Hey Friends,
With less than a week and a half before the next Ingrid Michaelson
tour, I'm spending all of my time preparing for the road. We're doing
about a week's worth of college shows, and then moving onto a 22 date
co-headlining tour with Mat Kearney. I've created a "to do list" so
that I stay as productive as possible in the short time left before we
step on the bus. I can't speak for everyone else in the band, but I
would like to now share with you, the readers of the Yuppie Blog, some
highlights of how I am personally getting ready for the first Ingrid
tour of the year. Enjoy!
My first order of business was to make sure my taxes were completed
before I leave for tour. There's no WAY I would be able to find the
time or summon the mental focus to do this while traveling around
playing in a different city every night. I sat on my living room
floor, watched and episode of LOST, and separated all of my receipts from last year into different expense categories. Then I put on the
Comedians of Comedy starring Patton Oswalt because I have a lot of
receipts. I actually have fun with this and get a sense of
accomplishment when I finally hit the post office to mail everything
to my accountant!
I try to stay fit and active while on the road. I even maintain a blog
about touring and fitness called The Healthy Musician. For this tour,
I decided to purchase a few extra items that would help me stay in
shape even when there won't be a gym around. I bought a jump rope for
cardio and two pairs of exercise bands for resistance training. I
might even buy a product that lets you do pull ups in any doorway
without drilling holes. I'm in the process of learning new exercise
moves with all of these toys and will be posting a blog entry about it
soon. ( You can check out my blog at
http://thehealthymusician.tumblr.com/ )
Every time I'm about to leave for a tour, I contact my musical
equipment sponsors and order any supplies that I'll need. The good
people at Vater Percussion sent me enough drumsticks to last the
entire tour. I also ordered these babies:
They're called Skull Slick Nuts and they're also made by Vater. They
go on top of each cymbal and essentially keep the cymbal on the stand.
As you can see, these specific ones are shaped like skulls and GLOW IN
THE FREAKING DARK. I'm so excited to have these on the road and can't
wait until they come! If you're a drummer, check out
http://www.vater.com/ for the Skulls, and a ton of other cool stuff.
Packing is always one of the most important aspects of preparing for a
tour. This time, we will be stopping home after the college dates, so
I won't have to actually bring all of my clothes onto the tour bus
right away. Even so, I'm making sure all of my laundry is done before
next week, and buying a few new things to wear now so I can have my
bags packed as if I wasn't coming back. Aside from clothes and
bathroom related items, this time around I am bringing my ESPRESSO
MACHINE! When I was doing my taxes, I saw exactly how many times I
visited Starbucks last year. Then I thought, "If I had my espresso
machine on the bus, I could sleep more, save money, and STILL drink
Mocha Lattes everyday!" I can't wait to tell the rest of the band...I
just told Bess and she's bringing her blender! It's going to be a
party!
People are always asking us what they can bring to us at shows. Most
people bring baked goods or other food. Well, since I'm here talking
about packing and planning ahead, I would like to officially provide a
list of things that I NEVER get enough of and always need on tour. If
you come to a show and bring me any of these things, you will be my
hero and I will hug you! (See below.)
From left to right:
Old Spice Hight Endurance Pure Sport Deodorant
Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter (Chunky)
Nivea For Men Hair and Body Wash
Nivea For Men After Shave Sensitive Skin Extra Soothing Balm
Zyrtec-D Allergy and Congestion
illy Ground Espresso Coffee Medium Roast For Espresso Machines
Crest Glide Comfort Floss Mint
Equal Exchange Drinking Chocolate 57% Cacao Content
(Back) Kashi Go Lean Cereal
As I said before, if you bring any of these things, you are AMAZING!
You can drop them off with our merch person and I promise they will
get to me safely.
Finally, before we leave, we're trying to schedule at least one
rehearsal together. As of today, we're not sure when that will be
because everyone is pretty much going through their own personal
preparation rituals, but hopefully it will happen. I'm fairly certain
we will be covering Britney Spear's "Toxic" on the co-headlining tour,
so I will have to spend some time learning the song AND our
choreography (yes kids, if this actually happens, we will be dancing).
That's all for now! See you again soon!