Problem with Gigging Travel Expenses

[Jedi Master]

I have been playing with a quintet for several years, but have been faced with an increasingly annoying situation: Transportation expenses.

The group rehearses exactly 50 miles from my house, so it is a 100 mile round trip. In addition, we live in a major metropoilitan area, and the place that they rehearse requires some road & bridge tolls. Everyone else is local, but me.

It is a very good group, with whom I enjoy playing, but with gas & tolls, it is costing me about $25 per trip, which represents a significant amount of my wages. One of the big factors is, of course, the rising cost of gas.

On the one hand I would like to ask for relief from my commuting expenses (I don't mind the time, although it only takes one snarl up, along the way, to make the commute a living Hell!), but on the other hand, if I were one of the other musicians, I could see resentment developing, because of getting paid less than a traveling musician.

Since I have been playing with them for a while, I find it harder to draw the "line in the sand" over the issue, because I have been living with the situation until now.

My question is: Have any of you faced a similar situation, and resolved it successfully, without actually having to quit the group?

Thanks!

BTW - This is not my only outlet for quintet playing.

[Chuck(G)]

Well, what do the other players bring to the group, other than their bodies and horns?

What I mean is this--one person often takes over booking, another furnishes rehearsal space, another may select and purchase music, someone else may write arrangements or compositions.

How are the duties distributed in your group? If everyone else has something, you may want to make it clear that your contribution is saddling the expenses and time just to be there.

Just a thought...

[Jedi Master]

Hi Chuck,

Thank you for your response.

To clarify: The group is run by two of the members (husband & wife), and the other 3 people are "hired guns". We rehearse at the couple's house, and they buy the music.

I have no knowledge of how the details of the business part of the operation are being handled, however.

[Chuck(G)]

Hi Chuck,

Thank you for your response.

To clarify: The group is run by two of the members (husband & wife), and the other 3 people are "hired guns". We rehearse at the couple's house, and they buy the music.

I have no knowledge of how the details of the business part of the operation are being handled, however.

By "hired gun", do you mean that you're compensated for your contribution by the income from gigs? It would seem that honesty in this case would be the best policy. Let the other members know what this is costing you and ask for help.

[Naptown Tuba]

I agree with Chuck. The quintet is, in fact, a business and aspects of running a business should be delt with; one of those being your commute. If one of the other 3 "hired guns" purchased any considerable amount of music, I would expect they would want to be reimbursed.
If they balk at paying for your gas, then I would suggest that 1 in 5 rehearsals be in "your" locality. If they balk at that, then that should make them more simpathetic and understanding of your expenses.
Short of that, I would go and buy a bloke-mobile.

[ken k]

It can't hurt to talk to the husband and wife who run the group. Maybe they would be willing to give you a little extra in transportation costs on the gigs to help with the rehearsal expense.

ken k

[Dan Schultz]

Buy one of these next year, and put the tuba in the front seat.



50+ mpg

I did a tour in Germany a couple of years ago. The fellow who organized the gig had one of those 'Smart Cars'. He was big and fat and so was his wife. There was also room inside that car for a full drum set and an Irish Setter dog! It's an amazing vehicle

[Carroll]

I have been playing with a quintet for several years, but have been faced with an increasingly annoying situation: Transportation expenses.

It is a very good group, with whom I enjoy playing

My question is: Have any of you faced a similar situation, and resolved it successfully, without actually having to quit the group?

Thanks!

BTW - This is not my only outlet for quintet playing.

I can only relate my experience with my gigging euphonium quartet (go ahead, laugh... but it is true). We live about 30 miles away from the midpoint between us, so we round-robin rehearsal sites. I do the lion's share of the arrangements and the bookings. When we buy tunes, that comes out of the kitty where our performance fees go. Uniform shirts, hotel bookings (for long distance gigs) and the occasional group eat/drink also come from the fund. We sometimes hire other guys for specialty jobs (most recently a set drummer and a flugel hornist for a couple of jazz sets) and that is withdrawn from the slush, as well. At the end of the year, we split what is left and start the next year empty. If one of us had to drive more than the others, we would shift resources that direction. I do believe you should talk it over with the "Boss" couple and see what can be done.

[Tom Holtz]

In our quintet, the five of us all live in the area, but one lives a bit further out and has to deal with the tolls, just like your situation. We rehearse at his place as often as anywhere else, since he has to drive in for the gigs.

You definitely should talk to the leader, and let them know that you're getting hammered with the travel costs. If your group is rehearsing regularly, even when there aren't a lot of gigs on the schedule, you should see about hosting some rehearsals at your place or getting reimbursed for the gas. It's a business.

[winston]

.

[Donn]

Public transportation that carries someone 50 miles one way in the US? Surely you are kidding...? This isn't Canada or Europe. With the exception of 2-3 major cities, serious public transportation is virtually non-existent. The few "public" trains that might actually take you a long distance require you to live in less than a handful of places. If it were only that easy, Winston... Our poster doesn't advise his location, so your otherwise great idea can't yet be applied.

It's a shame it isn't better here, but I'm not sure it's quite as bad as you make out -- or that you've identified the problem. I'm really only familiar with the Seattle area, but most other major cities on the west coast have similar or better systems, and that's nothing compared to the average east coast city. 50 miles isn't out of range.

But at least here, accommodations for the tuba playing traveller are very limited. I managed without a car for years, but taking a tuba on the bus was not fun.

[MartyNeilan]

Buy one of these next year, and put the tuba in the front seat.



50+ mpg

When a soccer mom with a cigarette in one hand and a cell phone in the other hand attempting to drive an H2 (yes, I have seen this very thing) runs over you and your car and leaves you paralyzed for life, can I have what's left of your tuba to be rebuilt by my repairperson of choice?

[LoyalTubist]

Using a car isn't the only mode of transportation available to you. Why not use a public service?

Some U.S. public transportation operations won't allow tubas or any other "large parcels" in their units. I was once told to take a taxi by a bus driver in Los Angeles.

[Jedi Master]

The public transportation would be a great idea, if there were a form of tranportation that offered a direct way to get there.

The way it is now, even if it were possible to make the trip exclusively by public transportation, it would probably be an all-day event to get to the gigs, with the necessary connections, and layovers,...etc.

Thanks for the thought, though!