About: The European Tour
In a nutshell, it is pretty straightforward. Pack my guitar, head to Europe, rent a car, and travel from place to place to play my music.
But let me just fill you in on the reality.
I am 49 years old, and I don’t consider myself a singer or a musician. I would say I can hit some of the right notes with my vocal cords, strum a few chords on the guitar, pluck the correct strings to a tune on the bass, and keep a basic 4/4 on the drums, but I am below average at best.
I am, however, an entertainer with plenty of oompah and a lot of energy.
This is my plan:
I will record an album of about 12–14 songs with professional musicians and producers in a dedicated recording studio, possibly in London.
All instruments and backing vocals will be played and sung by professionals.
All songs and all lyrics are 100% mine, and I am not sharing any rights with anybody.
I will have my guitar and singing parts on the record, but of course, in a live scenario, my guitar and my singing will be taken off the track.
So I am playing a 100% live show with my own songs, which I sing and play live as well.
The musicians will be filmed playing my songs in front of a green screen.
This means the background can be anything I choose.
I will ask the venue to send me a picture or a short video of the stage design, and I will edit the musicians onto that stage background.
A powerful projector will project the band onto a screen behind me, and I will stand in the middle and play live.
For the audience, it may appear as though the whole band is on stage, but of course, it is imagination, as the band is playing behind me via the projector.
However, if I find musicians who would like to join the tour, or just certain parts or legs of it, the individual musician can be removed from the video.
For instance, if I find a drummer who learns my songs and wants to play a couple of concerts, let’s say in Prague, then for that gig we will remove the drummer from the video and also from the track.
In this case, singing, guitar, and drums will be live, while the rest comes as playback.
Each track can be removed from the song, and each musician can be removed, so if I find a whole band that can play with me, then we can perform the songs live, provided they learn their parts.
I will be completely independent, and I don’t really need a front of house because I will have my own PA, and I also have my own 16-track player synchronized with the video, so I can set up my equipment in any bar, any pub, or even at someone’s birthday party. I am completely independent and do not need the location to have any equipment at all.
In fact, I will be taking a 3000-watt petrol generator with me, so I will be able to set up my equipment literally on the beach, in a park, or in the middle of the forest and still do my gig.
Since I haven’t done this before, I don’t know how it’s going to work, so everything is improvised at the moment. I don’t have a promoter, and I don’t have any information on how this is usually done. I am simply going out there, trying to get gigs as I go, and if I don’t get them, I will still be playing somewhere where I don’t bother anyone.
I am hoping that through social media exposure in different towns, I might be able to find people who would like to invite me to play at a birthday party or any other house party, etc.
Naturally, approaching venues all day long will be important, and I will also be documenting every single day on social media so people have an idea of what I’m up to, where I am, and which town I am driving to next.
I believe this is a unique setup, and I have done my research, but I haven’t seen anyone who has actually gone for it as a 49-year-old, alone with a van, with their own songs, their own equipment, and simply making a childhood dream come true.