Planning for a National Music Tour by George Kahumoku, Jr.
When planning for a national music tour, I think that it’s very important to create relationships before hand, and to build and develop a team or a collaborative effort for a successful national concert tour. First of all, we plan at least one to two years ahead of our tour dates to book a successful tour. I’m very blessed to have a team helping me to prepare, book, and promote our Masters of Hawaiian Music Concert Series that we have been doing since 1995.
We are blessed to have on our team Karen Fischer, who is our booking agent. She heads and attends regional and national booking events that help us get bookings nationwide in the continental USA as well as in Canada. We also have publicist Nico Fisher, who helps us get the word out on social media. We also have radio, newspaper & magazine contacts that we have collaborated with as well for decades. I also am blessed to have my wife Nancy as part of my team, who pinpoints & redirects my attention to areas that I need to focus on such as emails, dates, questions, and links to Hula Halaus who might be performing for our concerts. She also packs my clothes with matching leis, packs swag for sales on the road, and coordinates product drop offs along the way.
Once the plans are set for the road concert trip, Nancy also assists me in figuring out my Maui home schedule and finding substitutes for the Maui gigs that I play weekly at Kula Lodge on Fridays, Leilani’s on Saturdays, Pailolo Restaurant on Mondays, and our Wednesday Napili Kai Beach Resort Slack Key Show - Masters of Hawaiian Music Concert Series.
I also have developed a team on Maui that helps me to continue to harvest, source, and deliver farm produce such as spinach, bananas, papayas, taro, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, long beans, okra, etc., to the many restaurants I play music at on Maui.
Mentally, and physically, Nancy also helps me come up with a list of songs I will play on the road. Most times I try to play songs off my latest CD to help sell product on the road. Physically, before I go on tour, I try to exercise and swim at least 2-3 times a week, so I try to get my booking agent, Karen Fischer, to book me in hotels that have a swimming pool so I can continue to exercise and swim on the road.
A day before I go on the road, I also prepare a bag of road food, poke fish, rice, spam musube, tuna sandwiches for traveling, and empty bottles of water that I fill with water once I get past TSA at the airport. I also pack any meds & vitamins I might need, plus my CPAP and blood pressure devices, extra business cards, pens, and paper for drawing and writing.
Nancy also prints out a survey drawing leaflet that we hand out to every single patron at each show on our national tour. This survey captures & helps us to develop our mailing list for our National Shows as well as for our shows on Maui!
I double check to make sure I got enough coats, jackets, gloves, hats, vests, etc. Mentally, I try to be in the now and then I just try to breathe and relax, get enough rest, write and draw when I can and eat healthily on the road. Tour Schedule
