The Night of 1000 Oddities

Tonight was easily the strangest mix of events I've ever witnessed in one evening of busking.

I started out at 59th St (1 and 3 line), and got through about one song when I discovered that another busker had set up shop behind me. One of those "Music Under New York" fellows. (Sure I applied to be one too, but this guy is significantly less cool than I would be as a MUNY representative). This guy sings in a really obnoxious high-pitched voice and plucks some crazy African instrument with his thumbs...I used to think it was nifty, but now that he's got me all miffed, I'm gonna pull a human and be mad at him. I told him, "look, I know you're all official, but this is part of my livelihood, and since I was here first, you should probably go." He presented an official MUNY schedule, which apparently equals diplomatic immunity. I wish I coulda been like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon II, when he shoots that guy with diplomatic immunity anyway because he's just that cool. I didn't have a gun or an original film to make a sequel out of, so I let it go and migrated down to 34th St.

It's a bad pitch. There's no freaking room, there are four potential platforms to receive the noisy razor subway cars, and everyone looks pretty miserable. Nonetheless, I made decent money and had a pretty good time before I had to head out to see my friends' improv show at the Magnet.

Afterwards, I thought I'd scope out 59th St again. Sure enough, it was free, and I set up camp. I don't know what it was...maybe a full moon?...There were soooo many cute girls out tonight! One group spotted me after getting off their train, stuck around to hear me finish my song, and then asked if I took requests! I did my best...I really need to expand my repertoire. After they left, more cute girls replaced them...I'm not usually a completely girl-crazy type, but I couldn't help but notice them tonight. It was awkward of course...I mean, what am I going to say? "Hey, so yeah, I'm playing my guitar in the subway. Wanna get a drink sometime?" It doesn't really work. At any rate, they all seemed to like the stuff I was playing, and that's more than enough for me.

I had applause tonight! On a couple of occasions I've had one or two people applaud after a song, and I was flattered; not only because of their appreciation, but also of their willingness to applaud a busker, someone who the general public does not congratulate or admire in the least. But tonight, practically half the station applauded after three consecutive songs! I was truly flabbergasted.

Later on, one guy asked if I knew "Save Tonight" by Eagle Eye Cherry. While I like the song, I didn't really know how it went, but luckily he was able to tell me the chord progression. I spun through the chorus a couple times, but didn't know the lyrics to the verse. A crazy group of college-age kids came in a little later and formed a little pow-wow around me, swing dancing to the Oasis song I was playing. And not in a mocking way, which has happened before. They were all super nice, and seemed to get a kick out of me interacting with them so nonchalantly (at least as far as I'm concerned, everyone should feel free to talk to me...it's not like I'm onstage and can't acknowledge the audience).

To top it all of, as that group was leaving, a hispanic-looking gentleman with a guitar strapped to him trotted up to be and began strumming with me. Being completely down for a jam with a stranger, we tried tuning for a second, but he clearly wasn't into such specifics, and wanted to get going with a song. Before I knew it, he was playing "Guantanemera"...now, if you're one of the three people that know me in this city, you'll know that I'm obsessed with this song. If you aren't, you know now. I couldn't believe the coincidence. We had a fun time harmonizing for all of thirty seconds -- then the train came and he was gone (with a promise that he'd be back after making two laps on the subway...seeing as how that would have probably found him returning to 59th around 4:00 or something, I decided he wouldn't be too offended if I went home).

Interestingly enough, upon returning home, I discovered a myspace invitation to a Be-In. The invitation apparently came from someone who saw me at 34th St earlier tonight and remembered my myspace URL. Pretty cool...Be-Ins seem like they'd be a lot of fun.

After my first stint at 59th tonight, by G harp blew a reed, so I snagged a new one on my way to 34th St. Unfortunately, I couldn't really use it much since it hadn't been broken in yet (wailing on a new harp is sure-fire way to demolish it early on), and it just so happens to be in the key that I play in the most. So, I decided to transpose all my songs up a whole step into A tonight, to match my other harp (it would have been too much of a jump to make them into C, my third and final harp). I was worried that I may not be able to sing some of the songs up that high (sometimes G feels like it may be pushing it), but it actually fit into my voice even better...I guess I must have a vocal break somewhere around G, though I've not given it much thought before now. Having the songs up higher tonight also made my voice travel a little better I suppose, which could explain why I did so well...I'm not sure. I'm only sure of one thing:

I have no clue how to meet girls in this city.

Mbube

Sometimes a bed looks a little too hungry to be just a bed. Like maybe it's a monster or something, swallowing up the last few hours of a day that's inevitably spent doing required things for bosses and other spuds. Tonight was one of those times. I decided to avoid my monsterbed and hit the rails.

Busking is weird late at night. I got to 59th St around 11:15, and made about eight bucks all night (granted, I only stayed about an hour and a half). People don't seem as apt to receive entertainment at the tail end of the day. I'm not sure I blame them, but then again I wasn't prancing about warbling "Daydream Believer," so I don't know what they were so peeved about.

Saw V for Vendetta earlier tonight: completely saucesome. I'd heard a salvo of unpleasantries about the movie, but it just goes to show that you sometimes have to formulate your own opinion.

I was reading about this guy Solomon Linda today. He wrote "Mbube," which eventually became "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." I remember hearing the Tokens' version of it in elementary school and seeing Timon and Pumbaa jam out to it, and more recently enjoyed hearing Pete Seeger's impassioned live recording...but I didn't know it had its roots in Africa, where Linda wrote it as he actually protected his livestock from a lion. Turns out Linda got completely screwed over by the record label that purchased the song from him (a familiar story), and his family barely received any of the royalties once the song hit it big and appeared in films. Linda has long since passed away (he had only $22 in his bank account when he died), and a sizable chunk of his family has passed away also, some simply because they could not afford medical treatment. The remainder of the Lindas have worked in factories and mills to support themselves, until recently, when litigation has finally corrected the injustices of Disney and several record labels.

