Four years ago, standing on line for a Caesar salad at the Hofstra
University cafeteria, I saw a girl with a Peeches button on
her bag and knew that I needed to befriend her. A week or two later
I went to an Open Mic night at Hofstra to see her play and thought,
for the first time, I was watching a girl my age play music that
really moved me. The feeling was inspiring and exhilarating and
I knew this girl was the real thing. Since then, she's gone from
playing shows at Bard College, to a recent tour of the South,
East Coast and Midwest. This is how Rachel Jacobs, determined
to set up a D.I.Y. tour, did it herself.
Rachel plays acoustic punk rock, with very personal and confessional
lyrics. She has been playing guitar for eight years. She started
out strictly playing electric, but after unsuccessfully trying to
get a band together, she turned to acoustic guitar, where she could
write songs that stood for themselves. Rachel first started playing
out when she came to Bard. Before that, she didn't have the opportunity
and felt as if she wasn't ready to play in front of people: "It
seemed so scary; it was like reading pages from my diary." But
after a positive reaction at an Open Mic, she felt ready to start
playing more often. Rachel mostly played with punk rock bands from
Bard, eventually earning a spot on the bill with Tara Jane O'Neil.
(Rodan, Retsin, etc.)
After leaving Bard, Rachel moved home and began playing shows in
Long Island. Although the LI music scene feasts itself on predominately
hardcore bands, Rachel found an underground scene. Long Island offered
a similar milieu to the Bard scene, where she would play with punk
rock bands, primarily consisting of boys. Soon, Rachel evolved to
performing with acoustic musicians, whose music was closer to her
own.
In Long Island, Rachel talks about the way certain people would
dominate; girls would stand in the back, while boys stood in the
front, taking up a lot of space. They would dance in a way that
wasn't welcoming to people whose idea of showing enthusiasm for
music wasn't to jump on top of each other. "In general, people
expect a certain thing from you because you're a girl who plays
acoustic guitar. Especially male musicians don't expect you to be
any good or know how to play guitar; they don't expect that you've
been in the scene for a while and are knowledgeable about music.
They expect you to sound like Jewel or Ani Difranco."
This year, she began playing shows in New York City, at places such
as Brownies and N.Y.U. - Playing at Brownies was official;
you're on an actual stage. The bright lights beaming on her while
she played was somewhat more intimidating than what she was used
to.
Last summer, Rachel went on tour with a friend's band. Motivated
by the experience, she decided to set up a tour herself with three
essential ideas in mind: girl-friendly, D.I.Y. and all ages admittance.
Rachel began to embark on this project alone. After booking a couple
of shows for herself, Kevin, a friend, wrote to Rachel without any
knowledge of her plans, asking her if she wanted to go on a tour
together. After excitedly agreeing, choosing the cities became their
first priority. They decided on two weeks in January for the tour.
Touring the East Coast and the Midwest made the most sense and Rachel
had a particular interest in traveling to the South. She wanted
the experience of playing in a rural environment; to see what the
music scenes were like there. Rachel and Kevin each had certain
dates mapped out and continued to fill in the blanks together where
needed. Their roster included states such as: Alabama, Georgia,
Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, etc. Wanting
to have people to share the experience with her, Rachel took her
boyfriend Conrad, and friend Melissa along, and the four caravanned
together.
Extensive research, and assistance from friends, helped Rachel in
the process of planning. Another great resource was Book Your Own
Fucking Life (http://www.byofl.org/),
a Web site that aids kids and bands in setting up their own tours
D.I.Y. style, and providing information about other independent
scenes, such as places to find vegan leather and record stores to
go to in cities around the world. The people who contribute to this
Web site range from kids in high school to adults in their late
twenties, and offer ways to contact them, usually through E-mail
and sometimes phone numbers, as well.
Their goal was to try and play every night of the tour. Most of
their time was filled, with the exception of a few empty nights,
one where they were able to set up a show in Atlanta, Georgia, while
on the road. Another night remained empty, where they were stuck
in Birmingham, Alabama with nothing to do. Most of their time was
filled before they left, with the exception of one empty night,
where they were able to set up a show in Atlanta, Georgia, while
on the road. They spent a lot of their time on the trip in public
libraries, using the computer to confirm shows and get in touch
with contacts. The way shows came together varied; sometimes they
would get on the bill of already existing events, and other times
people would set up shows for them with other bands similar to their
music.
