Transportation

One often overlooked factor in a musicians life is getting to the gig. Different instruments require different modes of transport. If you play a smaller axe such as trumpet, sax or violin you can walk, bike or use public transit depending on distance, times and availability. Larger instruments decrease your options. A vehicle is required and, depending on what you play, it tends to be larger than most.

Early on in my career I had a few different hatch-back cars that did the trick. As long as it was just me and my equipment I was good to go. Things changed when I got together with my wife as we would go to gigs together and needed a few more bits of gear. Enter the minivan.

The minivan certainly has lots of room for equipment and people which is good as before long we had two more passengers. The joke in our house was that we needed a vehicle that could hold an upright bass and a family of four, sometimes together. We went through two minivans, our second one stopped working in our driveway the other day. What to do?

The solution is the purchase of two hatchbacks. This offers the most flexibility as they are each large enough for two people and equipment, if more equipment is needed we take along the other car, if we are on different gigs (hey it happens) no worries and, if one is gigging the other can still operate the family taxi service and take the kids to activities as need be.

All this type about cars should not diminish the fact that there are some who have very hip and cool ways of getting around sans emissions. An example for us all I think.

What Goes In

My children get exposed to allot of music through my own playing, concerts we take them to and what is available to them via recordings.

There is a strong tendency to parade around the house singing what has recently been heard. We are currently being serenaded by songs from The Beatles, ABBA, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Beethoven.

Recently they have discovered a case of old cassettes. I predict an explosion of melodies to issue forth within the coming weeks.