Ask a stupid question

[Mandoplumb]

May be a dumb question but I don't know the answer. I've seen 2or3 references to busking in threads recently. What is busking?

[pops1]

busking is playing on the street for tips. Lots of fun, lots of work, can or can not be profitable.

[Mark Hawkins]

Picture playing your mandolin on the street with the case open & people throwing wads of cash!

[DHopkins]

Picture playing your mandolin on the street with the case open & people throwing wads of cash!

Or not.

[Kevin Stueve]

The danger is of course so some smart ass will come up and ask if you do requests.

Followed by the inevitable request to play
"Over the Hill and Far Away"

[UlsterMando]

There is also the sense in which "busking" can mean improvising,
with just a hint of " bluffing" implied.

Perhaps this is just UK usage.

[pops1]

The danger is of course so some smart ass will come up and ask if you do requests.

Followed by the inevitable request to play
"Over the Hill and Far Away"

Yes we take requests, NO we won't quit!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Busking can be very profitable 'over a period'. Going back 30 years or more,i did some banjo session work for a guy who funded the recording & production of a complete LP from busking alone. How long it took him to raise all the cash,i don't know - but he had it.
I've done a bit of busking with a 'scratch band' in the past,simply for the fun of it & to let folk hear the sound of Bluegrass music. Lots of people had heard 'Foggy Mt.Breakdown' (Bonnie & Clyde) & (you guessed it !) ''Duellin' Banjos''. If we'd been paid a £ for every time we got asked for that one,you could come around & view my collection of Lloyd Loars !!. Folk's faces & expressions when they hear a decent Bluegrass band in full flow are a sight to behold,
Ivan

[Paul Busman]

I've never busked for money but I've often played in public places, on mandolin or penny whistle. People are often taken aback hearing live music unexpectedly. It's a lot of fun and a great way to help popularize your instrument of choice. It's also a good way to build confidence playing in public without the anxiety of an on stage performance.

[jaycat]

In my experience, you do better if you're a cute girl. Which I'm not. Beats having great chops every time.

[Nashville]

When I came to Nashville in the early 90's I spent about a year busking downtown on Broadway where all the honky tonks are. At that time there were musicians on every street corner, usually standing in front of an empty storefront. I got to know all the street musicians and even teamed up with a few. With the right song and a lively presentation it was possible to attract a good crowd. Everybody left their instrument case open and seeded with a few dollars. People dropped money in.

The average street musician was making about $40-$50 per evening, but a good country singer was making about $200. The guy who made the most money night after night was the guy that painted himself all gold; his hat, his clothes, his guitar, his skin, and the washtub he stood on. He didn't play or sing, just stood there like a statue. He consistently made about $300 a night and he didn't play a lick.

I had teamed up with a few other players and made some good music. We got offered a house gig at one of the famous honky tonks and ended up playing inside to a packed house for 6 years straight, 4 nights a week. I have not busked since but I have a fond memory for it. There is something nice about playing on the streets for people out strolling in the evening.

For years I always stopped to talk with Mandolin Mike who was a mainstay down on Broadway: https://thenashvillebridge.com/categ...-mike-slusser/ but finally he is gone. Things have changed downtown. There are more clubs than ever and it is more of a tourist trap than ever. Last time I was downtown there were some street musicians but it sounded to me like some homeless guy that found a cheap guitar in a dumpster. Still he had some coin in his open case. But what do I know?

[Jeff Mando]

I've seen the gold painted "statue" performers in public places all over Europe. I don't quite get it, but it seems to be a "thing".....

I've always assumed that water seeks it own level and that a singer with a truly amazing voice would be instantly scooped up by a record executive and signed to a lifetime contract -- but it doesn't seem to work that way, anymore.

That being said, I've met some amazing talents, as well as plenty of perfectly average pickers -- and there's certainly nothing wrong with that!

[FLATROCK HILL]

May be a dumb question but I don't know the answer. I've seen 2or3 references to busking in threads recently. What is busking?

Not a stupid question, at least not from my perspective. I don't think I ever heard the term until I heard this Tom Russell song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn9lZhzMGaM (one of my favorites, by the way).

The guy who made the most money night after night was the guy that painted himself all gold; his hat, his clothes, his guitar, his skin, and the washtub he stood on. He didn't play or sing, just stood there like a statue. He consistently made about $300 a night and he didn't play a lick.

Wish I'd have thought of that. Might have worked for me back in the '90s. Now-days, the paint required for the total surface coverage would make it cost prohibitive.

[CarlM]

Old Crow Medicine Show got their big break while busking. A lady listening to them said "My dad likes this kind of music. I will go get him." They did not pay attention too much because she did not give any money till she brought Dad over. She was Nancy Watson and Dad invited them to play Merlefest. Always be nice to people.

[Willie Poole]

On the streets of Alexandra Va. on a warm Friday or Sat night a busker can make an easy 100 bucks if he gets on the right street corner and has some good bluegrass pickers with him...They will have to play Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Rockytop, and Fox On The Run about five times each which I never minded if they paid for them...One banjo player in Georgetown DC made a living busking at an underground mall, until the law put a stop to it but they have since started to allow it again, best to check the local laws about playing in public with out a proper permit...

