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Singer's Survival Guide to Touring
Tips, tricks, and stories
for vocal health, on and off the road
Veteran Jazz vocalist Elisabeth Lohninger pulls back the curtain on what it takes to have a vocally successful tour. Culled from 20 years' experience as an independent, touring vocalist, the book is structured in 2 parts:
part 1 with the nuts and bolts of healthy touring that leaves the singer with both their voice and their body, mind and spirit intact after a tour; and ...
part 2: a collection of stories from the road.
Darkly funny, self deprecating and disarmingly honest, the stories range from the mundane (vacuuming the hotel hallway at 6am is a hotel rule!) to the existential (voice? what voice???). Singer's Survival Guide to Touring is informative, laugh-out-loud funny and heart-breakingly real. This book is for singers and anybody who ever wanted to know what it's like to be a touring vocalist.
"This book TOTALLY saved me this week! A must have for all singers! I was so excited for the gig I had last night, but for a couple weeks prior my throat was really sore... I remembered I had this great book that I read pre-Covid. Well this week, I ran for the book to look up 'the panic bag' chapter. So many great tips and throat saving tricks! I was able to recover my voice in just a few days and sang 4 sets last night with ease. Thank you, Elizabeth! (Singers: you must get this book!)"
- Pretti Mini (Amazon review)
"Singer/composer/arranger/bandleader/teacher Elisabeth Lohninger adds published author to her credentials with Singer's Survival Guide to Touring, a primer on how not to lose one's mind (and health) as a touring musician... Her writing is pithy and unadorned, as I would imagine a conversation with her to be... What Singer's Survival Guide to Touring reveals between the lines is that making quality music is hard, demanding a talent, ability, and dedication, and requiring much energy, physical, and emotional resources. Lohninger has tips on how to maintain all of these elements and does so with a good, clear-eyed humor... We should be grateful."
- C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz
"Singer's Survival Guide is exactly what you'd hope: an enlightening, entertaining look at the trials and tribulations of the touring musician - and a textbook on how to survive them... As a non-musician (I write books), I was surprised at how valuable both the philosophical and practical advice was... This book is both a breezy entertainment and a model of professional creative discipline. A great read!"
- Ted Krever, Author
"I have been on very similar tours in Europe and the USA and this book rings true. There is a big difference between the fantasy of being on the road and the reality. Elizabeth speaks to the reality of wear and tear while encouraging the artist to be at their best... If you are singer with a tour coming up, this is an essential read."
- Steven Santoro, vocalist, professor at Berklee College of Music
"Just from reading the road stories in the second half of the book it's clear that Elisabeth Lohninger is the real deal. She has acquired her knowledge how to keep her voice healthy while on tour and what to do in an emergency from her many years of touring the world... It's a must read for vocalists everywhere and might even be helpful for other professionals traveling a lot."
- Beat Kaestli, vocalist
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