datamusicata

I am in North Carolina this weekend; one concert inland and then two more concerts on the weekend itself over in New Bern and Beaufort.   These two small coastal cities are beautiful and charming and the weather has been ideal.

Prior to this I had been sent an email by the promoters giving me all the information.   I printed it out and put it in my suitcase (I thought).    When I arrived here I could not find the document anywhere, so I simply went back into the computer thinking that I would just call up  the email when I got to a place with WiFi.

Needless to say I was unable to find the email anywhere in the cyber world.

Ah, this is just great, I thought.   I looked at my road atlas ( I always travel with a road atlas) and found what turned out to be the fastest way to New Bern.   I also knew that I could always go on to my site and look up the appearance, so I wasn’t really worried.  I just wanted all the phone numbers, etc for everyone that I would be needing to work with for the gig.

I decided to just wing it.   When I got to the New Bern exits, I saw a sign for the historic downtown section.   I figured that since I didn’t know where I was going, or the name of the place I was playing, I would at least enjoy some of the local scenery.

I took Business 70 into town and then arbitrarily turned down a side street when I thought I had ventured far enough into the town.    After another two blocks, I suddenly decided to park the car and look around.   I pulled into a perfect parking space and got out of the Chevy Equinox I had rented.

I noticed a story board on the sidewalk across the street with my name on it.

I had inadvertently and miraculously driven to the exact location for my concert.

As wonderful as this is, it not something that you can depend upon, so I am making the following suggestions to you and to me, so this doesn’t happen again.

When you get the information for you gig, print it out twice.    Put one copy in your guitar case and leave it there.    Put the other copy with all the other copies of all the other information that you have on all the other gigs.  

Staple it together and create a road book for your tour.   This is your bible while you are on the road.   All the information for all the gigs in one place.    I think you can even go to Reverbnation and create your own road book there.

I believe that they provide all kinds of extra spaces for CD sales, attendance, etc.   I think you can even customize it.    If you haven’t joined, you should, it is a great tool for the working musician.  The URL is  www.reverbnation.com