Moravian Spice

All right, so it's been nearly a week since I've been out busking, and I've been much more agitated about this than I thought. Performing is addictive. So addictive in fact, that once I started playing tonight, I effectively missed the improv comedy show my friends Jason Grossman and Christian Capozzoli were in! Alas. These guys are hysterical, by the way. There are some links to their respective websites yonder to the right. They're in two troupes: The Academy and El Partido, and they perform at the Magnet theater in Chelsea. Anyhow, I'm pissed I missed their show....but it was so gratifying to busk.

I added a sign on my case that mentions this site and my myspace page. I was shocked at how many people seemed appalled by this. A lot of passersby squinted at the sign, then at me, then at the sign, then at the lump of confusion clotting up their neurological pathways, then kept walking. Weird. But I also had some very friendly onlookers tonight. Some little kids (3 or 4 years old?) were really mesmerized by my guitar, and I let them come over and strum it for a while. Way too cute. The little boy ran around me in circles while I played, but his sister stayed further away, a bit chagrined. Later, a couple listened to my songs for a really long time, arm in arm. Something about having that sign on my case....it made me want to do all original stuff. I barely played any covers tonight, and that was all at the beginning. Consequently, I was a bit rusty on some of the original material I busted out, but it felt really good. Anyway, the couple was very nice, and another guy told me, "Never put that thing down!" I hope he was referring to my guitar...They were all very nice, and I was really glad I'd made it out tonight.

I've been listening to Laura Veirs nonstop since I saw her open for Colin Meloy on Thursday. I wasn't familiar with her stuff at all, but I seriously think it's changed me. My writing has lately been so much more...I dunno...liberated, free-spirited, and relaxed than normal. Her new CD, "Year of Meteors," is absolutely gorgeous. I guess that the best category for her music is folk/singer-songwriter, but both of those terms are pretty vague, and often misused. Just go pick it up.

Water Moccasin

I only learned one new song for tonight, the Beatles "For No One" (which I actually used to know way back when). I have plans for almost every night this week, so I busked somewhat abruptly tonight knowing it would be a while until I could do it again. Although I got to my pitch at 49th St pretty late (around 7:00), I still made decent money -- and I got two five dollar bills! Yowza. One couple gave me six bucks -- I was flabbergasted. I guess my salivary glands were overeacting tonight; one of my harmonicas was waterlogged by the end of the night. Luckily, the reeds seem to be okay, which is fortunate since I don't know the first thing about replacing them. Speaking of which I've been kicking around the idea of getting another harp...I've got one in G and one in C. I've got a lot of songs in A, so that might be a contender for purchase. I also cannot get concertinas out of my head! I want one so bad, but they're surprisingly pricey (like many musical instruments, it's not necessarily a good start to buy a bottom-of-the-barrel model).

Been listening to Neil Young like crazy. Especially his golden era (no pun intended) like After the Goldrush, Harvest, and Comes a Time. Such beautiful music. It makes me want to be a lone vagabond traversing the wild west. Will the time ever come for such things?

Last night I got entranced with Desmond Ivey's biography. He built his first guitar from plywood and fashioned guitar picks from plastic bottles. Years later, when he finally examined a professionally-made guitar, he discovered his fretting format was absolutely perfect! What an amazing guy. He's studied all over the world. Yet he plays in subways! Don't get me wrong -- I love that! It proves that even for the most talented musicians, sometimes the most important part of your life is the MUSIC, not the money you make playing it.

Anyhow, I started working on a new song last night using Desmond's story as a starting point...we'll see what happens. I definitely want to have some new songs when I go out again.

Cold, Cold Columbia

I woke up pretty late today, and as a result, I didn't really hit the most appropos time for busking (I finally found a place around 5:30). Most pitches on the 1 line were filled already, but the upside of checking each station was that I ran into that awesome classical guitarist again. His name is Desmond Ivey. I kinda like "Something Ivey" better, but hey. He kinda looked like he recognized me.

Anyhow, since I was planning on going out later, I figured I'd go to the Columbia University subway station (I haven't played there before, and it's close by). I wasn't prepared for the cold -- the station isn't very far underground and I was playing pretty near to the entrance. The first couple of songs I played had my fingers on my picking hand nearly frozen. Over time I warmed up. There weren't too many folks going through the station tonight, and the donations I made reflected that...but I still had a lot of fun. "Spill the Coffee", a song I wrote about Will Thomas, a white man who had been adopted by the Cherokee in the 1800s, received some very nice kudos from a cute couple. I told them about my myspace page (www.myspace.com/robmorrison), and regrettably admitted that I don't have a recording of the song on the page yet. I actually wrote "Spill the Coffee" about three years ago (I've played guitar for about four years), so I was surprised it was so well received.

"Spill the Coffee" was also a new addition to my set tonight. I added "Here, There and Everywhere" by the Beatles, "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield, and "No One to Love" by Stephen Foster, as well as two other originals.

It seems that songs for which I play both guitar and harmonica are more popular than just guitar songs....and I like 'em better, too! I just need to write more songs that have harmonica parts...so I'll probably need more harmonicas since I have only two diatonics right now.

Not a monumental evening, but a fun one.

It was!

I had an awesome time tonight playing for the fine folks at 59th St. Part of the trick would seem to be getting to a pitch in time for the "HOUR-in-which-everyone-RUSHes-home-and-leaves-work". Crazy time, I think it's called. Anyway, I left work an hour early today (boss is out-of-town) so's I could snag a choice spot.

