General Music Chat

I regularly drive 2 hrs one way ... but not for an audition ... I just get called up to play

We rehearse at my place. Members of the band have driven as much as 45 miles one way on a weekly basis to participate.
One member continues to drive approximately 30 miles one way on a weekly bases. He is one of the prime drivers to increase band rehearsals to BIW as well.

I think that + or - 30 miles is not extraordinary.
Hell in west Texas if your not willing to drive 30 - 45 miles one way you won't have a job, or even make it to a grocer in some cases.

id travel really far if it was a good gig

__________________________

Free Makeup
Free Runescape Membership
Free Microsoft Points
Free Farmville Cash
Free Toys
Free Xbox Live
Free Cosmetics
Free Runescape Card

Before gas went up to $3 a gallon, I'd travel 100 miles, maybe more for a serious audition. Now I think I'd have to cut it back to 50 miles...

For a paying gig, 2 hours. Any further than that it better pay GOOD...

Twenty miles isn't much - I live in the sticks myself and accept that as a cost of doing business.

But I wonder if this fellow had some other reason? Twenty miles to audition with a working or soon to be working outfit? Doesn't seem like much.

Talbot

Bingo: "The cost of doing business."
There it is.
.
In my book, if you won't travel 20 miles, you're not serious enough about music for me, anyway. (and, if you can't afford the gas - Oh, well - 'sorry bout dat.")
.
Hey, we just had a new lady audition at rehearsal, the other night, who had to drive an hour from work to get here - on snowy roads, 15 degrees out, and windy.
.
I KNOW that she is serious about music.
.
That is a fundamental requirement I have in everyone I work with; I have no time to waste on folks who "kind of want to try it . . . "

An hour on snowy roads? She's not serious, she's seriously deranged. What are the odds this will work out? Slim. Generally the further away someone lives the less likely they will be around very long.

That is true Jimmy. But there are those rare few with enough drive.
No pun intended.

She had to work late that night . . . but she lives 1/2 hour away, so . . . time will tell . . .

Well in my area I would travel about 15 miles. Unless there is a midway point where everyone could meet. Now if a band wants me to audition and take a chance on me then they would have to make the arrangements for me. I know what you will think but sometimes it is worth the chance. I think if it all clicks then the music will be really good.

You are trying to get a drummer to travel. With his drums. Unless you have a set at your house (electronic or the real thing), it's probably not that the drummer doesn't want to drive, but rather he doesn't want to move his drums.

How much would you travel for an audition? Depends how badly I wanted to be a part of the band...

I believe, for almost anyone, it comes down to some practical things:

An honest assessment of your own skills and the audition's requirements.
The actual roads you have to travel.
The condition of your vehicle and it's gas mileage.
Business perspectives (money out vs. money in).
The music itself, the musicians involved, future prospects and opportunities with them and/or others you might meet.
What their band actually does and what you want to do.
Your own passion for playing vs. practical needs and your own financial situation.


Like others, I live in the woods. Every search I do is at least a 50 mile radius from my zip. I've checked 100 miles, as well, and even other regions of the nation. A hundred miles+ is pretty impractical for a number of reasons, yet for the right musicians and opportunities, I'd relocate.

Dude if monetary concern had anything to do with it at all on my end I'd sell all this gear and buy some more guns or land or something
For me it's a passion and a mission.
I cannot even begin to recount the hours days and years I spent in blood sweat and tears for my gung fu.
Music ( the band ) is my psychotic passion now.

Drive ??

Hell I'd walk ... & carry my amp.

Ive driven around 150 miles for a paying gig, not an audition. I guess Im lucky that some people thing enough of my playing to let me come and do gigs like that.

The guys in my band are spread over a 4 county area. Depending on whose place we practice at it can be a 30-45 minute drive. Lately weve been practicng at my house, that is when we do. I just move furniture around and set up a simple pa, then we match our amp volumes to a comfortable level with the drums and vocals. Its a far cry from 20 years ago lugging a full stack into a 12-20 room and blasting the termites out of the walls. I dont know how anyone could ever expect to hear themselves sing in that situation. LOL

LOL

Sans, blood, sweat and tears don't buy gasoline. Unless God increases our means, our mission is within the radius He blesses us in, practically speaking.

But I know what you mean.