rock&roll tour bus

More often than not, when clients compare a Star Coaches proposal to our competitor's proposals, our proposal will "appear" to be more expensive.

Why? Because it is thorough...

It's NOT designed to be "pretty"...   it's designed to be accurate.   Actually, it is designed for you to end your tour BELOW the projected budget.

Don takes the time to prepare every single proposal for every single tour himself.

He suggests stop point cities on longer drives to keep a driver safe and legal.

While this level of thoroughness takes more time, it has been invaluable, especially for foreign clients that are not familiar with the geographical layout of the United States.

See for yourself what many consider to be the best, and most informative proposal in the industry, and then get ready to enjoy "coming in below budget" at the end of your tour.

REQUEST A PROPOSAL

EXCLUSIVE: 2023 TOUR COST ESTIMATOR

In LESS than 5 minutes, find out how much an entertainer coach will cost for your next tour!

We are pleased to offer you the new 2023 Star Coaches Online Tour Cost Estimator!

Only Star Coaches offers such an online experience!

Only Star Coaches offers complete transparency!

Only Star Coaches offers you this budgeting advantage!

During the development and creation of this website, we consulted over a dozen Tour Managers about this concept...

Their reactions were all the same:  "Wow!!"...  "Amazing!!"...  "Unbelievable!!"...  "Oh My Gosh!!"

They were blown away!

Only Star Coaches offers such an online experience:  The Tour Cost Estimator!

Now YOU can enter variables into a form and calculate approximately how much it will cost to lease various entertainer coaches for your next tour.

Here is what you'll need to get started:

a)  your tour itinerary with mileage...

b)  your pick up city...

c)  your drop city...

d)  approximately how many overdrives will take place

Now YOU can see how much bus your budget will allow...  Experiment with different logistical scenarios...

This online feature will give you a very good idea of the estimated cost you will incur on your next tour...

TOUR COST ESTIMATOR

EXTERIOR BUS WRAPS

TRAILER WEIGHT LIMITS…

Most of the time, this is not a problem, as most bands are staying within our 10,000 pound limit for GVWT (Gross Vehicle Weight, or a loaded trailer)...

By the way, for you Production Managers, our trailers weight about 4,500 pounds empty, leaving you about 5,500 pounds for the gear / merch...

Anyhow, a more frequent occurrence is that we find ourselves receiving a frantic call from our drivers at pick up stating that "this trailer is very heavy"...

So we instruct the driver to immediately weigh the full trailer, only to find that the GVWT is over 10,000 pounds... This becomes a new problem...

To battle this potential problem, we suggest making sure your packed load is less than 5,500 pounds, and if you must exceed that limit, act BEFORE the tour pick up...

Rent a box truck and a driver...

Star Coaches now has a small team of box truck drivers that can help solve the problem of a disaster at pick up...

If you can't get the gear to 5,500 pounds, let us know, and we will gladly assign one of our auxiliary drivers to your rented box truck from Hertz, Budget or UHaul...

Don't be THAT guy who is overweight at pick up...

RENTAL TRAILERS

PHOTOS FROM THE ROAD

• 100 Day Dream Home
• Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge
• Bargain Block
• Battle on the Beach
• Brother Vs. Brother
• Building Roots
• Celebrity I.O.U.
• Christina on the Coast
• Down Home Fab
• Farmhouse Fixer
• Fix My Flip
• Fixer to Fabulous
• Flip the Strip
• Help! I Wrecked My House
• Holmes Family Rescue
• Home in a Heartbeat with Galey Alix
• Houses With History
• Lil Jon Wants to Do What?
• Love It or List It
• Married to Real Estate
• My Lottery Dream Home
• No Demo Reno
• Property Brothers: Forever Home
• Rock the Block
• Tough Love With Hilary Farr
• Unsellable Houses
• Vacation House Rules
• Windy City Rehab
• See Full Schedule
• Stream Full Seasons
• Sign Up for Our Newsletters
• Ideas by Room
• Design Styles
• HGTV Magazine
• HGTV Newsletters
• Flowers and Plants
• Landscaping and Hardscaping
• Outdoor Spaces
• Curb Appeal
• Cleaning and Organizing
• Entertaining
• Health and Wellness
• Real Estate
• Home Improvement
• DIY Projects
• HGTV Handmade
• $10K to Holiday Giveaway
• HGTV Urban Oasis 2023: Enter the Sweepstakes
• HGTV Dream Home
• HGTV Smart Home
• Product Reviews
• Gift Guides
• Sales and Deals
• News and Trends
• Newsletters
• TV Schedule
• Get inspired! Sign up for our newsletters for the latest ideas, products and projects.

By entering your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the Privacy Policy . HGTV and its affiliates may use your email address to provide updates, ads, and offers.

Want even more inspiration?

• HGTV Shopping
• HGTV Makeovers
• HGTV This Week
• HGTV Gardens and Outdoors
• HGTV Weekend Projects

We're sorry, there seems to be an issue playing this video. Please refresh the page or try again in a moment. If you continue to have issues, please contact us here .

