Travel Expenses

If you’re here, you have an event taking place outside of New Orleans and want to get an idea of what the cost looks like!

The majority of our musicians are based out of New Orleans. We do have a small group of musicians based out of Baton Rouge, but in general we base our travel pricing on the distance from the city of New Orleans to determine what the additional cost would be to accommodate an event that isn’t taking place in the city.

Our musicians are all professional, working musicians that are in high demand in New Orleans. We do our best to pay them a competitive rate to travel and to cover any potential opportunity costs by paying them an hourly rate for travel time and expenses in addition to playing time. New Orleans musicians can often do several events in the city in one day and make a nice living, and the pay to travel has to be comparable to what a working musician can make here in the city without the additional travel time.

Certain travel dates can have an increased price based on demand. These dates are including, but not limited to: Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve, Halloween, Christmas/Christmas weekend, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, French Quarter Fest, and Jazz Fest. Some days are also very busy due to wedding season, or other activities taking place within New Orleans that can lead to additional fees. Please note that the prices below are meant to give you an approximation of travel costs, and are subject to change.

I’ll provide a price breakdown below, the prices are based on the distance from downtown New Orleans to the destination.

30-60 minutes: $100 per musician

60-90 minutes: $150 per musician

90-120 minutes: $200 per musician

120-150 minutes: $250 per musician

150-180 minutes: $300 per musician

180-210 minutes: $350 per musician

210-240 minutes: $400 per musician

For events 8 hours away, or longer, flights are required. Feel free to reach out and discuss this further with us!

Flights, Lodging & Other Expenses:

If you want the band to fly to you, they totally can! We’ve arranged flights for the band in the past and are happy to walk y’all through what the process looks like. Below we’ll have a list of accommodations that are required if the band is flying to your destination and some other points to keep in mind.

  1. If we’re unable to book same-day, round-trip flights, we require lodging for the band. We don’t require hotel rooms, or Air BnB, in the case that you, or someone you know, can house the group. Always feel free to discuss these options with us. We do require the band members have their own beds, and not sleep on a couch, or floor.

  2. We require travel expenses be covered from the airport, to the venue, from the venue to lodging, and from lodging back to the airport. If more traveling for the event is required, we would also want that covered. If you, or someone you know, can help the band by driving them, that’s great! Alternatively, providing a Lyft, Uber, or payment to cover these travel costs would be required.

  3. We also require a couple meals for the band depending on the duration of travel and the event itself. Typically we require at least a meal at the venue during the event if catering is provided, and a meal the following morning if the band stays overnight. All of this is discussed and decided on when we have the scope of the event and travel time for the group.

  4. If the band is flying, a few of the musicians will be bringing large instruments that usually have additional fees at check in. We will do our best to assess fees when we book the flights, but if the musician is charged extra when they check their luggage, we will show you a receipt and ask that you cover the additional cost. It’s very common for musicians to have additional charges when they check in, despite our best efforts to prepare the airline, the price is usually based on weight and is decided on at the airport for both the flight to your destination, and the return flight.

  5. If the band manager is required to attend as an onsite coordinator, that could require additional fees as well. It’s not required for most events, but depending on the scale of the event, we may decide to have the manager attend to assist in executing the event and being the liaison on behalf of the musicians.

  6. For the flights themselves: the band is happy to fly on the airline that’s most suited to your budget. We do want to prepare you that we don’t offer refunds for cancelled performances due to flight delays, or cancellations, so picking a reliable airline is recommended, but not required. Please feel free to discuss this with us, we can share some past experiences that may give you insight.

  7. The actual quote for musicians and booking will be determined on a case by case basis. We take the time of year into consideration, along with the estimated travel time to put together an official quote in addition to the costs on this list. If you’re interested, please let us know and we’ll send a quote your way.