Area musicians, booking agents and promoters met at the Orange Gentleman to exchange experiences and ideas on how to create a successful tour during the the Music University event in Ames.

Chris Ford of Maximum Ames and Jill Haverkamp of the Des Moines Music Coalition organized and moderated the evening discussion. Participants shared thoughts, food and music throughout the evening.

Music University began with a potluck and a short set of songs performed by Ryan Mauritz, followed by an introduction to the evening’s discussion. The first part of the evening began with artists sharing their good and bad experiences while touring.

“Going on tour shows your community that you are dedicated to your craft,” Clayton Severson said about his motive to gain credibility as an artist.

The touring history of the participating artists ranged from weekend out of town shows to national tours and festivals.

Participants then discussed how to contact booking agents when planning a show on tour. Building personal connections became emphasized as Nate Logsdon shared his experiences of making friends with other artists while touring with Mumford’s.

“You can give them a call and say I’m coming through town, where are we playing, and they can do the same,” Logsdon said about making friends on tour.

Mickey Davis, who toured for his musical project the Olsen Twinns, booked shows for Macalester College. He is currently working with the 80/35 music festival, and he agreed that personal connections help. He said his work with 80/35 led him to seek emails with personal connections opposed to the numerous requests without any.

“One way is to find a local band where you are to play with will help because bookers will see that there are people who will come out,” Davis said of building connections.

The group took a short break before returning to the circle in the living room to listen to a three song set by Luke Belknap. Haverkamp then led the conservation focusing on how to get booked as an artist and the importance of promoting shows.

Becky Migas of the Des Moines Music Coalition told participants that artists must also promote their show, because most venues focus on booking and are left little time to promote. Ford said sometimes shows will not attract huge crowds and not to become too discouraged.

“If you go into it wanting to connect with people, that is a good attitude to have and will achieve more fulfillment,” Ford said on playing for small crowds.

Discussion then moved to how to make it through a tour. Paul Hertz who toured with Mumford’s and Jason Parry shared stories of their life on the road, emphasizing what to bring and knowing what tour mates brought as well.

“You want to make sure you bring extra cords and power strips, because you never know where you’ll be set up in a place,” Parry said in advice to new touring musicians.

The discussion turned to Dave Olson of the Poison Control Center, who toured extensively, told the group about living on $10 a day, showing kindness to venue staff and setting up a driving schedule.

Music University ended with a set by Cielie. Participants then conversed on the topics discussed as they left the living room of the Orange Gentleman to go home or grab food from the potluck.