Farthest commute to band practice

diosdude

Silver Member
Just curious if there are any gung-ho drummers like me out there who commute very far to band practice. I live in a daggum swamp called Clewiston on the southern shores of Lake Okeechobee in Florida. It's a tiny town of about 5000 people so when i moved here, i was bummed to see that there were absolutely no musicians to jam with who play progressive metal. I finally decided i was just going to commute to west palm beach, fort lauderdale or miami to find good musicians. To that end, i now travel 85 miles (137 Km) each way or 170 miles (274 Km) round trip to practice usually 3-4 times a week to Pompano Beach, Fl. Is there anyone else who does this?
 
Wow dude, Okeechobee is a desert for musicians. Honestly, I would head straight into Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Ft. Pierce or Vero Beach if you're looking for good musicians. The further south you go you are running into "everybody wants to be a musician even though they suck" territory. If you're serious about finding people to jam with I will give you some locations. Just send me a PM.
 
Wow! That's a serious commitment you're making. I get annoyed if I have commute more than 20 miles roundtrip once a week !
 
I've always made it a point to live near places of music, so while I've had some commutes in the past, nothing like that.

My cousin is a singer in a group, and she travels over an hour each way, across state lines, for her rehearsals, although it's only once a week. But she's been doing it for like 7 or 8 years now.
 
Just curious if there are any gung-ho drummers like me out there who commute very far to band practice. I live in a daggum swamp called Clewiston on the southern shores of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.

I feel your pain Diosdude. I live in Stuart and often drive to Boca Raton to jam (70 miles each way). You are definetly more remote in Clewiston and I feel fortunate that we have a fairly decent music scene here on the Treasure Coast.

The guys I play with in Boca have a Hammond B3 and dig all the same styles that I do so I'm pretty gung-ho about going. It is a long haul though. I've played with these guys dozens of times and everytime I go down there, they comment on how far I drove, which I guess means they're reminding me that they're not gonna come my way anytime soon.

To me it's worth it because I have to play. I will go crazy if I can't play.

There are scores of metal heads in West Palm and it is closer than going all the way down to Pompano. Have you posted anything on the board at GC in West Palm? A lot of people network through there and you might be able to find people to play with that are closer.

BTW, how did you end up in Clewiston? You must either work at a prison or on a farm. Just kidding!
 
Just curious if there are any gung-ho drummers like me out there who commute very far to band practice. I live in a daggum swamp called Clewiston on the southern shores of Lake Okeechobee in Florida. It's a tiny town of about 5000 people so when i moved here, i was bummed to see that there were absolutely no musicians to jam with who play progressive metal. I finally decided i was just going to commute to west palm beach, fort lauderdale or miami to find good musicians. To that end, i now travel 85 miles (137 Km) each way or 170 miles (274 Km) round trip to practice usually 3-4 times a week to Pompano Beach, Fl. Is there anyone else who does this?

Surprising you couldn't find any progressive metal musicians in Clewiston on the southern shores of Lake Okeechobee in Florida. I would figure that's where they would all hang out.

I live out in Eastern Suffolk County in NY. I commute into NYC to play and it is about the same commute as you have. Probably a little shorter, Somewhere between 60 and 80 miles. I've been starting to meet more people In Nassau County, which is only half the distance. But it's still a 40 minute ride. Not ggod for the car, or gas budget.
 
I feel your pain Diosdude. I live in Stuart and often drive to Boca Raton to jam (70 miles each way). You are definetly more remote in Clewiston and I feel fortunate that we have a fairly decent music scene here on the Treasure Coast.

The guys I play with in Boca have a Hammond B3 and dig all the same styles that I do so I'm pretty gung-ho about going. It is a long haul though. I've played with these guys dozens of times and everytime I go down there, they comment on how far I drove, which I guess means they're reminding me that they're not gonna come my way anytime soon.

To me it's worth it because I have to play. I will go crazy if I can't play.

There are scores of metal heads in West Palm and it is closer than going all the way down to Pompano. Have you posted anything on the board at GC in West Palm? A lot of people network through there and you might be able to find people to play with that are closer.

BTW, how did you end up in Clewiston? You must either work at a prison or on a farm. Just kidding!

I looked from wpb to miami every day for 6 months straight before finding my current lineup (there are a bunch of CRAPPY metal bands in wpb). I'm happy with my band now but the drive just kills (literally, i had to save a guy from a burning car on my way home one night last month who fell asleep at the wheel in the middle of the night). I'm in Clewiston because i run my family's bar/grill there called Beef'O'Brady's, it's out in the sticks but imake a bunch of money off of it. What's the name of your band? maybe we can do a show together.

-Lino
Diosdude
Clewiston/ Pompano
 
Jason Bittner from Shadows Fall goes from upstate NY to someware in MA atleast three times a week. That's crazy.
 
I live 35 miles away from the other two members of my band but currently I'm working 140 miles away from home (curse this recession) so when I finish work at 12pm on a Friday, I've got a 3 hour drive home to have a quick bath, get changed, then another 40-60 minute drive (usually with a can of Relentless or Monster energy drink) to the bass player's house to rehearse for 3-4 hours followed by a 60-70 minute drive over to my partner's flat for the weekend.

Friday's are long, man.
 
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