I am proud to say that I am from Ames. Everywhere we go on tour, people ask where we are from and it is a pleasure to tell them about our small but vibrant underground music scene in Ames. A touring band is a group of traveling ambassadors who leave behind an impression of their hometown with the people they play for and meet.

Ames has many excellent bands that release their own recordings, yet only a few bands regularly tour. It’s time for Ames bands to hit the pavement and introduce their music to new audiences around the region and the country. This is our year, Ames. In addition to the current Leslie and the Ly’s/Christopher the Conquered tour, the Poison Control Center is doing a series of tours for a full year, and Nuclear Rodeo is setting out on tour later this month. Mumford’s and Pennyhawk are also planning the next round of tours for 2010 and 2011. Ames, let’s do this. Let’s get out around the country and say “We are from Ames” and then play in some dude’s living room or in the back of some bar reeking of urine or in an unlit basement in between a bunch of metal bands. We can do this.

Thousands of underground bands are on tour at all times. Though many touring acts are booked by professional booking agencies, many more bands book their own tours. If you have patience and Internet access, you can book your own tour.

When you begin planning a tour, here are a few things to consider:

1) You will need a vehicle that is large enough for your band, your instruments, and your equipment, and that is in good enough condition to drive the many miles you will cover. If you do not have your own vehicle, or if your vehicle is insufficient for your needs, consider teaming up with another band that does have a van and sharing the tour with them. You can also establish a band fund and start saving up money to buy a used van or car. You can find decent 15-passenger vans used on Craig’s List starting at $1500.

2) If you are booking your own tour, plan out a projected route for the tour. It is important to try to drive less than six hours to each show. Any more than that is too expensive and exhausting. Once you’ve decided on a route, start researching the potential venues on your route. A few good starting places are dodiy.org and indieonthemove.com, but there are many online resources. Another good way to research venues is by looking at the tour dates of other bands and seeing where they play. Booking a tour is a matter of communications; just start contacting venues through e-mail or MySpace, tell them the date you are looking to play, and send them links to your music. This takes a lot of patience and can be frustrating, but just keep at it and you’ll start filling in your calendar. If you are friends with any bands in towns along your route, contact them and see if they’d like to play a show with you. They might even set up a show for you at a venue or at their house. This is one of the best ways to book a successful show.

3) Bands that book their own tours often do not have guarantees for payment at their shows. But going on tour costs a lot of money. When you book a show, ask the venue if they offer any type of payment to bands. Will you get a cut of the door? Could they at least make sure your gas is covered? Can you set up a tip jar? It’s worthwhile to ask.

4) Only tour if you have something to sell. Since you likely will not have a guarantee of payment every night, it is essential that you have merchandise as a source of income. Plus, the point of touring is to introduce your music to new audiences. Your tour is a means of distributing your music. Plan a well-ordered and attractive presentation of your merch so that people who dig your set will be motivated to support you by buying your music or t-shirts or other wares. Think about how to draw attention to your merch so that you can distribute as much as possible and earn the money to buy the gas to get to your next show.

There are so many talented musicians and good bands in Ames. Let’s tour! Playing a show every day will improve your musicianship and tighten up your set. Along the way, you’ll meet people you never would have met otherwise, you’ll see bizarre bands you’ve never heard of, you’ll meet up with friends and family you don’t often have the chance to see, and you’ll experience so much of the kindness (and a little of the rudeness) of strangers. You will be out in the world representing the Ames music community. Best of all, you will be a working musician, you’ll be playing music every day.