How to Start Touring as a Band

A Complete DIY Survival Guide

I am writing this “How to Start Touring as a Band” guide from the back of a cramped van, then a taxi in Japan, and now finally I’m finishing it at a bar somewhere in the middle of nowhere Texas.

Time starts to blur when you’re on the road.

As I type this, the band I’m in, Billy Doom and the Band of Serpents, is actively touring across the United States and Japan.

It is exhausting, chaotic, and hands down the absolute best thing in the world.

But figuring out how to start touring as a band for the first time? That can feel like staring up a sheer cliff.

Billy tells me he remembers his very first DIY tour. They had zero money, zero industry connections, and a whole lot of anxiety. But they figured it out, mostly by making a ton of mistakes.

If you want to take control of your music career and hit the road without losing your mind (or your shirt), you are in the right place.

This guide will walk you through exactly how to plan your first tour, avoid financial ruin, and actually enjoy the ride.

Prepare and Plan Before You Pack

Before you even think about booking dates, you need to be honest about where your band is currently at.

Are you selling out your local hometown shows?

If you can’t get fifty people to show up to a Friday night gig in your own city, hitting the road is going to be a brutal reality check.

Practice until your hands hurt.

Your live set needs to be airtight because you won’t always have the luxury of a good soundcheck.

Just as importantly, get your merchandise sorted out.

Merch is your number one income generator on tour.

T-shirts, vinyl, stickers, and cassettes…whatever fits your budget, get it printed.

Fans want to support you, so give them something tangible to buy after you blow their minds on stage.

The two biggest requests I’ve received on this tour is music and stickers. People seem to dig key chains and patches, too.

Book Venues and Route Smartly

Booking your own tour requires a thick skin.

You will send hundreds of cold emails and get used to dead silence.

Pull up a map and start plotting cities that actually make logical sense.

Try to keep your drives under six hours on show days.

You do not want to drive fourteen hours, load in heavy amps, and immediately try to put on an energetic rock show.

If you use our IB – Tour Manager plugin, it will help you map out times and gas money.

When you pitch a venue, keep your email under eight sentences. Talent buyers are busy.

Give them a link to a live video, a link to your music, and a realistic estimate of your draw.

If you’ve never played that city before, your best bet is to find local bands in that area and offer a gig swap.

You open for them in their city, and they open for you when they come to your hometown.

It’s a proven way to cross-pollinate fan bases and guarantee a crowd.

Nail Down Your Logistics and Transportation

Transportation is where tours live or die.

I am completely gear agnostic; we use what we can afford.

Usually, that means a sketchy, high-mileage van.

Whatever you are driving, make sure you take it to a mechanic for a full tune-up before you leave.

A blown transmission in the middle of nowhere will end your tour and drain your bank account instantly.

We almost missed our flights to Japan because of a busted belt tensioner that tore up our serpentine belt. A family member had to bail us out and get us plane tickets from Tucson to LAX.

For sleeping arrangements, forget hotels unless you suddenly inherit a small fortune.

Reach out to friends, family, and even fans in the cities you are playing.

Invest in a thick sleeping bag and a decent air mattress, and get very comfortable with the idea of sleeping on living room floors.

Manage the Tour Without Losing Your Mind

Here is a hard truth I learned the hard way: group chats are where important tour details go to die.

Early in our run, we relied on a messy web of text messages, scattered notes, and chaotic Google Sheets to track load-in times, venue contacts, and setlists.

It was pure spreadsheet hell, and it caused way too many arguments in the van.

Then we started using the IndieBackline Tour Manager plugin, and it completely changed how we operate.

If you run your band’s website on WordPress, this tool is an absolute lifesaver.

Instead of paying a ridiculous monthly subscription for some bloated SaaS platform, Tour Manager is a local-first plugin that lives right on your own site.

It lets you plan your entire tour with a clear list of dates, cities, and venues all in one place.

You can keep all your show details—like load-in times, set lengths, and promoter contacts—out of your messy group texts.

Plus, everything shows up on a clean calendar view, so the whole band knows exactly what is happening each day.

There’s also a convenient fan view that keeps your secrets safe but gives them the most important information.

You can actually start using it for free to run a single tour.

When you’re ready to scale up to unlimited tours and setlists, the paid version is just a one-time price. You pay once, and you own the updates up to the next major version.

Keeping your tour data centralized on your own site is the smartest DIY move you can make.

Master DIY Promotion and Marketing

You can’t just book a show in a new city and magically expect people to show up. You have to engage your fans like never before.

Start your promotion a couple of months in advance. Send physical posters to the venues and ask them to hang them up.

Run targeted social media ads for a few bucks a day in the specific zip codes you are playing.

Post behind-the-scenes content on Instagram and TikTok showing your tour prep…people love authenticity and want to follow your journey.

Reach out to local college radio stations and music blogs in the towns you are visiting. Offer to do a quick acoustic set or an interview the afternoon of the show.

Survive the Open Road

Touring is an absolute marathon.

Eating gas station hot dogs every single day will destroy your immune system and your mood. Make a point to stop at grocery stores for fresh fruit, water, and deli meats.

Take alone time when you need it. You are going to be trapped in a metal box with the same people for weeks on end. Put your headphones on, take a walk around the block before soundcheck, and give each other space.

And please, check your van’s oil every single time you head out on the road to the next venue.

Evaluate and Plan Your Next Steps

When you finally get home, you are going to want to sleep for two days straight.

Do it.

But when you wake up, sit down with the band and evaluate the run. Look at the hard data.

Did you actually make a profit, or did you lose money?

Check your merchandise sales data and compare it against your gas receipts.

Look at your streaming metrics and social media follower growth in the cities you played.

Did your monthly listeners spike in Chicago after you played that basement show?

Figure out what worked, what completely failed, and what you need to adjust for the next run.

Touring is incredibly hard work, but there is absolutely nothing like playing the music you poured your soul into for a room full of people who truly connect with it.

Get your setlist tight, map out a logical route, and grab the tools you need to stay organized.

Head over to IndieBackline to install the Tour Manager plugin on your site, and start routing your band’s first great adventure today.

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