SongLab Deep Cuts Vol. 32: The Show Must Go On: Why Every Touring Musician Needs a Backup Plan

After decades of performing, touring, recording, and working with major artists, I've learned something that every working musician eventually learns:

Always have a backup. And whenever possible, have a backup for your backup.

It might sound excessive.

It isn't.

Anyone who has spent enough time on the road knows that equipment failures, lost gear, dead batteries, broken cables, missing files, and completely unexpected problems are simply part of the job.

The question isn't whether something will eventually go wrong.

The question is whether you're prepared when it does. The Music Budget Is Not the Release Budget

Let's say you have $15,000 to invest in your next project.

You could spend $12,000 recording six songs and $3,000 promoting them.

Or you could spend $6,000 making three incredible songs and $9,000 building an actual campaign around them.

Neither is automatically the right answer.

But you need to understand that these are two completely different strategies.

Recording is the cost of creating the product.

Marketing is the cost of creating awareness around the product.

And awareness takes money, time, content, strategy, and repetition.

So when you're building your next project, don't just ask:

“How much will it cost to make?”

Ask:

“How much will it cost to actually give this music a chance?”

It's Always the Little Things

When you're putting together a touring rig, it's easy to focus on the big things.

Your guitar. Your keyboard. Your pedalboard. Your computer. Your interface.

But sometimes it's the smallest, least expensive item that can create the biggest problem.

A broken cable.

A missing guitar string.

A dead tuner.

A drum key that somehow disappears five minutes before the show.

A pedal power supply that stops working.

A missing 9V battery.

These things might cost $10 or $20 to replace, but when you're standing backstage five minutes before downbeat, they can suddenly become the most important pieces of equipment you own.

As musicians, we'll spend thousands of dollars on instruments and technology and then sometimes forget to carry a few extra cables, batteries, strings, or basic accessories.

It doesn't make much sense.

The little things are often what keep the big things working.

The iPad I Left on an Airplane

One experience really drove this lesson home for me.

I was touring in Africa with a major artist, and by that point I'd transitioned to keeping my entire show digitally.

All of my music was on my iPad.

It was convenient. It was organized. It made traveling much easier because I didn't have to carry around a giant collection of printed music.

It was a great system.

Until I left my iPad on the airplane.

I didn't realize it until after we arrived and I was getting ready for the show.

Suddenly, the device that contained my entire musical world for that performance was gone.

No iPad.

No digital music.

No easy access to the charts I'd been relying on.

Fortunately, I had something else with me.

My printed music.

I'd been carrying it around even though I wasn't really using it anymore.

And that decision saved the show.

I pulled out the physical charts, got organized, and played the gig.

The audience never knew anything had happened.

The show went on.

That experience completely changed the way I think about preparation.

Digital technology is incredible, and I use it constantly. But devices get lost. Batteries die. Computers crash. Files disappear. Technology fails.

And sometimes, as I learned firsthand, you simply leave the most important piece of equipment you own sitting on an airplane.

Never let your entire show depend on a single device, a single piece of equipment, or a single point of failure.

Build a Backup System for Your Rig

Every musician's setup is different, but the principle is the same.

Look at everything you rely on to perform your job and ask yourself:

If this stopped working right now, could I still play the show?

That's the question.

You don't necessarily need a second version of everything. You just need to identify the things that could completely stop you from doing your job.

Guitarists and Bassists

Carry extra instrument cables and patch cables.

Keep spare strings for every instrument.

Have extra picks, a string winder, cutters, and a backup tuner.

Carry extra batteries and, if your setup depends on one, a spare power supply.

If your pedalboard or digital guitar rig is essential to your sound, think about what happens if it suddenly stops working.

Can you plug directly into an amplifier?

Can you simplify your setup and still get through the show?

Your backup doesn't have to sound exactly like your primary rig.

It just needs to keep you playing.

Drummers

Drummers have an incredible number of small pieces that can disappear, break, or somehow end up somewhere other than where they're supposed to be.

Extra sticks.

A drum key.

Spare tuning keys and small hardware.

Cymbal felts and sleeves.

Wing nuts and washers.

Basic tools.

Backup pedal hardware.

These things aren't glamorous.

But you really don't want to be searching backstage for a drum key five minutes before downbeat.

Keyboard Players

If your show relies heavily on keyboards, computers, or software instruments, your backup strategy becomes even more important.

Extra sustain pedals.

Spare power supplies.

Extra cables.

Backup MIDI or USB cables.

Copies of your sounds and programming.

And, when practical, a second keyboard.

If you're using a computer or software instruments, make sure your sounds and programming exist somewhere other than the computer itself.

For a major production, having a smaller backup keyboard can be invaluable.

It doesn't have to be identical to your primary instrument.

It just needs to allow you to keep playing.

Don't Forget Your Music

This one is especially important.

Whether you're using an iPad, computer, or printed charts, make sure you have another way to access your music.

That could mean printed copies of essential charts.

A second device.

A backup drive.

Cloud storage.

Or simply having the files available somewhere you can access them if your primary device disappears.

My experience in Africa is the perfect example.

I thought I had eliminated the need for printed music.

Instead, that printed music ended up saving the show.

Sometimes the backup you think you don't need is the exact backup you end up needing.

Backups Don't Have to Be Expensive

You don't need to buy a second version of everything you own.

Sometimes a $10 cable can save a show.

A few extra strings can save a performance.

A spare power supply can keep an entire pedalboard from becoming useless.

A printed set of charts can save you from losing access to your entire show.

The goal isn't to duplicate your entire rig.

The goal is to eliminate the things that could prevent you from doing your job.

Think about the difference.

You aren't preparing for every possible disaster.

You're preparing for the most likely points of failure.

Preparation Is Part of Being a Professional

When you're working with major artists and professional musicians, there's an expectation that you know your material and can perform at a high level.

But professionalism goes beyond playing the right notes.

It means being prepared.

It means anticipating potential problems.

It means knowing what you're going to do when something doesn't go according to plan.

The audience paid to see a show.

They didn't pay to watch you troubleshoot a piece of equipment.

Nobody expects everything to work all the time perfectly.

Things happen.

But they do expect you to handle the situation when they do.

That's part of the job.

And honestly, that's one of the biggest differences between being prepared to play a gig and being prepared to work a gig.

You Don't Need to Panic. You Need a Plan.

There's another important part of this.

A backup isn't just about equipment.

It's about confidence.

When you know you have a solution if something goes wrong, you're less likely to panic when it does.

If a cable dies and you know you have another one, it's a minor inconvenience.

If your computer crashes and you have a backup system, you have options.

If your iPad disappears and you have printed charts sitting in your bag, you can take a breath and get to work.

Preparation gives you the ability to stay calm.

And when you're performing in front of hundreds or thousands of people, staying calm is part of the performance too.

Final Musings...

After decades of performing and touring, I've learned that preparation is one of the most important parts of being a professional musician.

You can practice for hours.

You can know every note.

You can have the best equipment in the world.

But if something goes wrong and you don't have a backup, all of that preparation can suddenly become irrelevant.

My experience in Africa taught me that lesson in a very real way.

I lost access to the device that contained my entire show.

But I had my printed music.

And that simple decision allowed me to keep doing my job.

So before your next gig, take a look at your setup.

Look at the cables, batteries, strings, power supplies, music, files, pedals, computers, and all the little things you depend on.

Ask yourself:

What happens if this disappears?

Then make sure you have an answer.

Because the audience doesn't care what went wrong backstage.

They came to hear the music.

And when you're a professional musician...

The show must go on.

Keep creating.
Keep showing up.
Keep learning.
And always have a backup.

-SongLab