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How far would you go?


FloridaFrailer

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I knew of a guy who was playing a bar outside in SoCal and a couple really liked him. He was your average guy doing Buffet, BEG and other worn out tunes. They flew him first class and all his gear to their home in Oregon to play for one night. They covered all the costs and he was paid $2500 for a four hour gig. He was home the next day. How often does that happen? :)

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Talking kilometres here... At night, I normally don't like to travel more than 45 minutes or about 60 kilometres. Of course during the day that trip could take 90 minutes in traffic. If it's further than that, I just turn the gig down rather than ask for accommodations (which I wouldn't get anyway).

 

My bandmates and I used to drive 90 kilometres (plus) each way, six days a week in winter, but that was twenty plus years ago.

 

Some guys I know drive from Vancouver to Whistler and back (145 km for me) but I always have rooms if I go, and haven't gone in years.

 

I don't like to travel much anymore. The last gig I did as a single involved a ferry trip and an overnight stay. It was free room and $500 cash, and it still wasn't really worth it.

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I don't overnight, because we are gear intensive, and we don't want to lug everything into a motel room only to haul it out again in the morning.

 

I've gone as far as 200 mi / 320 km for a gig. These are normally for people who used to be in our area and moved away and want us to come to their new locale. I figure out gas and time, and add or subtract a bit depending on the gig and how much I like the people.

 

I don't do this often, once or twice a year at the most.

 

Other than the occasional long haul mentioned above, probably 95% of our gigs are within a half hour and the rest about an hour from home.

 

Time of day/night is no problem. If late at night, I bring a bag of lightly salted, in the shell, sunflower seeds. Cracking them and extracting the little kernels out is all I need to keep from fading to sleep with highway hypnosis. I tried the full-salt variety, but by the time I get home, the salt has irritated my tongue,and for a sax player, that's not a good thing.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

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ive overnighted 45 minutes from home... it had been a long day, a late gig that went into overtime and there were circumstances... did i mention it had been a long day?

 

everything around here is an hour away... i am finding tally to be a better fit for my current endeavors locally. the jury is still out on festivals, but i think im'a ride this one and see how far she goes, at least until she stops bucking... im already in the saddle, might as well ride...

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One thing I learned when driving long distances home because you don't want to lug your gear in and out of a motel room - sunflower seeds.

 

I get the crack and spit kind (but I don't spit the hulls out, but put them in a bowl). It's difficult to fall asleep while eating, and the shelling, extracting the kernel lets you eat for a long time without getting too many calories. Sunflower seeds are also healthy with a big dose of Vitamin E.

 

I get the low salt variety. Not because I have a fear of eating salt, but after a long trip, shelling a large number of high salt sunflower seeds can irritate my tongue, and the tongue is as important to a sax player as the pick or fingertip to a guitarist.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

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