cross-country expedition. Instead, plan a "weekend warrior" tour (Thursday through Sunday) or a focused 5-7 day regional loop. This approach minimizes costs, reduces the chance of catastrophic failure, and allows you to build experience incrementally.
Use Your Data for DIY Tour Routing: Don't guess where your fans might be—use available data to make informed decisions:
• Check Spotify for Artists and YouTube Analytics to identify which nearby cities have the most listeners. These "warm" markets give you the best chance of drawing an audience.
• Analyze your social media followers' locations using Instagram Insights, Facebook Analytics, or Twitter's audience data. Target cities where you already have some online presence.
• Review your online merch sales to see where people have purchased your music or merchandise. These buyers represent your most dedicated fans and are likely to attend shows.
Map It Out: Use Google Maps to plot a route that makes geographical sense, minimizing drive time and gas costs. Aim for drives of no more than 4-6 hours between cities to avoid exhaustion and maintain performance quality. A circular route that brings you back home is more efficient than a linear route requiring a long drive back.
Creating a Realistic DIY Tour Budget
List All Potential Expenses:
• Transportation: Gas (estimate conservatively), van rental if needed, tolls, parking fees, and a buffer for potential vehicle maintenance or emergency repairs
• Accommodation: Budget motels, friends' floors, Airbnb splits, or (rarely) hotel rooms when other options aren't available
• Food & Drink: Set a realistic per-diem for each member ($15-25 per person per day), accounting for both grocery runs and occasional restaurant meals
• Merchandise Production: Upfront costs for t-shirts, vinyl, stickers, CDs, or other items you plan to sell on tour
• Gear & Consumables: Replacement strings, drumsticks, picks, gaffer tape, batteries for wireless gear, and basic tools
• Contingency Fund: An emergency fund of at least $200-300 for unexpected repairs, medical issues, or other crises
Estimate Potential Income:
• Venue Guarantees: Small, fixed payments from venues, typically $50-200 for new bands, though many venues offer door splits instead of guarantees
• Door Splits/Ticket Sales: A percentage of ticket sales after the venue covers their costs, usually 70-80% to the bands after expenses
• Merchandise Sales: Often the most reliable and important source of income for touring bands, with higher profit margins than venue payments
The Bottom Line: Your first tour is an investment in your career development, not a profit-making venture. Set realistic expectations: breaking even is a victory, and minimizing losses while gaining experience and new fans is the true measure of success.
How to Contact Venues and Promoters
Finding the Right Venues for Your Band
Research is Key: Don't waste time contacting venues that don't book your type of music or your audience size:
• Study where similar-sized bands in your genre have played in your target cities by checking their social media, websites, and recent show history
• Use online resources like Indie on the Move, Songkick, or local music blogs' event calendars to identify active venues in your genre
• Check venue capacity to ensure it matches your expected draw—a 50-person band shouldn't book a 500-capacity room, and vice versa
Identify the Booker: Finding the correct contact person is crucial for getting responses:
• Look for "Talent Buyer," "Booker," "Promoter," or "Events Coordinator" on venue websites
• Call the venue directly and ask who handles booking for bands in your genre
• Check recent show announcements to see who's credited as the promoter or booking contact
Crafting the Perfect Booking Email That Gets a Response
The Subject Line: Make it clear, professional, and searchable: "Booking Inquiry: [Band Name] for [Date Range]" or "Tour Booking: [Band Name] - [Month] 2025"
The Email Body (Keep it concise but complete):
• Short & Sweet Intro: "We are [Band Name], a [genre] band from [City]. We sound like a mix of [Similar Artist 1] and [Similar Artist 2]."
• The Ask: Clearly state your dates: "We're planning a tour through your area and are looking for a show between [Date 1] and [Date 2]."
• Your Draw: Be honest about your experience: "This will be our first time in [City], but we typically draw [Number] people in our hometown and have [X] monthly Spotify listeners."
• Link to Your EPK: "You can find our music, photos, and more info at [EPK link]. We'd love to send you some tracks if you'd prefer to listen first."
• Offer to Help: "We'd be happy to help build a bill with great local bands" or "We can help promote the show through our social media and mailing list."
Professional Closing: Include your contact information, thank them for their time, and mention you're looking forward to hearing from them.
