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Wage Slave Rebel Dispatch
Diary of a Wage Slave Rebel: On Tour
I drove 37 hours in three days.
I did a work week behind the wheel.
Over the weekend.
I’m in Bend, Oregon right now. 2,400-odd miles from Nashville. I got an opportunity to open for Brett Dennen at a concert series here, and with all my gear and merch, it worked out to be cheaper to drive it than to fly. I’m not entirely sure what this means for my carbon footprint, but I’m certain it can’t be good. As soon as the show is over, I’m getting back in my car and driving another 2,000+ miles to Texas, where I’ll meet up with the rest of my family for the first vacation we’ve ever taken together.
I’m saving a grand total of about $250, depending on how merch sales go tonight.
Here’s where I admit that I was wrong:
Factor #1 – My wife and I moved last week. We worked for 2 days solid, but at the end of day two, it was 3:45am, only about 70% of our belongings had made it to the new house, and I had to leave in 4 hours to make it to Omaha in time for a show. If I’d just flown to Bend, I could have stayed the weekend, helped out with the move, and been a lot less stressed out. My loving wife had to finish the move without me. This alone is going to cost me more than the $250 I saved.
Factor #2 – I’m exhausted. I got into town a day early, so I had a chance to rest yesterday, but here’s a difference in definition: Tired wears off after a day’s rest. Exhausted take a little longer. I hope I will give my best performance tonight, but I’m relying on a lot of rote memory, not any sort of emotional high.
Factor #3 – I’m putting 5,000 miles on my car. This is actually a wash, because I’m reporting these miles for tax purposes, but still. That’s like 1/20th of the life of an average car. Over a weekend.
I guess I say all this to say that in the world of business (despite the general “damn the man” attitude of musicians, this is still a business) the old axiom of “the numbers never lie” is false. You have to consider all the factors, not just the financial ones. This isn’t the end of the world; I’m sure the show will be great (they’re expecting around 1,000 people, so it darn well better be.) but I wish I felt my best. I’ll give an EDIT: in italics below after the show tonight.
-Levi
EDIT: I didn’t break even. I sorely overestimated how much merch outdoor-show-crowds buy. I could have brought an abbreviated setup, 1 box of CDs and sold maybe a little less, but spent a lot less.
I got in the car that night after the show and headed out to Texas to meet my family. Another 34 hour drive. 71 hours driving in a week (and that’s with 2 non-drive days). That’s the real cost here.
Anyway, no complaining. Lesson learned. And now I’m going on vacation.
P.S. – In Oregon, it’s illegal to pump your own gas. So if you are planning on driving through the night, plan ahead and find out where the 24-hr pumps are. Otherwise, you might find yourself sleeping in a cold backseat until the last-possible-option gas station opens. Just a thought.
Related posts
- Diary of a Wage Slave Rebel: Lessons from the Road
- Diary of a Wage Slave Rebel: The Truth About Working For Yourself
- Diary of a Wage Slave Rebel: When Preparation Meets Imogen Heap
- Diary of a Wage Slave Rebel: How to Disregard the Safe and Certain and Almost Go To Jail… (Twice) – Part 1
- Diary of a Wage Slave Rebel: From a Starbucks in Portland
I know, Levi, we always seem to forget the non-tangible cost of doing business, because we consider our time to be free, and love to be taken for granted.
Rasheed
Hi Levi, I hope the concert turned out well.
Rasheed is correct, many people consider their time to be free when starting a business and sometimes it is. When I started my current business, I had lots of time and little money so I spent time doing things that were only worth a couple of dollars per hour.
Over time, we tend to have more money then time. It can be a real problem to get over that initial frugal mindset actually spend the money to save time. I call these different "levels" of business. When I first started, I did everything myself, (Level 1). Now that I am a little more established, I try to outsource everything that can be. (Maybe Level 3 or 4)
The ultimate goal is to get up to higher levels where I can hire a manager to hire people to turn my ideas into real businesses. For Levi, that will be when he is a rock star and is chauffeured everywhere.
I hope that level comes sooner rather than later, for he and I both.
Heya!
Interesting perspective from the life of a musician! I enjoyed reading this. So many people think being a rockstar or musician is an easy life, but you'll be surprised at the amount of work and time that goes into it.
Cheers! Diggy
Wow, Levi – I can't even imagine how much those drives sucked. I've done the Texas to California drive and back a couple of times but that's nowhere near as bad as your trip.
But linking it back to business and how to manage ALL the factors is a great lesson. Have fun on vacation!
Paul
hey guys-
thanks for the comments… the hotel on vacation didn't have wi-fi, so i was on phone-only internet, which i just try to avoid altogether.
one note – bill, usually if there's a tour bus involved, there is also a driver, which means after the show, you load up, go to sleep, and wake up in a new city, usually with a little free time to walk around. THAT, my friend, is the life.