Pre-tour
stuff you should have ready before you pick up the
phone.
You need to save up as much money as possible for all
the expenses that you'll incur prior to the tour.
Things like phone bills, postage, press kits,
posters, vehicle maintenance, food, etc. This should
be done as a group. You need a phone, a good one with
voice mail or an answering machine.
Put a promotional kit together (a bio, cd/cassette,
posters, band photo, press clippings), and have
enough of them on hand so that you'll be able to mail
people stuff as they request and/or as you confirm
dates.
Figure out what merchandise you're going to take with
you (shirts, sweatshirts, lapel pins, stickers,
patches, etc.).
Work out reliable transportation for the tour and buy
a good road atlas. Become familiar with the cities
and distances. Try to route a tour that's achievable
for you.
Organize a tentative routing along with day, date,
contact, phone number so that when you call potential
promoters, you'll know roughly what date your band
hopes to play there. Allot at least three months
before the first date of your tour. You need to allow
time for people to get your packages, listen to them,
decide if they like you, play phone tag, etc.
