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I've been thinking about it not so much for the money but just to get out there and play with this band I've been asked to join. Their in it for the money. Is busking something any of you have considered, whether just for the money or just to advertise your skills. Is it a respectable venture? Or is it something only unemployed or underemployed musicians do?
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07-24-2014 07:16 AM
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There are some hilarious examples of world class concert violinists being ignored as buskers, so I'm not sure your audience will necessarily appreciate your effort.
On the other hand, no less than Madeleine Peyroux, who is an astonishingly talented musician, gave up recording for three years, to go back to busking on the streets of Paris.
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Just be aware of the laws where you go. Cities are desperate for money and fining street performers for not having permits. One popular place around where I lived required you to make a reservation for get a time and spot.
Back when I lived in Boston there was some really good street music. In Cambridge some stores would leave an extension chord outside their door so bands could play after the store closed.
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I do it. Not for the money, not for the recognition, not for the chicks-heh heh. I do it to give people something to smile about if the presence of live music makes their commute or walk a little nicer. And so music can be a larger part of my life. I don't think of it as "performance" per say but something in recognition that music gets better the more you do it.
I actually prefer the spontaneity of it to playing in front of a paying audience sitting in chairs. That's just me but I find it a real joyous experience if you don't expect anything beyond honest connection.
David
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Ive done it. Its fun.
On a good day, I'd make enough to get dinner, pick up a sixer, and take the train home.
Chicago has street performer permits now
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There are singers I knew, really appealing presence and great "can't tear myself away" voices, who made about a hundred bucks an hour. Right spot, right time, right act. In a busy city with a good transportation system, you can go underground and your audience changes every 5 minutes. You can even get away with a small repertoire! If you've got something very distinctive (amazing tapping technique, good singer, bass line and solo line thing that makes people notice), they'll drop a dollar, or 5... Every 5 minutes, you'll see how it can work.
Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
One guy I knew played baroque lute with period appropriate costume. He made a good full time living playing that music.
It's a thing unto itself. Its own rules, its own rewards. Nothing like they'd ever teach you in music school. But neither would be playing every night on the 52nd street bridge for no money and no audience...
David
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Hello.
I busked quite a bit back in the 1970s.
It was fun and we made a fair bit of cash.
Music is the key that can open strange rooms in the house of memory.
Llewelyn Wyn Griffith
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I love to see people busking. Adds such character to the street, subway, etc.
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I do it all the time just for the love of playing not money. Especially in parks and beaches.
if I were to do it for money, I would wear a suit. That really stands out.
PS the Yamaha battery powered 5A amp is fantastic for such occasions
PPS playing with a nice archtop gets more people noticing than what they are usually used toLast edited by NSJ; 07-24-2014 at 11:12 AM.
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Stanley Jordan got quite an audience in Manhattan busking. Also developed quite a following which helped him get a deal with a pretty good label. I also remember back when I was commuting by subway to and from a job in Midtown Manhattan, there was a tenor sax player that walked from car to car. He'd blow a tune in one car in between stops, then after the tune he'd make a collection right before the stop . . then move on to the next car and do the same. The guy was great! People took the train just to hear him blow and would sometines follow him from car to car. Then, the Port Authority cracked down on walking from subway car to subway car due to the idiot kids that were climbing up onto the roofs of the cars and subway surfing. Originally Posted by TruthHertz
Mr. B. . . I do remember some great street musicians performing right outside the Artist's Cafe on South Michigan Ave. Fun stuff!! Do they still do that?Last edited by Patrick2; 07-24-2014 at 12:53 PM.
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I've done a lot of busking in my day. It's really fun! Definitely beats running through your repertoire alone in your room.
No downside that I can see.
When I lived in Toronto there was an obviously professional classical guitarist who would busk outside the hall before every Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert with a paper bag over his head. I guess he didn't want to sully his reputation, or something. Always made me laugh, and he was incredible.
