How far is too far

[pezdork]

So i live in Riverside County California. which is about an hour south of Downtown LA. Im considering joining a band up there because i cant even find people to jam with out here. Just curious if anyone else has a 2 hour round trip commute to their band or jam?

[Astro]

Tried 45 minutes. Didnt work. Too much real life, ya know ?

I know the feeling so good luck.

[Willie Poole]

My band members all travel that far for practice and most of our gigs, some gigs are over 90 miles away, but we charge more for those where we have to travel a long ways to get there.....Just put a CD in the player and leave in plenty of time to get there, It took me 2-1/2 hours to go 4-1/4 miles because of a wreck on the beltway around DC, that makes for a long day after playing for three or four hours....If there is a way to advertise in your area maybe you can find some pickers that are local....

good luck....Willie

[Nevin]

I played in a Celtic band with my brother and sister-in-law. It was about 40 minutes without traffic but could balloon to over an hour easily. We did long practices every two weeks to make it work better. Man my fingers could be shot after six hours of upright bass though.

[journeybear]

I had a weekly gig four years ago that was 100 miles each way. I was playing all instrumental mostly Italian music in an Italian restaurant on Friday nights. Due to the hours, the buses weren't running for the return trip, so I had to buy a vehicle. I found a beat-up but running mini-van for $200, which paid for itself after one gig, and in fact is still running, so that was money very well spent. Even though it cost $30 in gas each trip and took two hours each way (the speed limit for most of the road is 45 MPH), it was well worth doing. First of all, the pay was twice the going rate here. I got a nice meal as well, and the food was very good. Also, rather than catering to drunken tourists calling out requests for Buffett and Skynyrd in a noisy smoky bar, I got to sit at one side of the room and play quiet music suited for the mandolin. I even enjoyed the drive - two hours of quiet time all by myself, during which I would listen to music, or run songs in the process of writing through my head, or just let my mind wander. It was a great gig, and I would still be doing it if the owner hadn't looked at its lessening cost-effectiveness as the tourist season waned.

But this will probably be at the outer limits of the responses you'll get. It's more than I would care to do now, unless the money were right. You have to look at all the factors involved and decide whether it's worth doing. It might be tough to get through the practice period until you start making money for your efforts. It would be nice if the other members would see their way clear to let you have few extra bucks from the tips to pay for your gas costs. But don't count on it, not at the start.

[dreadhead]

I used to play in a bluegrass band based out of Asheville, NC several years ago when I was living in Johnson City, Tn which was about an hour away or so. We'd practice once a week and in addition to that had a weekly gig. It wasn't so bad , but the mandolin player had a bad habit of canceling practice at the last minute after I had already left & this was before I had a cell phone. Making that drive without having practice was very annoying to say the least. Another problem was that we'd get free beer in addition to our small pay at our weekly Tuesday night gig. There were times when I really shouldn't have driven. I'd sometimes stop at Waffle House on the way back to get some food in me before going back over the mountain, but I would have been over the limit if I had been pulled over.

When I first moved France, I played in a couple of duos with people that lived in Paris. I'd take the train from where I live which ended up being an hour taking the suburb train and then the metro. It was nice not having to drive, but now that I have a young son, it's just not worth it. I mostly have others come to me now & we practice at my place.

[foldedpath]

When joining a band, it's not just a question of the commute, but the frequency of the commute. Does this band practice once a week, every two weeks, once a month? A weekly commute of an hour each way is harder than twice a month, but a weekly (or more) practice makes for a tighter band, unless you're gigging so often that the gigs serve to keep everyone fresh on the material.

I commute an hour each way for a once-monthly Irish/Scottish session, but that's not a band and it doesn't have to be a tight performance (it's often anything but!). If I was in a band with those folks, I'd have to think about how often I'd want to make that drive, and if it was worth it or not to maintain a frequent enough rehearsal schedule.

[journeybear]

... the mandolin player had a bad habit of canceling practice at the last minute after I had already left & this was before I had a cell phone.

Are you sure that wasn't the banjo player?

[dreadhead]

Are you sure that wasn't the banjo player?

I could just ignore this, but I won't I was mainly the dobro player in that band up until I had a freak accident trying to help a friend get a clothes line pole out of the ground. I tried shaking it loose and it came out all of a sudden resulting in tearing the tendon from my right kneecap. I knew I was going to be stuck in bed for a few months and had the bright idea of having my mother take my Flatiron mandolin to the local music store and trade it in for a b**jo! I still regret this!
So, I ended up being the dobro/banjo player for a while myself in that band.
Oddly enough, the banjo/bass player that played with us occasionally before that was missing the fingertips of his left hand which was a result of an unfortunate incident with a saw. I was always amazed that he could still play rather well despite this handicap.

