Yesterday I shared with you how I selected what cities to go to on my tour. I decided I wanted to start in South Dakota, work my way to Milwaukee, WI and then loop back around. This allowed me to hit about 10 or 11 cities in 14 days.

So now you should have your list of cities to play….and also a list of possible venues…..here is a copy of the exact script I used to call venues and book myself:

“Hi. My name is Chad Sharp. I am a singer-songwriter. I am getting ready to release a new CD and I am going to be on tour. I am going to be in __ on __. I was wondering who I would talk to about setting up a time to play there when I am in town.”

Boom. That’s really it….. The people I called would usually refer me to who I needed to talk to, or they would tell me they are not booking anyone. This script does 2 things: 1. Tells them you are serious, you are touring. 2. Tells them you are already GOING to be in their city, so this isn’t a special trip.
Many places are going to ask how much you charge….they may also ask you to send a CD and press kit, etc.
For my tour I played mostly for Tips and CD Sales, but a couple places actually paid me to play.
If you have never toured before, and you do not have a following in the city you are visiting, be careful to not ask for too much money and book yourself out of a gig. My tour was designed as more of a promotional tour.

Using this script I ended up booking shows from South Dakota to Wisconsin. I hit places like, Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, Milwaukee….and places in bewteen. It didn’t take me a super long amount of time to get the shows set up.

Tomorrow I will tell you how I promoted my tour….

- Chad Sharp