Funny old business this busking lark.
I've wanted to busk for many years - when I was little there used to be a decent music scene in Southampton and you'd get lots of young rockabillly buskers playing on Southampton High Street; drums, double bass, guitars, singers. It looked like so much fun! Then, when I got older my family and I went on to playing music a lot, recording, gigging, touring etc etc. But busking always seemed to me such a perfect way to do it - playing music with no obligations; no crowd to please (pleasing crowds is a good thing, but when you're playing local social clubs; tricky business); no club owner to satisfy, no income to 'earn'! It seemed as simple as: playing for the fun of it, with the hope that maybe people passing by will enjoy it too. So years later, after playing with my family many years, and after stopping playing with my family for many years, and after living in London and struggling to find a way to continue playing music, I came across the London Underground busking scheme.
There's a waiting list - about 2 years. Then you hear from them, and you get an audition. A pretty intimidating business; two people behind a table - proper X Factor style. Then if all goes well (ie. you don't sound horrendously awful) they give you a license.
Deal is you play about 10 times a month. Unfortunately I get my license just as I start my new, full time, stress out job and have little spare time on my hands. Bad timing. But, music is important and you've got to make the most of something that takes 2 years of waiting.
Since moving to London about 5 years ago, I've struggled to get in to the London music scene. 'Get in to' is probably the wrong phrase. Really I mean; enjoy, or see the point of, or get enthusiastic about. I've gone to open mic nights and if I do well I pick up bad vibes from the other musicians, if I don't do well , the musos are patronising. Maybe I'm just not that good, or not hard nosed enough. Regardless, it feels unwelcoming, and I don't need it. In contrast, I've just finished my second busking slot, and damn it - I'm digging it. It's all organised, so I'm not encroaching on other musicians' space. I'm playing for free so expectation from my rapidly passing audience is zilch, and when people like what you do, they chuck you some coins....which at the time feels like the kindest, most generous act a fellow human being can possibly do. And....AND...most of all, I get to try out new songs that I've been dabbling with for a while, but never had a reason to properly get together until now.
Did I earn much from the experience? Christ no! Less than minimum wage! But if it was about that, I'd start singing crowd pleasers, and that wouldn't be half as fun. SO if you hear someone singing miserable country songs on the London Underground, and they look a bit like me...chuck them a quid and you'll make a buskers day.
UPDATE: 3rd Feb 08
Turns out I didn't need to worry about crowd pleasers - Gillian Welch's Whiskey Girl was raking the pound coins in today. Londoners must be feeling a little melancholy on a Sunday afternoon.