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That was Andres Bagovia. Yeah that was the shape of his real head. He put the bag over so he could show off that he wasn't reading music. Originally Posted by ecj
David
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...not sure if serious... Hilarious nonetheless! Originally Posted by TruthHertz
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I love busking and I love buskers! Havent done it for a long time but hey it's part of the tradition, isn't it? I'm sure it's more regulated than it used to be bit I always thought it was fun. Can go a long way toward shaking any stage fright or learning to interact with a crowd. It's boot camp for gigs, lol
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Of the 6 or 7 times I've attempted to busk in public just for the fun of of playing, I've been informed by police to leave or risk arrest. Random locations around New England. Mostly it was a complaint by a local small merchant that was afraid the 25 cents someone might throw my way was not going to make it into their cash register. I've learned not to waste my time.
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It's the washtub bass, CG. Makes ya look like a hooligan.
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heh Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
i saw a great quartet busking a couple years ago-- young woman killing it on a washtub bass. one snare drum, a guitarist, and a really good trumpet player. prolly kids from the local jazz program.
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When I lived in New Orleans, I saw / heard a lot of this. It's part of the culture. I haven't been there since hurricane Katrina, so I don't know how it is now. (I suppose like many things, it swings a bit far in one direction then back in the other.)
Here in South Florida where I live, I don't see / hear any of it.
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I love the surprise of hearing a super talented street performer.
I often hear not so talented young buskers near my work playing guitars that are horribly out of tune. I sometimes tell them I play and ask if I can strum a few chords just so I can tune their instrument.
I once saw a homeless looking guy busking in Pasadena, CA with a really sweet high end Taylor flat top. I guessed he might have acquired it by nefarious means and didn't realize its worth. I put a dollar in his case and said, "I'll give you $100 and a decent Yamaha guitar for that one". He looked at me and said, "Dude, I'm a dentist. I just dress this way because I get better tips".
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Still common in NOLA, the Quarter, Frenchmen St., sometimes St. Charles/ Garden District, also Magazine St. on a sunny day. The locals resent the "tourist buskers", though some of them are very good players. Haven't done that since the 70s. I see them and stop and listen when I can on the way to the gigs. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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Saw buskers on the lower end of Canal outside of a few restaurants. They're everywhere in NOLA, esp. in the Quarter and touristy areas, at night. Originally Posted by SuperFour00
Also, in Savannah, GA on River and Bay Streets.
Often cities in the southeast, like Charlotte, NC who are trying to revive their inner cities, will encourage busking.
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Love that dentist story.
The very best "spontaneous" busker type public square performances I've ever heard was in Europe, especially in Amsterdam where I happened upon the Robin Nolan Group playing really superb new Gypsy jazz in a large public square in June 1996. I even got to go with the band afterward into one of the "coffeehouses" for a small beer, if I recall. Pretty cool. Robin, who was probably in his twenties at the time, was a monster guitar player back then. Still is.
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Done buskin'. Did that as a student, raising money for charity. It was OK, fun but tiring.
When I went to Barcelona a few years ago, my family and I went to the Parc Guell (the Gaudi park) which was full of musicians. It's on top of a hill and as we got to the top, there was a guitarist with a drummer (snare/cymbal) playing punky-rockabilly stuff.
About 250 yards away, we say a guy playing jazz standards on a Guild archtop, making loops to accompany himself, .
Another level down and we found this lot, playing reggae:-
And as we reached the main plaza, there were two guys with amplified nylon-strings, playing gypsy jazz and Spanish stuff.
Could have stayed there all day, eating ice cream, sipping cold beer and soaking up the sun and the sounds......
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Never done it. I was speaking to Henry Threadgill once, and regarding busking, he said:
"I don't care who you are, if you're out on the street busking, you might as well just be begging for money".
I see where he's coming from... Personally, I have standards for playing. It either has to be artistically fulfilling (playing with some killing guys), or has to pay well. I'd do the busking thing if I got either of those.
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