Willie

[Randi Gormley]

New York City's subways are always filled with musicians with cases out looking for some cash -- it's slightly deceptive, in that they've actually had to audition for a spot and get permission from whomever is in charge (MTA? metro-north?), and they have regular places and specific times. Pretty good music, that.

[foldedpath]

New York City's subways are always filled with musicians with cases out looking for some cash -- it's slightly deceptive, in that they've actually had to audition for a spot and get permission from whomever is in charge (MTA? metro-north?), and they have regular places and specific times. Pretty good music, that.

Every location is different, and yes, in some places you'll have to skirt the minefields of local regulations, or deal with turf wars about popular busking spots.

In my small tourist seaport town, we have lots of buskers during the Summer months. As far as local regulations go, it seems pretty lax, although I've never tried to busk down on the tourist main street where there might be more drama about prime spots.

The one thing I've noticed as a passerby and not a busker, is that it helps to have a sympathetic prop.

There was a guy a year ago that sat on the corner of the local corner market a few blocks from my house. This was late Winter, with a chill in the air but not actually raining. He was playing solo New Age/Improv stuff on a cello. A very skilled player but not really my thing. But he had a tiny dog with him, some kind of miniature dachshund or something. It was wrapped in a small blanket, not really looking uncomfortable, but it will still cold outside. Of course the dog looked up at every passerby with those big wet eyes, while the guy played the cello.

I tossed a $10 bill in his open case. For the dog, not the cello. A total sucker, me. You need the right setting, and the right props.

[Mike Snyder]

Always seems odd to me when I get that blank look from folks when I mention busking. Everybody should know about busking, right? Fresh air, a chance to work on your chops, see what works for the people and what flops. Can be humbling or joyous. Especially fun and profitable in touristy areas (where legal) like Eureka Springs, Ar. We would stop in a store and ask permission to busk the front porch and never got turned away. Recently the farmers market scene has been fun but not so lucrative. A dozen ears of corn or tomatoes are always welcome but do not fill the gas tank.

[allenhopkins]

I play some farmers' markets in the summer, and that's at least "semi-busking"; the market managements offer a (very) modest guarantee for three hours' of music, but what I make beyond that is based on listeners' donations.

And of course there are the "tip jar" coffeehouses, and I've played my share of those -- still do, from time to time.

My favorite buskers' hotbed is Harvard Square in Cambridge MA, and it's assigned hours and locations, to buskers who've obtained permission licenses. Don't know if they audition, or what. Some very accomplished and talented people -- almost all with fairly sophisticated battery-powered amplification, racks of CD's for sale, and obvious performing experience.

Past my 70th birthday, feel a bit too old to be a "street musician," but I'll sometimes just sit out in a park on a nice summer day, play for my own amusement and that of passers-by, and think about how nice it is just to put out some music, informal, unrehearsed, free-form, no cover, no minimum...

[Jeff Mando]

I'll repeat a busking story, I've told before on this forum. In the late 70's I lived in New York City and would walk past Rockefeller Plaza during lunch everyday and listen to a very talented string quartet busking for tips.............I thought "how sad" these obviously trained musicians can't find a real gig...............a few weeks later there was a piece on the evening news about them......yes, they were all Juilliard trained and made $400 a day each playing for tips at Rockefeller Center (by choice!) THAT was in '70's money, y'all..........that's like $1300 each per day today, adjusted for inflation.

[Dick Dery]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qTHn_sxrN0

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jeff - We have 2 of the UK's most prestigious schools of music here in Manchester,& during the Summer,it's pretty usual to see a string quartet performing & they attract huge crowds.
Going back to when me & a few friends would busk,we used to play in one of Manchester's most popular shopping places,St Ann's Square. As you can see from the pic.,it's still a desireable place to play,with hoards of shoppers passing. On a sunny Sat.afternoon,we could make £40 / £50 with ease - all for charity i might add. We started off not collecting anything,but folks automatically thought that we were doing it for cash & looked for somewhere to put it - so our guitarist's case became our collection point. I wish i had the musicians together to do it all again, It was far more fun than playing gigs & it was amazing how many folk wanted to know about the music itself. Lots had heard it,but knew nothing about it,
Ivan

[outsidenote]

That is a cool picture Ivan. I guess you have to know St Anne's reel! I must say it wouldn't qualify as a "sunny Saturday" around here. Looks chilly.

[Willie Poole]

While playing on a boat in the harbor in Annapolis Md. with out a permit...As long as we stayed on the boat we were safe but a young lady that was with us stepped off of the boat and was passing the hat in the audience and she was arrested by a plain clothes policeman for "panhandling", she screamed real loud when the cop grabbed her arm and some folks thought that she was being robbed and a real good donnybrook broke out, it just so happened that the banjo player on the boat was a county policeman and he got things straightened out with out any fines but one fellow did suffer some lifelong injuries during the fight...My wife was with me on the boat and she said she was scared to death.... me?, I just sat down and watched all of the goings on, I am a lover not a fighter....

Willie

[Jeff Mando]

I must say it wouldn't qualify as a "sunny Saturday" around here. Looks chilly.

Coats, hats, & cold hands -- hard to play with gloves on!