Here is a depressing angle on how the price of gas is affecting traveling bands. The Asylum Street Spankers, one of the most interesting bands out there, are leaving the road. Singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Christina Marrs is saying a full-on "farewell to the road," after a short run through the Northwest, according to an e-mail from the band's publicist, John Riedie. And Riedie would know, because he and Marrs are married with children.
She will remain a band member, Riedie said, responding to a follow-up e-mail.
The rest of the band will "cut back drastically," according to the mail.
It reads, in part:
> Filling the tank may be somewhat less painful this week (link added by cutnscratch), but its still twice what it was two years ago. The $50 motel with an actual pillow has gone the way of a $5 lunch consisting of actual food. So what's a scrappy indie band to do in the worst touring environment they've ever faced? Riedie writes that the band is "not really breaking up, though." Recording is in the act's future.
More of the message, including tour dates, is below. Sadly, there are no dates in the valleys, where the band has played some really cool shows to receptive audiences.
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