Tour:Smart is packed with nearly 600 pages of battle-tested strategy, priceless tips, and more inside knowledge on the ins and outs of touring than has ever been compiled into a book before. With chapters on everything from routing, marketing, transportation and budgets, to sex, drugs, and stories from the front line. In addition to Martin Atkins' 30 years of experience as a touring musician, Tour:Smart includes contributions from over 100 industry professionals: club owners, booking agents, touring musicians, managers, sex advisors, cops, drivers, merchandisers, and more.
Our web site is adding new Tour:Smart video lessons from Martin Atkins as well, click here to watch Martin's explaination of the 'Five-Pointed Star' strategy for building a regional audience to an important show! If you order the book from our site you get a DVD with a half dozen video lessons like this one!
You can download a sample chapter from Tour:Smart here: Chapter 3: Planning & Routing
Reviews of Tour:Smart:
Attention rock bands: This is your owners' manual!
Joel Selvin - Senior Pop Music Critic, San Francisco Chronicle
Four Stars! The ultimate touring manual... tackles every conceivable aspect of getting the show on the road in a highly readable style."
Kris Needs - MOJO
Literally crammed with ideas and strategies for squeezing the most out of your group, from merchandising plans to really using the internet, gig
planning and stage presence... A vital repository of hard-learned lessons and essential pointers.
Terrorizer Magazine
Call it the bible of touring. Call it the Holy Grail of knowledge. Whatever hyperbole you want to throw at it, the book lives up to all of it.
Peter Lindblad - Goldmine Magazine
A very impressive and useful book. I would highly recommend that you evaluate this volume and consider using it in your courses.
Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association Magazine
Nobody has tried to explain the complicated processes and behind the scenes organisation that makes tours happen. Until now. One of the year’s essential books.
Record Collector Magazine
If you are in a band, you need this book. If you are thinking about joining or starting a band, you need this book. Crew member, tech guy, or roadie? Yep. If you are a music business major at university, this should be on your syllabus. If it isn't, have a sit-down with your professor, then go buy this book.
Alyse Wax - BlogCritics Magazine
