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Sean Gavin Reveals the Truth Behind Tour Management
By: Nicole Roberge
Sean Gavin spent last summer touring with friend and musician Ryan Cabrera, serving as tour manager and all that comes with it. He is currently serving as manager for a couple Texas-based artists, but took a break in his busy schedule to share with you the ins and outs of tour managing. Anyone interested in this career path should take a seat and read his interview to really become acquainted with the demanding, yet commendable, job of tour management.
Tuned In: When did you first know you wanted to have a job in music?
Sean Gavin: I don’t know if I ever really had a moment where it was like, bam, I really want to do something in the field of music. I have changed my mind about a million times as to what I want to do with my life like a lot of people have. Really the reason I wound up doing what I’m doing is because I decided I would stop at nothing to see my friends get to the top, and rather than just be a fan, I figured I could help in the trenches.
TI: Prior to tour managing Ryan Cabrera, had you held any music-related positions?
SG: The only “positions” I held were joke ones with Ryan before he blew up, like being his “bodyguard” which was a big joke amongst our group, or selling his merchandise and what have you.
TI: How did you become Ryan’s TM?
SG: I became Ryan’s manager through loyalty and commitment I guess. I have been trying to help Ryan with his musical dreams since we were both dorks back in high school. I guess he figured there is no one he could trust more to go on the road with him than someone who had been there from the start.
TI: What do tour-managing responsibilities entail? Give us an example of your typical day of a concert.
SG: Man, this could be one heck of a long answer, but I’ll try and keep it short and sweet. First off being a tour manager is basically a 24 hour job, whenever something comes up on tour, you have to be on top of it, and fix it, or make it go or whatever. My typical day started on the tour bus—we would wake up and go have breakfast at the venue, then I’d try and get myself organized, get my computer set up, check emails and what have you. Then I go to my calendar and plan out my day. During the day we would usually have to meet up with a rep from the label and go to a couple of the radio stations so Ryan could show them what he was all about, do interviews etc. Then we would come back to the venue, usually have a couple of “phoners”, which are phone interviews for magazines and things like that. After that was usually sound check, and sometimes it was at the same time, ha. After sound check you would have a meet and greet with contest winners from the radio stations, or radio D.J.’s that wanted to meet Ryan. Then it was kind of the quiet before the storm, we would sit down and relax and eat dinner before Ryan went on, and I would plan out the CD pass out in which Ryan passed out 400 signed CDs every night, I would coordinate it with the tour production and security staff at the different facilities. Then the show, which I usually had the fortune of enjoying from the side stage, which was followed by the CD pass out. After that we would load our equipment on the trucks, pack up our things, and drive off to the next city, just to do it all over again. WOW, I’m tired after just answering this question, I’m sure you guys will be tired after reading it!
TI: What is the best thing about being a TM?
SG: The best or most rewarding thing for me about being a tour manager is that I am helping my friends, and I am getting to see them from the start when they played for a couple friends at a local bar, to the top when they are playing large venues and having fans sing the songs back to them, nothing is better than seeing your best friends accepted and loved by so many!
TI: What is the worst or hardest thing about being a TM?
SG: Honestly, it’s just exhausting. It’s not all the fun it’s made out to be in movies—there weren’t all those crazy parties people think were happening. We were all too tired after the shows to even do anything, we just wanted to get on the bus and go to sleep. Other than that it’s just being away from the people you care about for such a long time, but now looking back on it, I’d do it again and again as long as it helped my artist.
TI: What was your most memorable experience from being on the road?
SG: I don’t think I could possibly pick just one, every day we had a great time and a lot of laughs, so this question would be impossible to answer. Plus after being on the road that long, all the days kinda blur together and it was all just like one really long weekend or something. Ryan’s birthday was pretty fun though!
TI: What is the biggest misconception about being a tour manager?
SG: Like I mentioned before, if you think being on the road is fun and games you are way off. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time on the road, but it was very hard work, nonstop, and there are little things that no one can control that go wrong everyday, and it was my job to fix them, after awhile that gets real old, fixing other peoples problems as a job is not much fun.
TI: What are you doing now?
SG: I am now managing a couple singer/songwriters in the Dallas area, most notably Michael Celedon (www.michaelceledon.com) who is anamazingly gifted guitar player and songwriter, so make sure to check him out. I’m just trying to help them reach the same success that I was fortunate enough to see my best friend Ryan reach.
TI: What are your plans for the future—do you think you’d like to have your own management agency?
SG: I don’t think I’d run my own management agency, I suppose it is a possibility, but the amount of work is a tough thing to wake up and want to do in the morning, as of right now I’d only do this work for my friends cause I want to help them so much. But hey, you never know, I’m always looking for new talent and wanting to raise the bar.
TI: What is your best advice to people who want to get involved in management?
SG: Be ready to work. Don’t go in thinking you can run through the motions and get by. This is a million dollar business and people are not going to let you go with just doing the bare minimum—you have to be prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty, and what is being asked of you. After all, if the artist you are working for is working as hard as they are, there is no reason you should not be willing to do the same to get the job done.
Sean Gavin can be contacted at rglman15@aol.com