Bret Michaels' Tour Bus Duo

From: Bret Michaels, Trace Adkins and Leonardo DiCaprio

Similar Topics:

Related Videos

Nickelback Musician Chad Kroeger's Tour Bus 03:40

Montage Beverly Hills Hotel 01:38

Beverly Hills A-List Mansion 01:50

Family Looks to Buy First RV 03:32

Family Looks for Larger RV 03:15

Top-of-the-Line RV 03:26

Log Mahal 03:08

The Perfect Porcupine Puffer 03:39

Clingstone Rock Island Home 03:39

Villa Maria Studio 03:31

Massive Holmby Hills Estate 01:52

Miami His-and-Her Master Suite 03:33

Pool Captures Pacific Views 02:14

Secluded Beverly Hills Estate 01:55

Leonardo DiCaprio's Motor Home on Wheels 03:24

Multimillion-Dollar Ballroom 03:24

Villa Collina Master Suite 03:20

Old World Elegance in Bel-Air 01:50

Reef House 03:39

Havenhurst Estate 01:49

The Ever After Estate 02:55

Olympic Family Dream Pool 02:10

Ultimate Gulfstream Scenic RV 02:24

Massive Master Suite 01:46

We recommend.

Take the Tour of HGTV Dream Home 2022 60 Photos

Tour the Exterior of HGTV Smart Home 2022 After Construction 30 Photos

Tour Pictures From HGTV Urban Oasis 2021 72 Photos

Take a Look Inside Mansions From Across the Globe 171 Photos

75 Dreamy, Spa-Inspired Bathrooms 75 Photos

Michael Chiarello's Succulent Shrimp Boil

More From Forbes

Johnny cash’s tour bus now at the ryman in nashville - on loan from the rock & roll hall of fame.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Johnny Cash's tour bus usually housed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame now on display at Nashville's ... [+] Ryman Auditorium

Normally housed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Johnny Cash’s former tour bus, known as “JC Unit One” is now on display outside the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

“Johnny bought this bus in 1979,” says Shelby Morrison, Vice President of Curatorial Operations at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “It was the shell of an old Greyhound bus, and he spent the equivalent of a million dollars in today’s money to customize the inside of it.”

The work was done by a luxury coach designer in Columbus, Ohio. Since the Cash family would spend a lot of time onboard, Johnny and June wanted to make it feel like home.

Inside Johnny Cash's former tour bus

“It has touches of wood and leather, and then June Carter Cash’s compartment, as well as the children’s section in the back, has the blue velvet plush and lace curtains inspired by the Carter family’s front parlor,” Morrison explains. “So, you really get the personality of the family with special touches like a rotisserie oven Johnny had installed to cook chicken.”

June Carter Cash's compartment on former tour bus

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of September 2023

Best 5% interest savings accounts of september 2023.

Kitchen area of former tour bus where Johnny had a rotisserie oven installed.

While the family spent a lot of time on board JC Unit One, the bus was also used for the 1991 Highwayman Tour and transported Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson from show to show.

Cash owned the bus from 1979 until the summer of 2003.

“He sold the bus two months after June passed because it was so full of memories of her,” Morrison says. “A gospel singer, someone who finds the heritage of music really important, purchased it and donated it to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

Those at the Rock Hall are happy to share the bus with the Ryman. It’s the latest step in a relatively new partnership. In 2022, the Ryman was designated as a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame landmark.

“It’s a historical venue, as a space that made its mark and changed music history,” Morrison says. “And we have less than 20 of those designated around the country. Over 100 of our inductees have performed here, including Johnny Cash.”

Cash, more than most, had a strong connection to the Ryman.

“Johnny Cash is a music icon with a lot of ties to this building,” says Gary Levy, Ryman Auditorium General Manager. “It was here he graced the Grand Ole Opry stage for the first time, where he crossed paths with June Carter Cash, and where the iconic ‘Johnny Cash Show’ found its home.”

CIRCA 1956: Country singer Johnny Cash performs on the WSM Grand Ole Opry tour with his band the ... [+] Tennessee Two which included bassist Marshall Grant and guitarist Luther Perkins in circa 1956. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

"The Johnny Cash Show" - 4/10/70, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash at the Ryman. (Photo by ABC Photo ... [+] Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

The bus moves back to Cleveland in the spring, but with Cash, an inductee of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, the long-term goal is to have it spend part of the year there and the other part of the year in Nashville.

Johnny Cash's former tour bus - JC Unit One

There’s a practical side that helps make that work.

“It gets really cold in Cleveland in the winter,” Morrison says. “We get ice, we get snow, and we keep this out on our plaza during the spring and summer months, but then have to put it in storage. So, we’re hoping the Ryman becomes the new winter home of the Cash bus.”

Those who want to get an inside look can do so with the purchase of a regular Ryman tour admission ticket during the hours of 10am to 3pm.

Johnny Cash talking about his tour bus.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

07/14/2015 · Music

Awesome Rock and Roll Tour Bus Photos

From The Rolling Stones to Kings Of Leon, this is how rock royalty rolls and rides.

