TRAVEL GIGS - Do you do them? How do you make it work?

[Howie22]

I see a lot of solo and duo acts in my area that do more "regional" gigs a few hours away from their home market. I'd love to do this, as there are some markets 2-3 hours away that I'd LOVE to tap into. However, I can't figure out how these guys are making money at it??

 

I can't imagine a restaurant or bar in another market paying extra to an out of town act? And if it weren't a higher paying gig, I probably wouldn't even break even by the time I figured in gas/lodging/food?

 

So, do you guys travel for gigs? How do you make it work?

[richardmac]

I'd like to know, also. Actually, I live two hours from Orlando... So I technically could play a gig there, but if the gig was from 8:30 to 11:30 PM, I probably wouldn't make it home until 2 in the morning... Me, at midnight, driving two hours in a car, alone... yeah, that doesn't sound like much fun.

 

Maybe you could play at a hotel that would comp you a room in addition to the gig money. Or maybe you just charge double your normal rate and pay for the room out of pocket. But why would they hire someone for $100 per hour when there's no shortage of Orlando musicians who they can get for $50?

 

And that's probably why I stick to places within an hour of my house.

[RupertB]

I rarely do the solo bit out of town for the same reasons. My discussions with friends who do lead me to conclude that most of those gigs:

 

- are booked through agents and at a premium (at least enough to pay for gas).

- are early evening affairs, making lodging unnecessary. Done by 10-11pm & home by 2am.

- include a meal.

[sventvkg]

Out of town cover gigs are rarely worth it. That's what I'm struggling with here in Nashville since I've never really heard of any cover gigs for solo's per se..At least that pay, and I kinda miss playing on a more regular basis. I would go out and play a few times a month just to get out there more than the short 1/2 hour-1 hour songwriter rounds I play..But the gigs don't exist around here and for me to find them a few hours away say in Atlanta or Knoxville would just cost too much in Gas...Never did many outta town gigs when I was doing this full time and gas was less than a 1/3rd of what is now because it wasn't worth it!! Now..just really impossible i think.

[Howie22]

Yeah, private parties are easy enough out of town. I just build my travel costs into the price. I've done that before.

 

However, I routinely see people doing a few nights out of town somewhere, maybe 2-3 gigs over a few days. I assume they are doing it and just breaking even, or they have someone to stay with in that city to avoid lodging costs.

[rodclement]

Not with this duo but my previous one we traveled quiet a bit around 2/3 hour distance. Two guys in one car so driving wasn't that bad, and pay had to be worth the hassle.

For private parties I always add one or two hours to the rate for "travel" and set-up since 100% of the times, load in and setting up is not as simple as you were made to believe !

 

Rod

[YeahDoIt]

Maybe if I could string together a number of gigs in the area, stay in a cheap hotel then it could be break even or slightly profitable overall. If there was one big paying gig then the rest of the gigs are for exposure. I met a booker the other day, I asked him how do some entertainers get chosen to perform and others are not chosen. He told me that the performers that get hired are known, they are seen and familiar to the booker and lots of other people. He basically said 'being seen is the way you get seen.'