Gas Prices - Negative Effect On Rehearsals ??

J

Jim Mattingly

Senior Member
Is anyone else experiencing a negative effect on their rehearsals due to the skyrocketing gas prices ?? I would be very surprised if not.. Regrettingly the side project I am involved with has quite a few miles between all of my bandmates and myself. I have a beautiful rehearsal barn/studio that is a great place to rehearse, record and just plain relax. It is a 30x40 barn, heated and air conditioned and very secluded with all the amenities. Everyone loves to come out and play here but it is a little out of the way for a few of the band members and the cost of petrol is taking it's toll on getting together every week. Once again just curious if anyone else is having issues with playing less frequently due to the gas prices...
 
My bandmates are crazy and they still come to my house. (Being the drummer, I don't have to travel!) However most of the time they're over my way for work anyway. We've been lucky.

I have a Ford Focus with a 12 gallon tank and it cost around $32 to fill up almost all of the tank this weekend. That's nuts.
 
LeftoverPenguin said:
I have a Ford Focus with a 12 gallon tank and it cost around $32 to fill up almost all of the tank this weekend. That's nuts.
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I'll assume you put about 10 gallons in then. US Gallon = 3.8 Litres, so here, that same fill would have left you with no change from $85. Some of our band members do a 100 mile round trip to practice each week, so yeah, it's certainly a downer. In this country, you'd have no money leftover, penguin!
 
Jim Mattingly said:
Is anyone else experiencing a negative effect on their rehearsals due to the skyrocketing gas prices ?? I would be very surprised if not.. Regrettingly the side project I am involved with has quite a few miles between all of my bandmates and myself. I have a beautiful rehearsal barn/studio that is a great place to rehearse, record and just plain relax. It is a 30x40 barn, heated and air conditioned and very secluded with all the amenities. Everyone loves to come out and play here but it is a little out of the way for a few of the band members and the cost of petrol is taking it's toll on getting together every week. Once again just curious if anyone else is having issues with playing less frequently due to the gas prices...
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Rehearsals, Gigs, drumheads, sticks and clothing (synthetic fiber is created by using petroleum) are all going to get very costly soon! So will food as in the US, 50% of the corn is being converted into ethanol. There is plenty of reserves all over the North American continent.


Draw what conclusion you may.

Mike

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Skitch said:
Rehearsals, Gigs, drumheads, sticks and clothing (synthetic fiber is created by using petroleum) are all going to get very costly soon! So will food as in the US, 50% of the corn is being converted into ethanol. There is plenty of reserves all over the North American continent.


Draw what conclusion you may.

Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com
http://www.patentcoachmike.com
http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.facebook.com/mike.mccraw
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemccraw
http://twitter.com/mikemccraw
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Could not agree more Mike. Tis a shame they have us all by the short hairs. It is a vicious circle and we are in the middle of that circle. They raise the price of gas for an extended period, then when they drop it 25 cents/gallon everyone is estatic that the price has gone down. UP-DOWN-UP-DOWN, playing us like a yoyo. Funny, as I was writing this the headline on the Today Show was the price of gas going up again...IMAGINE THAT...
 
Bummer Jim. The place sounds great. I'm incredibly lucky because the studio my band practices at is easy walking distance from home. It actually takes me longer to drive there in the peak hour traffic.
 
Not so much with rehearsals as with patrons coming to gigs we play.

When it costs an average of 8 bucks a person at the door, then they pay 2.50 per beer or more then pay for whatever set-ups they may need.....it's no wonder some folks choose to stay home.

But we are in the same situation as far as rehearsing goes. Our keyboard player, who lives on a fixed income, lives the farthest from us, about 70 miles....so we have to plan our rehearsals where we can meet and it not put a strain on him.
 
Pollyanna said:
Bummer Jim. The place sounds great. I'm incredibly lucky because the studio my band practices at is easy walking distance from home. It actually takes me longer to drive there in the peak hour traffic.
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Luckily (I guess) it is mainly only with the side project, regrettingly I like this band a lot and see some very good potential with it. All seasoned musicians with a dynamo female vocalist, I am talkin Susan Tedeschi pipes. She is still green and lacking the confidence right now but when and if she gets that level up she will be a tough vocalist to top. This is a Rockin up tempo Blues project, and how can you not love some great blues.
 
ddrumman2004 said:
Not so much with rehearsals as with patrons coming to gigs we play.

When it costs an average of 8 bucks a person at the door, then they pay 2.50 per beer or more then pay for whatever set-ups they may need.....it's no wonder some folks choose to stay home.

