Rehearsal Space - Where Should We Look

This post has to do with location more than it does with finding a particular rehearsal space.

If you are like us, you have or will go through band membership changes. To find quality players, they won't all be living next door, in the same city, county, or state. Depending on where you live in the country, your music center might be spread out over a wide area. For us when we were in Boston, MA, we quickly discovered not all experienced musician's were living in Boston, or for that matter even wanted to drive into the city just due to the traffic, congestion, and time it takes to get around in the city. In our area, we have had members coming from outside of Boston and all the cities north, west, and south as well as the next states over which has been New Hampshire and Connecticut. We have had great luck finding the right players for our band, and making sure that the skill level and fit has been right. We would not have been able to do this, if we had only our immediate backyard to choose from.

We had been unfair just to figure out what really was fair! OK, is it fair to ask the guy who lives in Worcester to drive 50 miles to Boston for rehearsal 4 times a week? Is it fair to ask the guy living in Boston to drive the 60 miles to New Hampshire 4 times a week? Is it fair to ask the guy living in New Hampshire to drive 60 miles to Boston to rehearse 4 times a week? That's right, the answer is NO NO NO and NO. By finding a rehearsal space that is equal drive time and central for everyone, that is fair, and this is why we are playing it fair these days. If you can't find a rehearsal space located so that it is fair for everyone, then at least make it fair for the most people, so that you don't have 3 guys only driving 5 minutes, while the other guy drives 40 minutes.

Now what about if everyone is living in the city, and the selection of rehearsal space sucks? Simple, you all jump in the van, throw on the tunes, and commute to your quality rehearsal space out of the city, presuming there is one.

And whatever you do, make sure the rehearsal space is immediately adjacent to a major highway. You don't want to make your commute more difficult by having to zig zag down backroads in a sketchy part of town. This is why everyone is fed up with commuting into Boston.

Tip of the day - if you really are sick and tired of what we have endured, the squalid conditions included, don't be afraid to spread out and make the additional drive to find something that is better, we have.