How to Plan and Organise a Successful UK Jazz Tour - Lessons Learnt

Thought I'd share some of the lessons I learned from my recent UK tour.  Hopefully you'll get some tips from the things I did in the right way and avoid my mistakes!

CD Sales - Sales were definitely down compared to previous tours.  I did notice an increase in digital sales which was probably also due to the tour publicity but sadly with Spotify and Rhapsody sales which can sometimes amount to less that 1p per track this wasn't exactly a money spinner!  There was also the fact that the CD I was selling was my previous Licorice Kiss album - I did a couple of songs from this album on the tour but the majority was new material not yet recorded.  In hindsight, maybe it's better to tour with a relevant album because with the lack of music stores, sales of albums at gigs are an important revenue stream.

Radio - I was extremely pleased with the level of response I had from radio stations, especially BBC Local radio.  I did 5 interviews in total which is more than I've had from any of my previous tours.  Yay!  All of these I got by sending emails with my press release 3 months before my tour.  Probably also worth following up again just before the tour starts.

Press - Also got some great press which included Jazzwise, Jazz UK and some local newspapers too.  One of the interviews I did (Crawley Observer) wasn't printed which was a disappointment and interestingly that gig was the worst attended.  I wonder if there's a correlation..?  I was also disappointed that there were no reviews but it's so difficult to get journalists to come out to a gig if you're not one of the hot "flavour of the month" musicians/bands or a very established name.  I am neither! 

Finances - In retrospect I don't think I should have had so many door deals because this put a real pressure on my finances and caused me a lot of stress.  Added to this, even with sold out gigs, the door deals were so bad that despite maximum attendance, I still came away with less than £300 for the band.  In future, if there is a door deal, I will make sure that the percentages work out so that the potential revenue makes doing the gig worthwhile.   You need to take account of hidden costs too like money the venue charges for publicity, PRS and VAT!  I didn't make any money on the tour in the end but at least I didn't make a loss which I know many bandleaders have experienced recently as it is only fair to pay the band properly whether you make any money on the gig or not.  It has to be said though, if I hadn't had a bit of help from Jazz Services, I would definitely have made a loss.

Musicians - I'm very lucky to work with some excellent musicians.  It's important to be flexible though because sometimes musicians get offered lucrative tours and are unavailable or there may be unexpected events that means you need to find a dep with very short notice.  Both of these things happened to me but fortunately there were some great replacements and it all went very smoothly.  Definitely important to have a "B list" of musicians on each instrument so that you have someone (who knows your music) to call if your band member is unavailable.

Summary - On the whole, I was very pleased with the tour and extremely grateful for the financial support I received from Jazz Services.  Several sold out gigs and full houses and quite a bit of publicity which all helps with raising the profile.  Now I'm looking forward to taking some time out to write some new songs and also to work on some new projects.  Will keep you posted!

Please feel free to comment or ask questions below and I will help if I can.

UK Jazz Tour - Gigs 9, 10 & 11 of 12 - West Country (St Austell Brewery, Be-Bop Club Bristol & Chapel Arts Bath)

Restormel Arts - St Austell Brewery

It was a sunny but very long drive down to Cornwall from London but we were rewarded by the view of this lovely cottage which was our home our viist.  It was such a lovely place with a warming fire - it started to rain heavily as soon as we arrived - and beautiful views.  Sadly we didn't stay too long as we had to leave soon for our soundcheck at the brewery and were up early the next morning to travel to Exeter where we performed a live track for Judi Spiers show on BBC Radio Devon.

The lovely cottage we stayed in



George, Dave & Milo during soundcheck

 
The Brewery as a great venue - unusual and beautifully quirky.  Apparently their Admiral's Ale was voted as the best bottled beer in the world.  I'm reliably informed by the band that it was very good although I didn't indulge as I'm more of a cocktails lady myself! 

The gig itself went really well and we had a full house.  Phil who runs the Jazz at the Brewery programme for Restormel Arts treated us very well indeed.  It really makes a difference to musicians when we spend so much time travelling to be greeted by a consderate and well-organised promoter.  Even something as small as the offer of a cup of tea on arrival is much appreciated (especially by drummer Milo who is very partial to a nice cup of tea!)

With 2 lovely ladies and more pics of some of the audience members below



The Be-Bop Club Bristol

After our quick visit to the radio station in Exeter we drove straight to Bristol and had a pub lunch.  We then checked into our hotel which was very unuaual in that it was a totally automatic 24-hour hotel where entry to the front door and all rooms was by key code!  No reception staff, nothing.  A bit like a version of those EasyHotels if you've seen one, but we did have proper rooms and bathrooms instead of "pods".  A unusual type of place but I quite liked it really. 

We soundchecked at the club which has its home in the back room of a pub called The Bear.  It had just been renovated to the surprise of Andy who runs the club and there were huge tables in the room instead of the usual small caberet style tables which meant it was a bit of squeeze for everyone to get in!  It's a very small room so it didn't take much to fill the place and there was a lovely atmosphere.  As ever, I met some lovely people in the audience - see pics below.



Demonstrating their superior sense of style and taste by buying a copy of my album. ;-)



Chapel Arts Centre, Bath

We had a bit of a lie-in on Saturday to make up for Friday's early start and then went for brunch in Bristol before setting off to Bath.  What a beautiful place!  I went a bit mad with the camera but don't worry - I've only included a couple here. 

Bath Abbey - stunning



I wondered at first if these were Bath's version of the Barclays
Boris Bikes... but think they were some sort of promo thing



So many buskers on the pedestrianised streets of Bath - felt
like a bit of a cross between Covent Garden and Brighton!

When we first arrived at the venue, I was a bit worried as it was all covered in scaffolding and green baize but it was still business as usual!  It such a wonderful space.  The perfect size for a jazz performance and although there weren't as many people there as I would have liked, because it was arranged with cabaret style tables with candles and the audience were warm and encouraging, there was a lovely ambience.

George, Dave and Milo soundchecking



Shot of the audience taken during the interval



Another lovely lady demonstrating her superior taste!


As she was leaving, a lady came up to thank me saying that when she had arrived that evening she had been feeling very down but listening to us had reminded her of the joys of life.  It really moved me to hear that.  Connecting with people and bringing something positive into their lives is one of the reasons I love performing so much - even if it sounds a bit cheesy!