But we are in the same situation as far as rehearsing goes. Our keyboard player, who lives on a fixed income, lives the farthest from us, about 70 miles....so we have to plan our rehearsals where we can meet and it not put a strain on him.
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Amen to that, got to try and make it easy as you can for all...The bar scene has dropped off very much in Western Michigan also, and the DJ's sure as heck don't help the live music scene either...
 
I am fortunate that I practice on Tuesday night, and the rehearsal is at a house only about five miles from my office. So I don't have to go too far out of my way to get there, as I just stay late after work and then shoot over to practice from there. The other two guys have to travel between 30-40 miles to get to practice.
 
I have found that my current band loves to carpool, and if I volunteer to drive, I get pay plus a larger share of the hat tips for gas money. It doesn't really affect rehearsals because this band plays so often, we are rehearsing live.
 
Ref: my earlier post, we're paying well over double the price for fuel in the UK compared to the US, & as for poor Thaard & friends. See below (probably a couple of weeks out of date). Let there never be another fuel price complaint from a US consumer again!
 

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The high cost of fuel in Europe, and elsewhere is mainly due to taxes, and probably higher currency value. Let's face it though, those countries are far smaller than the u.s., and have been used to rediculous prices for a long time, hence the smaller cars driven over there. Over here we have vast distances to travel, ship things, and everything is more spread out, so we've relied on cheaper fuel to keep the price of everything lower, and have gotten used to driving inefficient large vehicles. It's simply whatever you're used to all of the sudden sky rocketing in price, taking a larger chunk out of your income in a sorry ass economy. In a way, it's a good thing for here, because I think we need to get away from our dependence on oil that comes from unstable countries, and move on to the next century. BTW, does anyone know what China is paying on average for fuel?
 
In Sydney I've been paying about $1.42 a litre at the moment. If there's 3.79 litres to a gallon that would be roughly $5.40 per gallon. We have an increasing number of SUVs here too.
 
keep it simple said:
Ref: my earlier post, we're paying well over double the price for fuel in the UK compared to the US, & as for poor Thaard & friends. See below (probably a couple of weeks out of date). Let there never be another fuel price complaint from a US consumer again!
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I could not agree more with your statement and the chart. I have spent quite a bit of time overseas, spent 8 years in the navy and this was a few years back. I have often brought this fact up to numerous friends/aqaintances over the years when our gas prices take a leap. We have and have had it easy in the U.S. compared to just about every other country when it comes to not only gas prices but the majority of the things we take for granted. I actually did last night what I always try to stay away from, and that was get involved in a conversation revolving around politics and our economy, I feel lucky in that I know a ton of people who know how to fix everything, gotta love the weekend politicians, especially when there are libations involved...Gotta also love how a couple of shots of Jamesons can make you an expert on almost anything. Peace...
 
keep it simple said:
Ref: my earlier post, we're paying well over double the price for fuel in the UK compared to the US, & as for poor Thaard & friends. See below (probably a couple of weeks out of date). Let there never be another fuel price complaint from a US consumer again!
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True, but you have alternate forms of transportation. We really don't.
 
Strangelove said:
True, but you have alternate forms of transportation. We really don't.
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True. Here in the western states, it's not uncommon to measure distances in time. "How far is it to West Insanityville?" "Oh, about two hours, if the weather's not bad."

That's at 70 MPH most of the way!

And there is no real alternative transportation, except I ride my bicycle in town. But that won't get me to gigs or rehearsal.
 
Strangelove said:
True, but you have alternate forms of transportation. We really don't.
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If you live in a major center, then yes, but nothing that's going to be useful for lugging gear around. Where I live, no choice but to drive. We have one bus a day though my nearest village (5 miles away). I've travelled the US extensively, and I'd say the public transport systems are about on par with the UK (of course, varies from state to state). Public transport on mainland Europe is far better though.

A combination of powerful motor industry lobby, personal freedom expectations & lip service to consumption/fuel efficiency are largely responsible for low motor fuel taxes in the US. I suspect high fuel prices will catch US motor manufacturers with their underwear around their ankles. Controlling prices through low taxation gave them some comfort, but controlling world prices is beyond the most powerful lobbyist. They're left with dated engine technologies that drink fuel & return sub standard power outputs. That'll take a while to fix. Still a lot cheaper for you guys to get from A-B though, but what's the real cost?
 
IDDrummer said:
True. Here in the western states, it's not uncommon to measure distances in time. "How far is it to West Insanityville?" "Oh, about two hours, if the weather's not bad."

That's at 70 MPH most of the way!

And there is no real alternative transportation, except I ride my bicycle in town. But that won't get me to gigs or rehearsal.
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Very, very true! We are hard headed in the western states about mass transit, but this latest bout with oil greed should teach us a lesson.
 
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