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Johnny "Daddy Stovepipe" Watson busking on
Maxwell Street, Chicago 1959. |
I first began busking in the late nineties after the band I was playing in broke up. Busking, by the way, is a fancy term for street performer.( Much the same way sanitation engineer is a fancy term for janitor.) I was looking to start playing as a solo act (vocals, guitar, harmonica) and was searching for any place I could play in front of people and work on getting my repertoire together.
My first idea was to simply drive to Columbus (the nearest big city), pick out a street corner downtown and start playing. Being raised a good Catholic boy, however, I was brought up to never show up anyplace uninvited, much less to start making a bunch of racket and disturb the peace and quiet of people waiting for the eastbound COTA bus. Plus, having grown up a middle class Cleveland suburbanite, I didn't want to be mistaken for one of the "Downtown People" (bums, panhandlers, pickpockets, religious zealots, people talking to themselves, people singing to themselves, people peeing on themselves etc..) who we avoided like the plague on our bi-annual trips to Cleveland Indians games each summer. (As a kid, downtown Cleveland always felt like something out of Oliver Twist. I knew that Fagan and The Artful Dodger were waiting for us around every corner)
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Don Partridge: King Of The Buskers
London, England (1968) |
Eventually, I began busking at a weekly farmers market in a suburb of Columbus. Each Saturday, the sidewalks of the town would open up to local farmers and crafters, who set up their wares on long rectangular tables and sold them to the passing pedestrians. I was given permission, to set up along the street and play "unplugged" for the duration of the market. Usually, 9am-noon. At first I was extremely uncomfortable (I felt like a "Downtown Person") but gradually, I became more comfortable and began to enjoy the experience.
After I got my "chops" together, I began playing bars and restaurants and have been doing so for twenty years or so now. Although, the pay is a lot better, I find that I prefer busking and over the last couple of years I have been playing more street fairs and farmers markets and less beer joints. Here are some reasons why.
For one thing, I have never been completely comfortable on stage. It is weird to sit facing the opposite direction of everyone else in the room, much less sitting at a higher altitude. (I always sit when I play. It goes back to my philosophy on life; never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down.)
It seems to me, if you are going to put someone in a room on a raised platform facing the opposite direction from everyone else in the room, something exciting should happen. If you're going to force a group of people to look at someone, it is reasonable to assume they may see something interesting. And, with me, nothing really interesting is going to happen. (I often want to announce to the "audience" that if they want to turn around and face the opposite direction, it's okay with me, they won't miss anything).
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"Tuba Man"
Seattle, Washington |
Sure, I can sing and play okay and I try and cover good songs but in the end, I am just a guy sitting at a higher altitude than everyone else, strumming on a guitar and making noise come out of a harmonica every once in awhile. Building a stage seems like a lot of trouble to go through, for that.
In addition, as I get older, I have begun to feel more ridiculous on stage. My hair and beard are beginning to turn white and my nose often has a red hue to it. (You can blame either my Irish heritage or Anheuser-Bush, or both). Plus, I dress in uncool "dad" clothes and I lack body piercings and tatoos. My entire repertoire comes from the twentieth century. I play nothing from the twenty-first century. (When the twenty-first century began, I vowed to learn the first good song I heard that was written in the new century.....I am still waiting.)
When I am busking, I can play any tune I like. I have no problem with popular songs, I play a lot of songs that were top forty hits (granted, they were top forty hits fifty years ago) but I can also exclude the "bar tunes" that every acoustic guy is expected to play. ("Wonderful Tonight",
"Night Moves", "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", Bach's "Fugue In G Minor"...etc...). And I can play some blues or bluegrass if I like.
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Rock N Roll Casey
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
(2015) |
Also, playing on the street is an interesting study in sociology. People from every walk of life pass by, old couples, young couples, happy couples, arguing couples, business men, mothers pushing children in strollers, homeless people, handicap people, teenagers, college kids, gangsters, fake gangsters, clergy and hipsters. I am often surprised at who tips and who doesn't. Some of the best tippers; children, teenagers, moms and business people Some of the worst; old people and (surprisingly) hipsters and hippies. Plus, I have met some really nice people through the years. Parents dance with their kids, people stop and sing and once a lady picked up one of my harmonicas and started playing along. (Yes, I bought a new harmonica.)
In the end, I still play a few bars every year, but I guess I would rather spend a sunny summer afternoon playing on some downtown sidewalk at some street fair or farmers market. Pasersby, might mistake me for a "Downtown Person" but at least they never ask me to play "Sweet Home Alabama".
--Rock N Roll Casey
January 13, 2016
Shangri-La, Ohio
Casey's Website