The Follow-Up: How to Be Persistent Without Being Annoying
Venue bookers receive hundreds of emails daily and may not respond immediately to every inquiry. A follow-up shows professionalism and serious intent:
• Send one polite follow-up email 1-2 weeks after your initial contact, keeping it brief and referencing your original message
• Vary your approach in the follow-up—if you sent streaming links initially, offer to send a physical demo or mention a recent achievement
• Consider a phone call if emails go unanswered after two attempts, but be respectful of their time and prepared with all relevant information
• Know when to move on—if you don't get a response after 2-3 professional contacts, focus your energy on other venues
Promoting Your Tour Dates
Pre-Tour Promotion: Building Hype Before You Leave
The Official Announcement: Create a professional tour poster featuring all dates, cities, and venues with consistent branding. Include ticket links, your website, and social media handles. Share this across all platforms simultaneously for maximum impact.
Update Your Digital Presence:
• Add tour dates to your website with individual event pages containing venue information, ticket links, and local contact details
• Update Spotify for Artists so tour dates appear on your artist profile where fans can discover them
• List shows on Bandsintown, Songkick, and Facebook Events to maximize discoverability across platforms
Create Individual Facebook Events: Make each venue and local support bands co-hosts to expand your reach. Consider running small, targeted ads ($10-20) to people in each city who like similar artists.
Contact Local Media: 2-3 weeks before each show, reach out to local music blogs, college radio stations, alternative weeklies, and event calendars. Send your EPK with a brief press release highlighting your tour and any local connections or interesting stories.
On-the-Road Promotion: Keeping the Momentum Going
Daily Social Media Updates: Document your journey with photos, videos, and stories from the road. Tag venues, cities, other bands, and local landmarks to increase visibility among local audiences.
Engage with Local Hashtags: Research and use city-specific hashtags (#DenverMusic, #ChicagoIndie, #AustinShows) to reach potential attendees in each location.
Go Live: Use Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook Live for pre-show acoustic performances, Q&As, or behind-the-scenes content to remind people about that night's show and create real-time engagement.
Cross-Promote with Other Bands: Share content about the local bands you're playing with and encourage them to do the same. This expands everyone's reach and builds goodwill in local music communities.
At the Show: Turning Attendees into Lifelong Fans
The Merch Table: Make it visible, well-lit, and appealing with clear pricing and an organized display. Have someone friendly and knowledgeable running it throughout the night—this is often your primary income source on tour.
The Mailing List: Have both digital and physical sign-up options at the merch table. Offer an immediate incentive like a free sticker, digital single, or discount code for future purchases.
Engage After Your Set: Don't pack up and disappear immediately. Spend time at the merch table talking to people who enjoyed the show, taking photos, and making personal connections that turn casual attendees into dedicated fans.
Network with Local Musicians: Exchange contact information with other bands on the bill and local scene members. These relationships can lead to future booking opportunities and recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a booking agent for my first tour?
No, and most booking agents won't work with bands until they have a proven track record of successful DIY touring. Booking your first tour yourself is a valuable rite of passage that teaches you how the industry works from the ground up. You'll learn venue relationships, routing logistics, and promotional strategies that will serve you throughout your career, whether you eventually work with an agent or continue booking independently.
How much money should we expect to make?
You should expect to lose money or, at best, break even on your first tour. Most successful touring artists lost money on their early tours—consider it an investment in your career development. Your primary goals should be building your fanbase in new markets, gaining invaluable live experience, improving your performance, and selling merchandise. Any money you receive from venues should be viewed as a bonus that helps offset travel and food costs.
What's the most important thing to bring on tour?
Besides your essential instruments and gear, the two most critical items are a well-stocked merchandise box and a positive attitude. Merchandise sales often provide the only profit margin on early tours, so bring variety in sizes and price points. A positive attitude is equally crucial for surviving long drives, cramped quarters, equipment failures, and the inevitable challenges that arise when traveling with your bandmates for extended periods.
How far in advance should I start booking my tour?
Start contacting venues at least 3-6 months before your planned tour dates, with weekend shows (Friday and Saturday) requiring even more lead time as they book up fastest. However, don't be discouraged if you need to book closer to your dates—smaller venues often have last-minute cancellations, and being flexible with your schedule can open up opportunities. The key is starting your outreach early while remaining adaptable to opportunities that arise.
What should we do if a show gets cancelled last minute?
Last-minute cancellations are frustrating but common in the music industry. Have backup plans ready: research alternative venues in each city, maintain relationships with local promoters, and consider house shows or pop-up performances. Sometimes cancelled shows lead to better opportunities—use the time to explore the city, network with local musicians, or set up an impromptu acoustic performance. Always maintain professionalism and try to reschedule rather than writing off the market entirely.
How do we handle money and expenses as a band on tour?
Designate one person as the "tour manager" responsible for handling money, tracking expenses, and managing the budget. Keep detailed records of all income and expenses, save receipts for tax purposes, and discuss how profits (if any) and losses will be shared before you leave home. Consider opening a separate band account for tour expenses to keep personal and band finances separate.