There was a near-disaster, though. Some busker who specialized in banging on tubs and pots (something I usually admire) took up residence on the other side of the tracks. And it wasn't the sort of thing where we both arrived at the same time or close enough to inspire some debate. I'd definitely been dropping Neil Young songs for an hour when he showed up. Normally I'd be all up for a duel, but seeing as my acoustic guitar can't be amplified, and he was a drummer, I doubt I would have emerged victorious. Luckily, a cop told him to can it (heh heh), I suppose because the noise was drowning out the loudspeaker announcements.

Around this time I ran into an old acquaintance from Emerson College (I graduated in May) named Jessie. It was good to see her, although I admittedly never knew her too well...due in part to a very nasty breakup I had with one of her friends. All the same, a friendly face is most welcome amongst this sea of strangers.

Some guy gave me a business card that read: "So and So, Erotic Photographs." I'm still trying to process that. So, do I look like someone who'd buy pictures like that from him? Or am I the type of person he's looking for to BE in pictures like that?! Either way, I got a laugh out of it (he wrapped the card up in a dollar....poor bashful guy). I've actually received a lot of business cards so far, all of varying purposes and origins. I've decided to tape them all up in my notebook to keep track of them; you never know when someone's contact info could come in handy. Or if I change my mind about posing....

On my way back downtown, I stopped by the A C E platform( I'd been on the 1 3) and heard an amazing classical guitarist. I can't even imagine playing guitar like that. This guy's fingers moved like coils that fed only on music. It was beautiful. But -- and once again, I'm reminded of how useful this site could one day become -- I can't remember his name! He had a headshot with his name tacked to his guitar case....Something Ivey. I don't remember. Blast and dash it all.

I've been playing the same 12-13 songs every time I've gone busking so far. A mix of originals, Weezer, Neil Young, Decemberists, Eels, Simon & Garfunkel, etc. But it's been getting a little boring as I usually need to do each song a couple of times over the course of two-three hours. So, I've made a new challenge for myself: each time I go out, I need to have three new covers ready to perform (adding to my repertoire...which is probably way too fancy a word for a busker to use) and one new original (which will keep me writing habitually; I was pretty productive writing-wise before moving to NYC, and I've just been out of practice for the last two weeks). Anyway, it seems like a pretty reasonable plan.

To Mr. Something Ivey: you were great.

Maybe third time'll be the charm....?

Nothing but misadventures tonight. Some crazy bunch of black girls tried making me feel retarded by mock-dancing to the Eels song I was playing in 42nd St (it worked). And it took me forever to find that pitch, too (pitch=busking term for choice location). I uprooted myself and went to the ACE section of 34th St. I met with minimal success. It could have been that by that point it was nearly 8:00, or that I was too tired to give off any kind of enthusiam.

Finding a pitch sucks. One more reason to create a site where buskers can meet each other and set up some sort of schedule. Not that the thousands of buskers in this city would ever come together entirely...it just seems like it could work to everyone's advantage.

Some doofus nicked my corner of 59th St that I played in last time (which obviously makes it mine forever and ever till the cows come home), and was being circled by police officers. He was playing some kind of African/Asian harp I'd not seen before. I'm not quite sure what made him worthy of circling...I hope some vultures just died and got reincarnated as NYPD officers. That would explain the circling!....and the screaming rabbits they held in their talons.

Australasia

24 bucks on my first busking attempt! Woohoo! It's good to know that I measure success based on how much money I make. This is going to be a rough life.

I suppose I should explain what this blog is all about: I've just moved to NYC from Boston, and am trying to make it as an actor/songwriter. I've always loved performing in subway stations (I play guitar, harmonica, and sing), but feel that the "busking" community (busking=street/subway musicians) is seriously lacking in the -unity part. Most buskers are unaware of other buskers, most subway riders ignore buskers, and most buskers probably struggle to make reasonable money off of their talents. If, however, a website was devised that pointed out busking as an art form (music), that had links to buskers' bios and band pages, that had music available for free downloads (since selling CDs is illegal in the NYC subway), that had reviews of busking performances, and that even had a searchable database of artists and locations so the casual listener could get a better idea of what's happening on the subway lines they travel on, if these things could all be grouped on one website, I think busking could finally get the credit it deserves. Much more than panhandling, busking is real live entertainment from (literally) underground musicians who could benefit from networking with one another. Now I should point out that for elements like the database (in which you could see which artists are playing at what stations, and what they play), I would never want things to get hyper-scheduled or too planned-out...this would destroy the spontaneity of the art, which is so much of what makes it enjoyable. But I do think that if subway travelers were able to search through the database for someone they'd seen perform earlier, it would be to the benefit of them as much as the busker himself, as it could increase awareness of his music.

Anyway. I could seriously have played forever tonight but I had guzzled so much water during the day that I'm glad I left when I did. People were staring at me on the train home because my eyes were filling up with urine. But hey, with 24 bucks a day, I could soon afford to buy myself a chamberpot. Not enough people own those these days. Think about it: you'd spray it down throughout the day, then clip it to your belt when you need to go somewhere. You'd never have to ditch out on movies or make your dad get really close to whuppin' you during a long car trip that he doesn't want to be interrupted.

I'm really excited about this blog, and the future website that may one day host it among sundry other things.