[Dixielandjazz] Equally sharing travel expenses

Mon Aug 6 15:00:19 PDT 2007

I expect everyone to drive no more than 25 miles one way without extra 
money.  The way I do it is I picked an intersection of two highways that are 
central to St. Louis and I charge $1 per mile per musician from that spot. 
Fees aren't charged until we cross a bridge into another county.  Sometimes 
I have a musician that has to travel further than everyone else so I pay him 
extra.  I hire guys from the AF band occasionally and they have to drive 25 
miles to get to St. Louis so I pay them extra for the mileage.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Equally sharing travel expenses

I have a better idea Bill:

Stay Home and tell them to hire a local band for that kind of money, Nobody 
should be so desperate as to drive 2.5 to 3 hours each way and play a gig 
for $60.00.

Music is supposed to make better math students out of us :))  Apparently it 
did not for many.

I book my band for enough money to cover all the expenses, air, train, bus, 
van rentals, taxis, gasoline, excess baggage, porter tips, and usually meals 
on the road, and we don't do $60.00 a man gigs 3 hours from home.  Hell we 
don't do $60.00 gigs across the street when we can walk to them.

If band leaders would get back to running a band like a business and charge 
accordingly this industry might one day get back to being a respectable way 
to earn a decent living.

  Hobbyist should constrain themselves to playing in the local community 
Band  and stop whoreing the marketplace for professional players trying to 
earn an honest living.

No wonder nobody gets a solid tour any more.

You get what you pay for :))

Only a desperate bored person would get in his car and drive 3 hours each 
way and play a gig for $60.00,  no wonder Habib is making so much money in 
the corner gas station.

Man oh man am I over paying all my men !   or what ?  We know Barbone is 
giving away the store with his band too.

Musical content:  "We live in two different worlds"   Thankfully !

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins

In a message dated 8/6/2007 11:09:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time, billsharp 
<sharp-b at clearwire.net> writes:

>With the cost of gasoline these days, here's what I do on long trips to
>encourage car pooling - - - - - I, when I'm in the leader position,
>pay everyone less than what the gig pays(say $20) then tell them that
>when they take their car, they get the $20 back. Then, for each
>passenger, the driver gets the other person's allotted $20 gas/travel
>expense.
>
>Let's say that you have a van and 4 people ride with you - - -then
>you get $20 as the driver, then also paid $80 as a driver of 4 people.
> That's only $100 bucks for the driver, but it's bound to cost much
>more that that to drive to and from a gig that's 2.5 hours away, and
>would'nt you pay just $20 for a ride up and back? That's cheap!!
>
> If you feel magnanimous, you can lower your scale, but make it the
>same for everyone. (See what even a bus ride would cost, also what I
>believe is a fair assessment scale, next paragraph).
>
>Currently I think it's fair to asses each person about $10 for each
>hour of round trip travel. Example: let's say it's 1 hour to get to a
>gig- - then the rider's fee is $10. That pays for the round trip. And
>that's cheap for the person not having to take their car. (Just think
>what it costs in gas alone for you to get in your car and drive for 2
>hours)
>
>If someone wants to go by themselves, then fine, give them the original
>full amount and send them on their way. This type of arrangement
>encourages car-pooling, and fairly/equally reimburses the driver. I
>started this when people were riding with me long distances, and at the
>end there's always that akward time when people are offering to pay for
>gas, and different people offer various amounts, and no one is sure
>what to offer. Some are generous, some miserly, and some offer
>nothing. This has been a good remedy. I gladly pay an "even share"
>when I get to ride with others, because I know how fair the share is,
>costing me far less than if I had to drive - -plus, not being behind
>the wheel leaves me rested for the gig, and refreshed when I get home.
>We often discuss the "fair-share" amount at a rehearsal.
>
>People who are "cheap-to-the-bone", hate this idea because they
>probably weren't going to pay the driver anything anyway. . . ..
>especially if it's one of those jobs that's 3 hours away that pays $60
>a man and, according to my travel scale, you should honorably pay the
>driver $30. Seems like way too much because you're only getting $60
>bucks in the first place, right ? ? ?O.K. - -so don't ride with
>anyone - -take you own car and drive the 6 hours (3 up, 3 back) by
>yourself and see what it costs you, plus how much fun you have riding
>alone. Oh well, then you do end up with the full $60 (which I'll bet
>you have to use to fill up your car's tank).
>
>If the leader makes the rules and the payments - -it makes it fair
>for everyone, on an absolutely equitable basis.
>
>I think this is something I'd like to see discussed, besides being
>cussed.

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