Robert Plant kicks back on an American tour

© Charles Bonnay/Getty Images

Eric Clapton on tour

© Vincent McEvoy/Getty Images

Rolling Stones on tour in Australia

© The Sydney Morning Herald/Getty Images

John Lydon on tour in America

© Richard E. Aaron/Getty Images

The Killers on tour

© Bob Berg/Getty Images

Iron Maiden on tour

© Michael Ochs Archives/stringer/Getty Images

Van Halen on tour

© Fin Costello/Getty Images

Tour Bus Life Part 1

Hey friends and family! Hope all is well. If you follow me on social media, you know I just got back from touring with Sadie (granddaughter) on her Live Original Tour. I rode the bus and everything! Pretty cool.

I was thinking—who, at my age, gets to experience the tour bus life of a rock star? Then I remembered Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Cher, and Rod Stewart all tour and are older than me, so maybe it’s not as rare as I thought, but it’s still verrrrrrry cool and a first for me. Two years ago, 2 papa and I went on Sadie’s tour, but we rented a motor home and followed behind the tour buses. That was fun too, but this time I was right in the middle of bubble of tour life.

I’m going to give you a glimpse into the tour bus life for those of you who might be wondering if this life is the super coolest thing ever. I would say, yes, on most levels it is!! But, like all cool things, there are a few challenges. So, this is part 1 of my tour bus—wow, I want to say trilogy because it works so well with tour bus, but it’s only two parts, not three—so I guess I have to say tour bus duology.

Here we go. The buses load up and pull out around midnight each night. Since the show isn’t over until 10:00, it takes a few hours to load the equipment. The artists sleep on the bus during the night so they are ready to start the next day at a new venue and the bus drivers are taken to a hotel room so they can sleep during the day. Sadie’s tour is set up to drive out on Wednesday night and perform on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then return to home base after the show on Sunday night. They take Monday and Tuesday off and load again on Wednesday night.

The first night we met at a designated store where we were supposed to leave our cars and load the bus around 10:00. But, the designated store ended up not happy with one of the bus drivers from another tour, so we had to move to another location where we left our cars for five days. (Yes, there was more than one prayer said that our cars would still be there when we returned on Sunday night.)

Once on the bus, we were given our bunk assignments. (Think summer camp, only way tighter) There are twelve people on each bus and there are two buses. The bunks are stacked three high and across from each other with the aisle between them. I had the bottom or floor bunk. (This might be considered profiling because they didn’t want the oldest on the bus to fall while trying to get in bed.)

After some get-acquainted time that first night (remember, I was sleeping very close to people I had never met) we all climbed into our bunks. Each bunk has a thick curtain that can completely close giving you as much privacy as you are going to get on a bus with twelve people. It does allow you to read or look at your phone without bothering the person about two feet from you.  One important thing to remember is you cannot, I repeat cannot, get up like you do at home in your bed because you will hit your head on the bunk above you. That first night I heard more than one bang in the middle of the night.

This may be a little too much info, but I got on the bus with the dreaded UTI, which guaranteed I had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. So, I quietly opened my curtain and rolled out of bed on to the floor, then crawled to the door which I opened as quietly as possible and found the bathroom. Then I repeated the process and rolled back into bed, using my phone for a light. I think I slept as well as anyone that first night because even the young ones reported a little bit of a restless night. The next four nights were a tiny tad better. One more thing about sleeping. The bus provides a pillow, sheet and blanket. I grabbed the two blankets I keep in my car for ball games and a pillow, which proved to be a smart move because the bus was freezing!!!

We arrived at the first venue, which was Canton, Ohio, around 10:00 in the morning. Some were ready to get up, but others were still sleeping. If you are an early riser or if you are one of the tour staff and have to get off early who have to remember to roll out of bed quietly and get your  bags quietly and get to the bus door quietly. The tour management team gets off the buses first to set up for the day. They brilliantly put down green tape with instructions on how to get to catering, showers, green room (hangout room for artists and speakers), and office. Each venue is different so when you wake up in a new place every day, this is vital. Once off the bus, it’s just “follow the green signs” until you get where you need to go. I don’t know who came up with this, but it is genius!!

The second best thing about tour life is catering. Catering is set up for breakfast as soon as the buses arrive. That has been handled ahead of time, so it’s ready to go. Now, keep in mind, I DO NOT go out of my house without wearing, at the very least, lipstick and mascara. I’m a blonde, so without those two things, I look like I’m still in the fourth grade only with wrinkles. But, on tour, there is no room for twelve people to get ready, so I was forced to appear in public like a wrinkled fourth grader. No one seems to care, so that’s the good news.

Eventually, everyone makes their way to catering for coffee and food. Breakfast is usually an assortment of eggs, bacon, fruit, yogurt, etc. (I could really get used to this part.) If you sleep in a little and get off the bus around 12:00, guess what?–lunch has appeared in the catering room. (again, I could get used to this.) The tour management team works with each venue so the tour folks don’t have spaghetti and green beans for four days. On this tour, we had something different every meal and it was awesome.

I’m going to stop here for today so this blog isn’t too long. Next week, I’ll pick it up with afternoons and nights on the tour. And tell you the best thing about tour bus life.

I hope you have a great week. Hugs, Chrys