Just to kind of tie this into the topic at hand, he was a buddy of our fiddle player and lived almost 3 hours away, so he only played with us at most twice a month. A one hour drive each way really isn't too bad.

By the way, I came to my senses & sold that banjo although I have flirted with the idea of getting one again someday.

[journeybear]

Well, I'm glad you didn't. That is quite a story. Glad you've recovered, and come to your senses. But don't give in to the dark force!

I am very impressed the bass player would drive that far. I don't think I would. Most of the folks here are so tied into the trials and tribulations of getting around this 2 x 4 island that when I told them about my weekly 200 mile round trip they were flabbergasted. There are lots of people here who haven't even left the island in years, and moreover think it's a big deal just to go out of Old Town. When I was living up north I thought nothing of driving 80 miles to catch a good show. I guess it's easy to get locked into a routine. In one of my old bands up there, the guitarist did live about an hour's drive away, but I never heard him complain once about coming all the way in for weekly practice. I guess what it comes down to is, ya gotta do what ya gotta do if ya wanna do what ya wanna do. Pretty much.

[TonyP]

It seems like most of my time playing in bluegrass bands I was odd man out and had to commute. The furthest was 2 1/2hrs one way. What I came on to after a while is the people who don't commute don't get the amount of commitment it takes(especially with the price of gas now! not to mention the wear and tear and plain ol' scary nature of driving late at night after practice/gig) to do all that commuting. So the old "oh I was too busy and didn't get a chance to listen to that song you wanted to do" or "I just had a bad day at work and am not really into it tonite" just doesn't fly. And EVERYBODY gets you don't cancel after I leave to go to practice. I don't do that to them, so don't do it to me unless it's an emergency.

It's like gigging, if it turns into work and I find myself getting a resentment, it's time to bag it. Same with practice, if I'm not getting enough out of it instrumentally or vocally, I'm outta there. After 35yrs of doing it, I'm really good at telling now whether it's worth it or not.

Personally, having to deal with LA traffic it would have to be some really good people who've got their stuff together and have a good paying repeat gig for me to take that one on. YMMV etc.

[Iron]

One hour one way is about the norm around here.
Best

[Randi Gormley]

I'm lucky in that I live about 3 minutes away from our usual Monday session, but we have people who come from around the area and will drive between 30 and 60 minutes to get in. we don't see them during really bad weather, of course. There are two or three sessions we'll go to in the 30-45 minute range but we don't do it more than once or twice a month. I was in a sort-of band that was 25 minutes away depending on traffic but don't do that any more. I was willing to do it because it was a regular gig, but it was a relief when it went away.

to put that in context, I commute 29 miles one way to work. Depending on when I leave the house, it can take me between 35 and 75 minutes one way. coming home is worse; at least twice it's taken me 3 hours (car accidents and whatnot, storms and fallen trees, snow storms) but it's usually a good 75 minutes most days unless I hit traffic exactly right.

[stevedenver]

How far is too far?

ROI-return on investment!

It will depend entirely on how much joy you get from it. You will know rather quickly, I'll bet.

Personally, I have become so busy, and, worse, to some extent, lazy, in that I consciously avoid creating 'hurdles' for myself.

I would think that bad traffic could make your arrival a rather stressed one, which doesn't always put me in the best place for music and a quick changes of gears. I have also become aware of using a lot of gas for trips I don't think merit it. (Totally subjective).

otoh, you might find serendipity like never before, in which, the drive wont bug you at all.

You wont know unless you give it a try.

[Mandobart]

I'm blessed in my little town. There is a weekly BG jam, a monthly fiddler's get together, a weekly acoustic whatever-you-want-to-play jam and 6 different open mic/jam nights to attend each week. The major benefit of all this is that I have met most all the local musicians and play out with several frequently, but more importantly just get together with friends to play informally at my place or theirs. I will say that for me, after a few years, the open mics and organized plugged-in jams started to wear thin with drunk/high hosts and fellow players, crappy sound systems and worse sound operators. I would not drive an hour to attend one of those. Are you saying there are no fellow musicians less than an hour from you? It's a lot more fun and relaxed just to get together to play than to lug a bunch of gear an hour each way to a practice or play at a bar.

[UsuallyPickin]

I've driven and hour each way for a Jam and up to an hour and a half for a job..... the music has to be worth it. If / when it gets to be a hassle either because of the people or the place I find some other opportunity.