“I know you guys wanted to try and make this a light year for touring, unfortunately, the economic downturn just won’t allow for it. Most analyst predict that it should only be about a year before the economy picks up again, would you consider waiting until then to have more breaks in the schedule?”
There was silence in the conference room after our dad told us we would have to adjust our plans for the year. No one wanted to be the first to agree to a plan that would take us away from our individual families. No one wanted to be the first to agree to a plan that might put our finances in jeopardy, either.
After a while, Taylor spoke up. “Let’s look at the pros and cons of touring more than we planned this year.”
Zac and I nodded for him to continue. He counted the points off on his fingers.
“The pros: First, we will have more income. Second, we continue to have exposure to music fans, venues, and promoters. Third, we can keep our core fan base engaged.”
“The cons: More work means more time away from our families, and less time to recover,” Taylor glanced at my arm when he said that “It also means more chance of getting sick in the first place. More exposure to people means more exposure to germs. We will have more revenue, yes, but we will also have more expenses if we tour extensively this year.”
“We could do more promo shows rather than full tour shows that we have to foot the entire bill for,” I suggested.
“That’s true. And since those are pretty much show up sing, we don’t have to worry about so many logistics, we wouldn’t have to fly out to each place as early, meaning more time in Tulsa, but still getting revenue. Zac, what do you think?”
Zac looked up from his notebook, the page covered in cartoons, “Huh? Oh, whatever you guys want is fine.”
I put my hand over his notebook, “Whatever we want? Zac, we are discussing plans for the rest of the year. Don’t you want some input?”
“Ok, let’s all retire,” Zac said.
“Well, it is financially feasible, but your lifestyle is going to have to change drastically. You might even need to downsize your house,” Dad said.
Zac sighed, “Let’s just reach out to promoters and see what happens. Throw out some dates, see what sticks. Maybe we can limit it to 5 shows a month or something. That’s 60 shows over a year. That should be enough to sustain the business, right?”
Dad looked at his chart. “I think that could work, yes,” he said.
“Alright,” I stretched my arms overhead, ready to be out of the boardroom and into the studio working on music, “Let’s have Bex start calling places and we will see what she can come up with.”
“She’s off today, but I will get her on it first thing in the morning,” Dad said.
“Perfect. Are we ready to make some music, gentlemen?” Taylor asked.
***
Within a week, the fall months of our so called limited date year were booked almost completely solid. This year, the tour ended on my birthday. I made an early birthday wish that we could avoid unplanned hospital visits this year. I didn’t have any candles to blow out, so I wished on a broken guitar string. Nothing else in this world holds as much power as music, so I was certain that my wish had to count with somebody somewhere.