David Norman has been in the live music industry for over 15 years. But
considering how busy his days are as a tour manager for acts like Ani DiFranco
and Matchbox 20, the years must have flown by.
"I started by playing drums in bands," says Norman, who freelances out
of Atlanta. "The transition is common but also funny, when you think of the
fact that musicians and road managers are really two totally different animals."
Norman says the work is always interesting because there's no one
way to describe the kaleidoscope of the rock 'n' roll scene.
"Each situation's different, according to what genre of music you're
working with," says Norman. "I don't stick to any one kind of music.
If anyone calls and offers a good salary, I'll do it as long as they're
not hard core rap, hip hop or death metal bands. But I don't necessarily
have to love their music to work with them -- usually I don't even have
to listen because I'm back in the production office or busy somewhere.
"I've never really worked with a band that I've been in complete
awe of," adds Norman. "I wouldn't say I have stars in my eyes."
Julia Rose owes her start in road management to Norman. She was working
for a Japanese concert promoter in San Francisco when he got her a gig managing
Arrested Development's 1993 tour. Now a New York-based road manager for
acts like Lauryn Hill, Rose hasn't looked back.
"There's a great sense of camaraderie and accomplishment when everything
goes right, when the house lights go down and the crowd goes wild," says Rose.
"And sometimes you get amazing privileges and get to see things that you normally
wouldn't see, especially when you're working with the bigger acts."
A drummer and music industry veteran, Los Angeles-based road manager Gordy
Gale also loves his work, the places it takes him and the people it introduces
him to.
"I love to travel. I've been all over the world and what's great
about it is I get paid to do it," says Gale. "They pay my flights, my hotel,
they give me expenses and pay my salary. So as long as I do my job, I get
to travel. I've been to Asia several times, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Philippines, I've been all through the Caribbean, to Spain, Italy, Denmark,
Brussels, Prague, England and Wales. But I keep missing France.
"I've met tons of people," adds Gale. "Practically everyone I grew
up admiring I've either met or worked with. It still hits me sometimes,
like whenever I run into Eric Clapton, for instance, I'm a little star-struck.
But when I see Rob Thomas [Matchbox 20's lead singer] I'm just like,
'Hey, how's it going?' It's a respect thing -- they respect
you and you respect them. You develop personal relationships with them because
your lifestyles are so much the same. There's a kinship there."
Gale says one of the trends in road management that he's seen in his
long experience is combining roles on the road.
"Over the last maybe six to seven years, they've wanted people to
double up on jobs," says Gale. "That means rather than take out two guys --
unless it's a really big tour where you need a separate road manager
and a separate sound engineer -- they've got a lot of guys like myself
doing double duty on jobs like technical support. For instance, I can check
any instrument, I can check monitors, I can do doors, I tour manage, I do
the accounting and I do tickets."
Ben Richardson is a road manager who works with bands like Big Sugar and
Amanda Marshall. He agrees that most managers have to specialize in two or
more jobs at once to get a tour rolling.
"A lot of tour managers end up doing two jobs," says Richardson. "The usual
one to do is the job of sound engineer -- I've done that a lot. I'll
be the tour manager and I'll also do the sound. Some people are able
to take charge of a lot of stuff and they'll make extra money for that.
The more things you can do, the better. If you can do a bunch of different
jobs, people are more willing to hire you."
Gary Scrutton did double duty as road manager and equipment manager before
moving into the exclusive role of guitar technician on behalf of acts like
the Barenaked Ladies and the Tragically Hip. He says his favorite part of
touring is the fact that it's made him a true citizen of the world.
"I'm a gypsy cowboy," says Scrutton. "My playground
is the whole world. When I'm getting ready for a tour, I'll go through
my itinerary and say great, 'I'll be in Germany on this day, I'll
get to see my friends there.' You learn a lot about other people's
cultures, languages, fashion, and it makes you come home and be so much more
understanding of the world. It's a great life."