So, today I tried busking in the subway in NYC for the first time. It's something I've wanted to do for a bit & a couple of folks encouraged me to, so I finally bit the bullet.
I tried playing in times square today. It took me a couple of tries to find a good spot. In terms of making money, it was a completely failure. I busked from 12:30-4:30. Over the course of the day, a few people took pictures of me, a few people talked to me about Apocalyptica (I was wearing their t-shirt) & I generally really got people's interest when I was playing double stops/droning against open strings. At the beginning of the day, I met Juan Castillo who is in an Andes Fusion band that busks (and is a member of MUNY) & we talked about maybe playing together. He was very encouraging and said I should join MUNY. While playing, somebody asked me about doing an R&B session & someone else asked me about writing/playing music for a film they were working on. I really hope those go through & I'm definitely going to try busking again - it's a lot of fun. I need to get a better stool to play on though - the one I have is too tall & this makes the whole thing very physically exhausting...
When I got home, I started looking to see if I could find leads for good spots/times to busk ... I haven't found much of use yet, but I did find this: http://sawlady.com/ It's a fun/interesting read.
I haven't written much about technical stuff lately ... I'm planning to start doing so again - I've been really making some good progress. I need to practice more though, and I'm behind on my solo tunes (that's not good!) & I really need to learn Brigadoon by sunday - kind of scary!
I also have started to apply for non-music jobs ... wish I didn't have to, but I really need reliable money.
That's all for now...
3 comments:
Im trying to break in to the busking thing myself, I hear it is highly lucrative and a lot of fun. I live in Richmond, VA. I also play cello, do you have any advice to offer?
Hi Taylor,
I really don't use this blog at all anymore ...
As busking goes, my advice would be to ask buskers in your area. Otherwise, busk where you have a captive audience & not too much competition. Be aware of law enforcement & restrictions. Have a sign w/ your info on it. Sell Cds. Don't ever get the idea in your head that you're gonna support yourself off of busking ... it is foolish at best. (or as a wise cello mentor once put it: Busking is bull shit for reliability)
Good Luck & Have fun!!
-Luna (the author of this very old post)
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