If that story isn't enough to piss off any sensible person, I don't know what is.

Thievery in the Land of Plenty

People do know "MTA (The Man Who Never Returned)"! Albeit, those who do represent about 1/1000th of the subway-going population, but still....that's one or two people everyday that are so totally on my side that I'm pretty sure I can count on them when the great war breaks out between me and the creepy violin player that hovered over my spot tonight in anticipation of inheriting it. (To catch you up, "MTA" is a comedic folk song the Kingston Trio and others have recorded that I've loved since days of kiddiness, but haven't found much success with in the busking world).

Busted out a new tune called "Woodgrain Love Song" tonight, and some little kids seemed to enjoy the feelgood, uptempo groove of it. Then again, I'm pretty white, so I'm not sure how much of a groove there is in any of my music. But it was a good time.

I love it when I thank someone for their donation, and they say, "no, thank you!" That's way nicer than most New Yorkers are often reckoned to be.

A man who looked like Albert Einstein combined with Doc Brown from Back to the Future scurried up to me tonight inbetween songs and asked, "do you like Bob Dylan?" I replied that I did, and he rapidly informed me that he's a composer who recently wrote a piece in which he distinctly heard Bob Dylan's "voice." I guess I understood what he meant, but I was so entertained by his peculiar energy that I wasn't trying very hard to do anything but watch him.

Also played the Beatles (George Harrison) song "Something" for the first time today, and it went over rather well. One guy even applauded!

Saving up for a concertina...wouldn't you like to know why?

It's the singers, not the songs.

I recently started taking improv class at the Magnet here in NYC. Improv's never really been my thing...I mean, I like it and all, but I used to go a little too crazy with it in high school, and several injuries have resulted...okay, not really. But suffice it to say that I need a lot of work. Anyway, class so far has been pretty swell, and I met a girl named Cat who expressed some interest in joining me for a busking expedition (plus, she's from NC like me, which is pretty radical).

I guess I wasn't sure what to expect from being a duo. We'd never sung together before (although I did hear her warming up the other day before improv class, and she's got some killer pipes. Aaaaaand her voice is good, too.), and I wasn't sure if we'd know any of the same songs, or what exactly the setup would be for our carousing and cavorting.

It actually went really well. Cat's voice is really versatile; she was able to do some Emmylou Harris-esque background vocals on a couple songs, we both looked over some belty Kelly Clarkson sheet music while playing (I was impressed...her songs aren't as bad as you might think), and Cat wrote out the chord progressions for a few other songs she knew as well. She's also a pro at transposing music apparently, which I was simultaneously impressed and intimidated by (I don't know a whole lot about music theory). But, all in all, we had an awesome time.

There's talk of more adventures like this one....so keep your eyes peeled! For just when you've let your guard down...the (UNNAMED DUO) shall smite you with batallions of musical spears and rhythmic howitzers! Rest while you can.

and the mome raths outgrabe...

The sun came out today. Noting the rarity of this phenomenon, I decided that more people than usual would be out and about, traveling to Central Park or whatnot, and that these conditions might make an ideal setting for a busker such as myself.

It's weird, but this is the first time since starting busking that I've actually needed the money. Before it was all about the music, the art, etc....now I just need cash! It's not like I'm at the end of my rope, but I'm trying to save up as much as I can right now so I can afford a place of my own for recording purposes (I sleep in my friends' living room right now).

"MTA" actually got some donations this time around (albeit, from older folks who seemed to have heard of the song). I also spotted someone who I believe to be a friend from NC, but she didn't respond when I called out her name. As a busker, I should've felt pretty confident about shouting out something like that, but for some reason it was pretty awkward. I guess I was trying to maintain some semblance of professionalism or something.

Around the time I was planning on terminating my session, a subway car pulled up, and as the doors opened right in front of me, my friend Christian popped out. "Deus ex machina!" we both cried, our voices ringing like so many Hershey Kiss Bells from that holiday commercial. He snapped a few photos of me on his digicam, and SWOOSH! We were off to make like Sheryl Crow's sellout song.

The Grover Cleveland of Busking

An erratic schedule has kept me from busking for two weeks, and in an effort to compensate for this, I occupied the Columbia University station for two, non-consecutive terms this evening.

Thinking that I may see some cute girls near Columbia, I was temporarily blinded to the fact that college students have no money. Thus, many a cutie was seen, and nary a dollar was made. Well, okay, a couple bucks. I mostly just need quarters for laundry at this point, or people really will think I'm homeless since I'll be busking in the same clothes tomorrow.

I learned tonight that just because I think a song is funny/great/super/touching/moving/whatever, doesn't necessarily mean that audience members (I think it's the first time I've called them that, but I think it's logical) will pay enough attention to figure that out. For example: recently, I really got into this song from my childhood called "MTA (The Man Who Never Returned," about a Bostonian who gets on the T without being aware of the fare increase, and cannot afford to get off the train. It's a ridiculous song, made all the better by its popularization by those swell fellas, The Kingston Trio. Anyway, I guess the song either references Boston too much, or people can recognize that it's a goofy song from a bygone era...either way, it got the least response of any song I've played yet! On the upside, I jammed out to it with my family in San Diego a couple weeks back...maybe I like it better that way. Yeah...it's a family thing.

One thing's for sure: people sure get weirder late at night.