The Rub On Rascal Flatts

FEBRUARY 11--Are you a female masseuse in need of work? Well, the country band Rascal Flatts may want you. The chart-topping group, now in the midst of its 'Bob That Head Tour,' requires promoters to secure the services of a 'massage therapist' who can work from 1 PM until the doors open prior to an evening concert.

According to the band's current concert rider, an excerpt of which you'll find here, prospective masseuses should charge $1 per minute for massages, which should have no minimum time limit. Tour personnel will pay the woman cash on the spot for their rubs. But if the masseuse lays hands on either of the three Rascal Flatts principles--Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney--she will have to visit the tour production office 'after her shift to collect payment for any of those messages.'

Rascal Flatts, currently touring with Jessica Simpson, is performing tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. It is unknown whether a New York City woman has been procured to service the band and its road crew. The group's $1/minute requirement works out to about half of what many Manhattan spas charge. For example, at Bliss Soho, massages average slightly more than $2 per minute. And, three blocks from the Garden, the Squeeze Cream Spa charges about $2 a minute. (2 pages)