Girl on the Road

A practical guide on how to break into the world of touring, from the perspective of a female guitar tech, tour manager and ex-musician. Do you wonder "How do I get my first tour?" or "Do you need to be strong to be able to lift equipment?" or maybe it's "How much do you get paid?". Well all of these questions are covered in this e-book. I will lay out a strategy for becoming freelance and leaving your regular job, with real world recommendations of who to contact and resources to use. I will tell you how much you should expect to earn at different touring stages, what PD's and buy outs are, how to negotiate your fee, how to budget to find work and explain what a retainer is. This book won't tell you how to become a sound engineer or how to re-string a guitar, it will tell you how to get that first job on tour where you can put your skills to use or simply learn on the job. While this book isn't intended just for girls, it does address some female specific issues. Please don't be put off boys!About the author: Claire Murphy has worked for bands such as Vance Joy, Elle King, Lord Huron, Babes in Toyland, The Raveonettes, ABC, Go West, Tony Hadley, Therapy? and many many others, playing in venues from bars to arenas, and 80,000 capacity stadiums. She has toured in splitter vans around Europe, flown in for shows in Russia, South America, Australia and Japan, and toured in buses around the USA and Canada.She has Tour Managed in the UK, Europe and the USA and is currently guitar teching her way around the world. She has worked with bands at festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, ACL, SXSW and Glastonbury, and played iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Red Rocks and Wembley Stadium.She has owned a successful van rental company in the UK and continues to provide storage for the music industry. She mentors women trying to break into the live music industry via the organisation SoundGirls and often welcomes them to come shadow her for a day on tour.When not on tour, she can be found at the beach or drinking coffee in Southern California.