5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Touring

By Dawson Ouellette

Touring is one of the most thrilling, rewarding, and unpredictable parts of being a musician. It’s also one of the fastest ways to grow — not just as a player, but as a person. After logging hundreds of shows and thousands of miles, I’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way. If you’re just starting your journey, or even if you’ve been on the road before, here are five things I wish someone had told me before I hit the highway.

1. Soak It All In — It Goes by Fast

Some of the most cherished moments of my life happened on the road: late-night laughs with the band, unexpected roadside adventures, and the magic of connecting with an audience in a new city. But it’s easy to let those moments blur together in the whirlwind of travel and tight schedules.
Document your journey. Journal. Take photos. Record snippets of shows or road banter. These memories are fleeting, but they’re gold. Playing 60+ shows a year may sound like a lot, but trust me — it goes fast.

Duke Tumatoe Trio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

2. Learn to Roll with the Chaos

Touring isn't always glamorous. I’ve played an outdoor summer show with a stomach bug, stood onstage in the pouring rain, and dealt with sound guys who had no idea what they were doing (or didn’t show up at all). I’ve loaded gear in through the kitchen, crammed into vans like a game of Tetris, and played with broken equipment in extreme weather.
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is laugh, adapt, and push forward. Not every gig will be ideal — but they all make you better.

I may look fine here, but I had a terrible stomach bug on this gig

3. Bad Technique Will Catch Up with You

When you’re playing high-energy sets night after night, poor technique will show up — fast. If your posture or stick control is off, your body will let you know. Sore wrists, tight shoulders, back pain... I’ve had them all.
Touring taught me the value of efficiency, proper mechanics, and economy of motion. Play smart, not just hard. Your future self will thank you.

4. Your Bandmates Will Become Like Family

When you spend hours in vans, green rooms, and hotel rooms together, your bandmates become more than just colleagues — they become your road family. You’ll hear the same stories on repeat, develop weird inside jokes, and learn each other’s habits like clockwork.
That connection bleeds into the music. Night after night, you build trust and tightness that simply can’t be replicated with a group of strangers. It’s the secret sauce that makes a live band truly great.

5. Never Underestimate the Power of a Checklist

I’ve made some expensive mistakes — leaving gear behind at venues, forgetting crucial cables, or realizing too late that something essential didn’t make it into the car. Now, I live by checklists.
I recommend keeping a printed one for load-ins and load-outs, especially if you're handling your own sound. It keeps your mind clear when you’re tired or rushing. Eventually, you’ll build muscle memory, but even then — the checklist is king.

Here is My Personal Checklist For my Drum Set

Final Thoughts

Touring will test you. It will exhaust you. But it will also give you memories and growth you can’t get any other way. If you go into it with humility, preparation, and a sense of adventure, it just might be the most rewarding part of your musical life.

If you're a fellow musician getting ready to tour — or just curious about what life on the road is like — I'd love to hear your thoughts or stories. Drop a comment or reach out to me at dawson@dawsonouellettemusic.com