Profile:
Rebecca Kemp makes it all happen behind the scenes
Kevin
Welch describes her as a goddess; Sam Baker dragged her into a kissing
competition; most artists thank her from the stage during their shows,
but she’s rarely seen – though she has sung backing vocals
from time to time. She’s at the airport to meet nervous artists
arriving for their first UK tour, she’s got phones for them and
full details of every step of the tour, she’s booked their hotels,
and she’s behind the wheel taking them from one gig to the next.
Rebecca Kemp is the behind-the-scenes guru for many of the American
and Canadian roots artists travelling in the UK, sorting out all the
problems of travelling in a foreign country, making sure they get to
all their shows in good time and that they’re fed, lodged and
paid along the way. And she does it all with a smile on her face.
“I just found that I loved doing it,” Kemp says. “It’s
so amazing and satisfying just to help people. Just the fact that I
can get to help the musicians with the details so that when they get
up on stage, they can give their all.”
After working on music logistics for a while as a sideline, earlier
this year Kemp, 32, gave up her job as a youth worker for her church
to take it up full-time. She estimates she spends about 60 percent of
her time on the road and the rest in front of a computer at her home
in Norwich.
“It’s fairly busy but I enjoy everything I do so it often
doesn’t feel like a negative,” she says.
Kemp first became involved as a favour to a Canadian friend whose sister-in-law
– Alana Levandoski – was touring the UK and needed some
help finding hotels. That put Kemp in contact with Bob Paterson, British
agent for a large number of the roots artists touring here. She offered
her help with arranging tours and Paterson dubbed her “queen of
logistics”.
At first she was working from home, organising the details of tours
but not travelling with the artists. Then, Paterson asked Kemp if she
was interested in going on the road with Kimmie Rhodes, initially to
sell her CDs.
“I somehow ended up tour managing for Kimmie, not having a clue
what I was doing but being very willing and open to learning, which
I did very quickly,” says Kemp.
Kemp has found that she loves the music, too.
“There was just something within this genre of music that really
resonated within me. Whether it’s Annabelle Chvostek playing the
mandolin and me thinking ‘oh wow’, or others, I just found
that I loved this genre of music.
When she’s not on the road, Kemp is a sculptor. She has an MA
from the Norwich School of Art and has built a workshop at the end of
her garden. Though she sometimes regrets that she doesn’t have
as much time as she would like to work on art projects, Kemp has managed
to strike a balance.
“I suppose I’ve never had an aspiration to make a living
from art. It’s just always been something that I’ve needed
to do to express myself, even if I’m the only person that sees
it. Since quitting my other main job working with kids in March, I’ve
found that there’s two distinct caches of my time, with musicians
and on the art side of things. From a financial point of view it’s
been heavily focused on music.”
On the road, Kemp’s day is longer than the artists’. When
she gets up in the morning, she’s reading emails, working not
only on the current tour but on details of forthcoming tours for other
artists. Then she’s in the car and driving, crisscrossing the
country as tours rarely follow a sensible geographical route. When they
stop for a break, Kemp’s making phone calls if needed.
Once they make it to the venue, she’s sorting out the musicians’
instruments, talking with the promoter and setting up the merchandise.
She may have to drive the artists to a radio studio or make sure there’s
a room available for a press interview. She organises food according
to the artists’ preferences – “Some people like to
eat three hours before the show, some two hours before, some don’t
like to eat before at all.”
Kemp is also hanging around during the show, in case the artist needs
a drink or has a technical problem, and as a keen photographer she’s
often got her camera out too. She sells the CDs and sorts out the payment
with the promoters. She’s also there if an artists is having trouble
with an overenthusiastic fan.
Finally, she drives the artists to the hotel, and she’s catching
up with emails and going through the finances of the tour, which she
does every day. “Eventually I get to sleep and wake up and it
all starts again.”
Still, Kemp says she’s much happier on the road than she is working
at home.
“I enjoy driving so that doesn’t feel like a hardship. But
now and again it can get super stressful. Something’s gone wrong.
And then you get an e-mail about a tour that’s next week, a message
needing an instant reply, and you were just looking forward to 10 minutes
on your own...”
Kemp’s touring is now taking her out of the UK as well –
this week she’s in Germany with Canadian duo Madison Violet. She
says she gets on well with virtually all the artists.
“I think I’ve only had one musician that I’ve done
logistics for who I would think twice about working with again. Other
than that, every single person I’ve worked with has been a real
delight to work with. I’ve been really fortunate with the people
I’ve worked with. There’s not one that I’d not want
to go on the road with again. Just chatting to them and hearing their
stories. It really makes you grateful for every single day.”
Part of being a tour manager, presumably, is discretion, and Kemp’s
got plenty of that. Asked to tell some stories about things that have
happened, she stands firm.
“There are lot of stories that I could tell. But they say what
goes on the road stays on the road, and I’m a firm believer of
that.”
To
view the article on the Backroads website, go to: www.backroadsmusic.co.uk
www.ontourlogistics.com