Count the headlights on the highway.

WillieNelson sings, “On the road again / Goin' places that I've never been / Seein' things that I may never see again / And I can't wait to get on the road again”.  I have both heard and hummed this song so many times and realize that it couldn't hold more true now.  In my work experience, being on tour was both rewarding and challenging, but when I first started in entertainment, it was all about the music.  In fact, 30 years ago if you had told me that I would be flown out to Chicago and paid to be onsite at a U2 show at Soldier Field, then shuttled back to Pittsburgh to then be paid to be at a second U2 show at Heinz Field, and also asked to work a third show at Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville, I would have said “Where do I sign?”.  But with my boys’ sports seasons occupying almost every weeknight and weekend, and trying to find downtime to spend with my wife, all I have wanted to do is hang out in Pittsburgh.  Wow, have my priorities changed.

Please understand that I enjoy traveling and the opportunity to visit old friends and see sites is right up my alley, but I believe my days of being on a routed tour are behind me.  For those who do not know, routing is a music industry term used to describe a specific itinerary and/or number of cities visited by an artist/band over a period of time.  Although traveling for my work can be exciting, it can also be grueling and I have seen it first-hand contribute to the end of many bands.  In the different roles that I have filled in the music industry, I am constantly comparing and contrasting my past experiences in all of the different cities to the cities that I am working in 2017.  At the same time, as I was booking tours and concerts in over 30 states/provinces in North America between 2000-2005, I never realized that I was forging my own musical map.

Dave Grohl once said that, “I think there is something in a city that influences the way people play music in that city.”  As someone working behind the scenes with bands and artists, I believe there are things about different cities that also impact how you listen to music.  Grabbing gravy fries post-show at Nectar’s in Burlington, VT, club-hopping on Frenchman Street in New Orleans, LA come to mind.  Or are you taking an Uber to the show with a Nigerian driver named Yahya who is playing Afro JuJu?  Maybe you are riding the subway and sharing a seat with a kid in a Mohawk and wearing a t-shirt of The Menzingers?  What about grabbing a pre-show drink in a pub where the bartender is playing Rush’s “Permanent Waves” album just a bit too loud.  There are so many unique, local-isms when visiting a new city and checking out music.

In 2017, the next time that I am asked to work a show in a different market, maybe I will make it a family affair.  And I hope that the next time that I invite them to go see a show, they will all have their shoes on and be half-way out the door before I can explain to them who we are going to see and where.

Thanks for reading!