Prior to the tour, Rachel had never met any of the people or bands
she played with. The bands were an eclectic mix, ranging from other
acoustic guitarists, queer bands, to hardcore bands. One particular
experience Rachel talked about enthusiastically was in Madison,
Indiana. The show was set up by a sixteen year old boy, and the
majority of the people who attended were kids in high school. With
genuine hometown pride, they showed Rachel and her friends around
their whole town. Primarily, the kids at the show listened to hardcore
music because this is what they had the most exposure to; what bands
in their town were playing. These kids and, in general, audiences
on the tour were really excited about acoustic music.
Traveling with friends who were supportive to Rachel and her music
was very important to her. As they helped encourage her, she did
the same by giving Melissa Stultz, who also plays acoustic
guitar, a chance to play a few songs, or sometimes even an entire
set. It was a great opportunity for Melissa, who hasn't had as much
experience playing out. Having friends come on tour was great to
have the support but at times could be a bit stressful. It became
difficult when not everyone was unified with one another, or maintaining
positive spirits. "When things are down; you're bored or hungry,
it's easy to lose perspective, but it's really important to keep
the goal of the tour in mind and remember what everyone is there
for. It's about taking it day to day and not focusing on how dirty
or tired you are. It's natural to feel like you want to go home
sometimes, but it's vital to realize there's something bigger to
come out of this than just instant gratification."
Another goal of the tour was to make enough money for it to fund
itself, which Rachel successfully did by getting paid for shows
and selling all of the demos she brought. When you fund your own
tour, it's a lot about merchandise, but all Rachel had for sale
were 100 tapes, selling for two dollars each. The method of payment
depended on the venue; sometimes they would charge a small amount
at the door and give her a percentage, and often she would get paid
from donations. Most of the shows they played were at record stores,
coffee shops and D.I.Y. venues; they also played a show at a church
and one at someone's house. Due to the all ages criteria, most were
played at alcohol free, kid friendly places.
Being able to break even from your first tour, as one might guess,
does not include staying at fancy hotels and eating luxurious meals.
They stayed with friends along the way; people they played with
or who set up the shows, even people they met from the audiences.
For the most part, everyone they met was cool and hospitable; providing
them with places to crash and making them food. There were some
places they stayed at that could be described as punk rock, or "just
dirty". But on tour, Rachel didn't think it was gross: "I
was happy to have a place to stay with nice people." They refused
offers where people seemed sketchy, instead, finding motels to sleep
in for the night. They also chose to stay in motels on occasions
where they wanted to drive through the night.
When days weren't spent hanging out with the new friends they made,
exploring cities, or in the library, they were spent driving around
from one fast food restaurant to the other. "After a while, you
don't miss three meals a day because you just don't want to eat
Taco Bell or Subway again." For vegetarians, those are the only
roadside options. (Rachel told me about a Blimpie they found off
the highway somewhere in Georgia, where they had veggie burgers,
chick patties and portabella mushroom burgers!) Rachel, who has
a serious sweet tooth, binged on junk food as a variety to these
chain establishments.
Despite Rachel's minimal efforts to promote herself; she and Kevin
were asked to come back to a lot of the places they played, and
have been using these connections to book shows for an upcoming
tour they are doing together. This tour will start at the end of
May and last for about a month; they will play together from New
York to California, and then Kevin will continue without her south
and back east. This is not the only tour Rachel has set up in the
next couple of months. In August, she will be touring with Delta
Dart, a band she recently met and played a show with; three
girls from Olympia and L.A., with releases on Kill Rock Stars.
Within the next year, Rachel wishes to record an e.p. of her
old songs, in order to document them all together. She also wants
to record a full length album of new songs. In addition, her friend
is starting a record label and will be releasing a split seven inch,
featuring Rachel's music and his own. If she ever gets signed to
a label, of course it will be D.I.Y. |
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