Best jobs for a touring musician

drummingman

Gold Member
What is the best jobs that a touring musician can have at home when he is not on tour? I figure that the main problem that a touring musician would have is the fact that he will be gone a lot and will need a job that will really work with them. This is an important question for me because i want to tour and try to play music as full time as possible when i join another band and i know it could take a good while until my band is making enough to live off of.

As is i teach drum lessons full time and i figure that that would be a possible job when im not on the road. But it seems to me that it would be easy to lose students because of being gone for long stretches at a time.

Please post your thoughts!
 
Ok Monica was onto something when she said sell Avon. I did something similar which is called Vector marketing where you sell high end knife sets... its actually a really good job and the knives are the best in the world. Best part is you run it like its your own business and make your own hours.

Then you could get a 9-5 and make the most use of the rest of your time... retail... what are you good at? What jobs have you had in the past?

You could also start your own business.

Do some serious thinking, and start looking into your library for material in the direction of you making money.

Remember : Those who think in terms of what is possible are better equipped to deal with life than those who think in terms of what is actual.
 
Remember : Those who think in terms of what is possible are better equipped to deal with life than those who think in terms of what is actual.

But I ACTUALLY have to pay my mortgage this month, whilst it's only POSSIBLE that I'll win the lottery and never have to worry about it again. What say you?

J/K mate.
 
Ok Monica was onto something when she said sell Avon. I did something similar which is called Vector marketing where you sell high end knife sets... its actually a really good job and the knives are the best in the world. Best part is you run it like its your own business and make your own hours.

Then you could get a 9-5 and make the most use of the rest of your time... retail... what are you good at? What jobs have you had in the past?

You could also start your own business.

Do some serious thinking, and start looking into your library for material in the direction of you making money.

Remember : Those who think in terms of what is possible are better equipped to deal with life than those who think in terms of what is actual.

The salling of things could be good if one lives in an area that has a market for what you are selling.

I have done sales before but they want you there everyday. Im not sure if they would be up on the idea of someone leaving for a tour all the time.

The idea of starting a business is a good idea if i could start one that i could manage even while on tours.

I would like to get into real estate. Im hoping to learn more about that.

I agree and like what you posted at the end.
 
Probably the best thing would be having some relative or friend who owns a business or has the power to employ people, and is generous enough to let you work for him when you're not on tour. The best non-musical thing that is.
The best thing would be to still have gigs or studiojobs or whatever between touring.
 
Anything that would allow you to work from home or a lap top. A lap top can be your best friend. I don't know what kind of computer skills you have but web design or transcribing come to mind. I have a financial background and worked from home doing accounting with occasional face time in the office to pick up/drop off materials. You need to focus on something that is "project oriented" and not driven by a schedule. And yes, teaching is a natural but you're right about losing students due to your traveling. I couldn't work with someone who wasn't available weekly or almost. Good luck! Try to approach your search with an open mind and think outside the box.
 
Anything that would allow you to work from home or a lap top. A lap top can be your best friend. I don't know what kind of computer skills you have but web design or transcribing come to mind. I have a financial background and worked from home doing accounting with occasional face time in the office to pick up/drop off materials. You need to focus on something that is "project oriented" and not driven by a schedule. And yes, teaching is a natural but you're right about losing students due to your traveling. I couldn't work with someone who wasn't available weekly or almost. Good luck! Try to approach your search with an open mind and think outside the box.

What would you recommend for good work from home jobs?
 
I think a better question is, where are you going to find a band that makes enough touring to support you full time? Most groups who "tour" in my area don't seem to make any money.
 
Forget the term jobs and instead try and formulate a money making machine, like a business, that you can run from afar, or get someone else to run it in your absense..Forget trying to get hired unless it's a family member who will allow you to come and go at will.
 
I assume that when you talk about touring, you are talking about real tours, and not these "go out and pay to play all around the country and be lucky if you break even" things that a lot of kids do now. If you really want to be a pro, then be a pro. You are right that touring could cost you students, but it also may make it more exciting for them as they are studying with a touring drummer. You can also do things like "drum circle hand drum classes," where you put up flyers and have a bunch of people come learn the basics of hand drumming (for drum circles and such), in a group. You can make some serious scratch doing something like that for a reduced rate (say $10 or $15 for an hour long class, but it's a group so you get a decent number of people). Also, if you are good enough to be touring (again, really touring, not just playing free gigs in random towns), then you should be able to land some studio work, theatre work, etc, in your down time.
 
Do clinic-style lessons wherever you tour?

And I know this is a taboo subject among musicians, but there is the military. 30 days paid vacation time per year on top of normal days off. Plus free travel, if you're lucky.
 
What would you recommend for good work from home jobs?

I did bookkeeping. I have two friends that are medical transcriptionists (of course there is training involved) and another who does legal work from home. I must admit however, in many instances the jobs were originally regular office jobs that transferred over nicely into telecommuting. In those cases, you will have already proven your reliability and trustworthiness before a business is going to let you call the shots off site. Other jobs have always been "work from home" type scenarios. Just google "work from home jobs" and beware of anything that looks too good to be true. Depending on your education and any area of expertise, there are also tutoring jobs in everything from academics to drumming. Just discovered this while searching for yet another dum teacher **sigh**. It appears that the potential client/student contacts these organizations and fills out a request then the company (who I assume maintains a database of qualified tutors) matches the student with the best qualified and available tutor. Obviously the jobs would be sporadic but that's what you need. What about Music Theory? Do you have signifigant knowledge there? Just identify your skills and market yourself! Be creative!
 
bartender, UPS driver, mail carrier, etc.


F
 
I assume that when you talk about touring, you are talking about real tours, and not these "go out and pay to play all around the country and be lucky if you break even" things that a lot of kids do now. If you really want to be a pro, then be a pro. You are right that touring could cost you students, but it also may make it more exciting for them as they are studying with a touring drummer. You can also do things like "drum circle hand drum classes," where you put up flyers and have a bunch of people come learn the basics of hand drumming (for drum circles and such), in a group. You can make some serious scratch doing something like that for a reduced rate (say $10 or $15 for an hour long class, but it's a group so you get a decent number of people). Also, if you are good enough to be touring (again, really touring, not just playing free gigs in random towns), then you should be able to land some studio work, theatre work, etc, in your down time.

Yeah, i am looking to be a pro. Not pay to play. But if i had to pay to play for awhile, if i have no choice, then im willing to do that to get started. But the goal is to make money out on tour not par to play.

I would also think that working at food places, even fast food, would be flexible. It would be a means to an end. The end being able to play full time and tour full time for a living.
 
Anything casual. I have a few friends who are in the same position as you, and they all have casual jobs with friends or understanding employers. Music shops are a good one as they are generally managed by ex-musos and understand the nature of touring and are willing to give flexible hours.
 
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