My Last Tour Ended On 11-02-17
Most of you know that I used to tour the country showing my films, teaching workshops, doing guest lectures, and later doing readings from my books. I did probably 14 tours over 7 years starting in 2005. I took a break in 2012. I did my last tour in the fall of 2017.
A lot of people ask if I miss the road and when am I going out on tour again?
I do miss the road and a lot of the good friends I made out on tour. But, “No.” I’m probably not going out on the road again. At least for any extended period of time.
Why? Because organizing a tour and hitting the road is a ton of work by myself. And then when I’m on the road I’m driving anywhere from 5-12 hours per day depending on my next stop and I’m doing it all by myself.
When I started hardcore touring I was 48 years old. Which was almost 20 years ago. Touring wears you out and you’re unable to do anything else while you’re on the road. I can’t write or film things. The road eats up all of your spare time because if you’re not driving or speaking someplace you’re still trying to nail down open dates, do laundry, find places to stay, and when possible, sleep.
At this age I have a shorter road in front of me then behind me. I decided I would rather stay home and concentrate on writing and making films than being out on the road. I have a lot more stories to tell.
I do believe in the quote, “Never Say Never.” and maybe at some point I’ll put together a small tour. Stranger things can happen.
I ran across this post from 2017 where I’d just returned home from what was my last tour and re-reading it reminded me of good and bad things. The last tour was great in hindsight but going through it was really hard. I figured maybe I’d post this again for those who didn’t read it the first time.
Blog Post 11-15-17.
I know I fell off the face of the earth over a week ago, and for those who have emailed me asking if I'm okay, I’m okay. Tired, but okay. It was a grueling tour.
Everyone keeps asking, “Was the tour successful?”
It was great seeing lots of old friends, making new ones, reading and signing my books, hanging out with the Mickey the Dog Face Boy, teaching workshops, guest lecturing at so many different places, and doing bucket list stuff like seeing the Grand Canyon and the recording studios at Muscle Shoals. I met a lot of incredible people along the way and some of them opened up their homes to the DFB and I.
“Did you sell a lot of books?”
I sold some books. Not as many as I’d hoped but more then if I’d stayed home.
There were nights I was disappointed by the turnouts but those things happen. You promote the hell out of a gig and friends tell you they’re looking forward to seeing you and then only 2 or 3 people show up. I don’t let it bother me. I just do the best reading/talk/workshop that I can, no matter how many people show up.
I finished the tour in Palm Springs on November 2nd and the following morning started the two-day drive home.
On the way home I had a few mechanical (and expensive) failures. Blew a tire at 65 mph on I-5 just north of Kettleman City. I was able to get the van off the road and up on to the dirt shoulder without getting mowed down by a semi. AAA showed up and I saw that the tire was shredded. The driver recommended a tire shop about 30 minutes away where I overpaid for 2 tires but got back out on the road.
About 100 miles later the starter went out at a truck stop in Santa Nella. A tow truck driver helped me get it started with a pry bar and a sledgehammer, as there were no shops in the area. I headed north thinking maybe I could cannonball home. That thought didn’t last, I made it quite a few hours but finally I was too tired. The DFB and I slept in the van in the middle of nowhere in a driving rainstorm. The following morning I got hold of AAA and ended up at a shop that gouged me to fix the starter, but let's face it when your van with out-of-state license plates gets towed into a small shop in the middle of nowhere you really don't have any leverage to negotiate a good deal on anything.
Finally made it home, then I got sick. I’m sure it’s all of the stress catching up to me.
“So was the tour a success?”
Financially, I lost money. But, I’m still on my feet and I’m still laughing. The DFB and I had a great time and quite a few adventures. I hope the people who came out and saw us had a great time as well.
I guess it’s all about how YOU define success?
Like all tours there were highs and lows. A huge snow storm driving through the Rockies, unable to see out my windshield because of the pouring rain in other states, freezing cold nights sleeping in Walmart parking lots, and my usual, being pulled over by the State Police in Iowa for tinted windows.
Touring the country over the years has been a great and exciting adventure and I wouldn’t change it for anything. A big heartfelt THANK YOU to all those I met out there. Maybe one day I’ll change my mind and do it again, but don’t count on it, unless Willie Nelson wants to loan me his tour bus and driver.
I like being home and doing what I’m doing right now.
If you want to know more about my life on the road you can pick up a copy of my book, Road Dog, and read all of the crazy stories that happened throughout the years.
From Road Dog -
With no distributor interested in his independent films, Kelley Baker, the Angry Filmmaker, ripped a page out of the punk rock handbook and went looking for his audience in a used minivan with his faithful 120 pound Chocolate Lab, Moses. Every fall and spring they traveled the country showing his films at art house theaters, film festivals, colleges, and biker bars.
Logging over two hundred thousand miles, they encountered a collection of Fellini-esque characters including two hyper-intellectual pro wrestlers in West Virginia, a lying Chicago hotel desk clerk who cost Kelley his home, civil rights workers knocking back rum at Hank Williams’ grave, and a way overzealous drug sniffing border patrol dog outside El Paso, Texas.
Kelley gave an audio workshop for employees of a porn channel, got yelled at in a haunted bar in Memphis, was asked to leave the Prayer Tower at Oral Roberts University, and drove twenty-four hundred miles in three days so he wouldn’t miss his daughter’s choir recital.
Moses swam in two oceans, fifteen lakes, and enthusiastically marked thousands of spots from sea to shining sea.
At the end of it all they found a lot more than an audience.
I’ll probably write more about touring in the future. You never know. Thanks for reading.
Head over to my website www.angryfilmmaker.com and check it out.
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