First Notes from Josh: The Small Town USA Tour 2008

Hey All!

Welcome to the Josh Ritter Small Towns Tour Diary on HuffingtonPost.com! This writing is conceived of as a kind of primer for modern touring life. The music business today is going in two directions; you're either going on the road or you're going down the drain. As records have stopped selling in the quantities they used to, artists like me have increasingly taken to the highways and skyways in order to pay the bills and make a living. Some of us, like me, have been lucky enough to love the road, and to be able to find a way to make it into a lifestyle that is enriching and exciting. It's never an easy or simple life however, and while it is fun, there is a great deal of work done by a great many people to make even a small operation like mine possible from night to night. Here then, for anyone interested, is a look inside a modern mid-level music operation on the road in the middle of America. I'll try to hit as many aspects as I can and give a snapshot of the goings on from day to day. You'll meet my band and my crew, hear about the shows, learn about the daily schedule, and get as much of a view into this lifestyle as I have time to give you. I hope you enjoy and that you can come down to the shows!

It's a day before our tour begins and I'm packing. Elsewhere, gear is being catalogued, suits are being dry-cleaned, venues are being hosed out, and the bus has left its home in Florida and is pondering its way up the eastern seaboard to Boston.

I've been touring on a large (if not always populous) geographical scale for about six years now, and I long ago realized that in order to live on the road I had to treat it with the same weight as I do my life at home. Being on the road for an extended period demands that you try to make a home around yourself while you're touring.

I read a lot on the road, and listen to a lot of books on tape. I also run almost every day, either in the gym of a hotel or on the streets of a city, so I bring my running clothes. My show clothes are durable and dark colored suits and shirts and I have enough of them that I don't have to wear the same sweaty rags night after night. For the most part. My white linen suit period became a whole scale disaster when it coincided with my Canadian winter mud-tour period.

I tell you this because I want this journal to give an idea as to what being on tour is really like; the exuberant and the mundane. From sweaty and packed clubs to what Leonard Cohen has called "normal forms of boredom advertised as poetry."

Comments

[mattcleveland]

It will be great to be able to read about the tour as it happens. I'm stoked to see your show next week in Little Rock. I've never seen you live, but I've been a fan since 2003. I'm telling everyone I know to be there next Friday. Thanks for adding us as a stop on this tour. I hope it won't be your last visit to "The Natural State."

By the way, since you're a runner, you should check out the "Big Dam Bridge." It's the longest pedestrian bridge in the world. It spans the Arkansas River and has a fantastic view of Pinnacle Mountain and the surrounding natural area. It's a great place to go running.

[GrayStone]

Very cool. Couple of quick requests: can you talk a bit about what you did to support yourself at the beginning and how you recommend one start off on a career nowadays? Is it just a question of going out and playing open mics until one gets a paying gig? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for doing this! Good luck!

[knewlove]

it's impressive how little baggage you're taking on such a long tour.

[dandiprat]

Looking foward to reading about the tour and getting to see it up close. I'll be in Carborro, NC - Madison, WI - and Indy. Break a leg. The weather ought to be better than it was in Toronto.

[lauramac]

Josh! I had such a blast last time I saw you, I can't wait to catch you again in Nashville. Until then, have a great tour, and write often!

[leftbehind2000]

Dude - will you be touring on that mule you stole from Anthony?

Happy trails!

[BrenDavis]

This will be cool. Thanks, man - and safe travels!

[kellygrrrl]

Josh! welcome aboard. looking forward to reading your journal.

If you're hitting up Coachella, please report back