Busking, Updates

Dear reader, my apologies for the lack of posting recently. Once I finished going over all the songs, finding material to blog about has been more of a challenge. So here's a general update.

I've been busking regularly for a couple months now. On July 4, I played for six hours in the park, with one half-hour break. My fingers are getting very tough. In fact, the callouses on my left hand are so thick, my iPod Touch often refuses to respond to my left hand, won't recognize it as skin I guess.

I'm not much for playing covers, but I did recently add one to my busking repertoire - Steve Earle's classic Ft. Worth Blues. It's a great song, and to my surprise it fits my voice better than I thought it might. Particularly if I let my inner Virginia drawl come through a little bit.

Yesterday I picked up a Roland Cube Street, a little battery-powered busking amp. It has two channels - one for guitar, one for a mic. And it sounds surprisingly decent for its size. It's truly a boon for my busking - I can finally introduce more dynamic variation. I can actually finger-pick and sing softly. Unamplified, I had to strum everything, and belt out the vocals.

I took it for a test run last night, and was very pleased. Now I've got quite the little busking set up. Well, not so little anymore. Here's what I have:

1. Guitar. Obviously.

2. a 2x3 foot rug. Gives me a sort of "stage."

3. I took the bass drum pedal from my electronic drum kit, and duct-taped a tambourine to it, so I can get some rhythm going with my foot for the upbeat numbers.

4. Roland Cube Street.

5. My trusty Shure SM58 microphone, with a boom stand.

6. My tip jar is a bright orange felt cowboy hat I bought at a thrift store.

7. CDs.

8. My Boss Loop Station. I haven't actually used it yet. I took it last night, but the patch cable I brought to connect it to the amp turned out to be junk. The Loop Station allows me to do live looping. I can make a two-bar rhythm loop, hand drumming on the guitar, then add as many loops as I want on the fly. A shaker, more beats, guitar parts, whatever. 

9. My Boss Octave pedal. I can use this to create bass lines for the loops.

10. Tuner, Capo, picks, extra strings.

11. Water bottle. Gotta stay hydrated - but not too much. If I have to use the bathroom while busking, it's a real pain in the ass, as I have to pack everything up.

12. Business cards.

13. Milk Crate. I place my tip hat on the crate. It helps if people don't have to bend all the way to the ground to drop money in.

14. A folding stool. I stand for some stuff, but for long busking shifts, it's nice to be able to sit at times.

15. A positive attitude!

Now that I can use the loop station, I'll be adding a few more instruments: harmonicas, kazoo, melodica, maybe a small hand drum.

I'm able to pack everything but the rug, mic stand, milk crate, and guitar into a large rolling suitcase. I lash the rug and the mic stand to the top of the suitcase, so getting it all from place to place is actually not very difficult.

I love pretty much everything about busking. I've always been an avid people-watcher, so I really enjoy that aspect of busking. I get to watch the world walk by. It's also a very pure, market-based performance. My tip collecting is really based on my presentation of my original music; so I'm not getting any tips because someone "really loves Brown-Eyed Girl." I enjoy meeting people, and you meet a lot of people while busking. It is funny though, how many people will come up and start talking to me while I am in the middle of playing a song! I've had people try to sell me on Jesus (no thanks). I've had people ask me for money, which is sort of funny if you think about it. And usually someone will ask if they can use my guitar to play a song. My beloved Martin? Yeah, right. Well, I did let one guy play a song for his girlfriend. He's an employee of a store right across the street from my usual spot, so I recognized him, and it was a romantic gesture, so I let him. But usually I say sorry, but I don't lend out my instruments. I love the way kids react to my music. From the time they hear/see me, all the way until they are past me and out of sight, they tend to have their attention glued to me. And of course, children are a GREAT source for tips. Adults who might otherwise walk on by can't resist when their kids beg them to let them put some money in my hat!

So, what am I playing? The only song I don't play off of Division Street is the titular song, though I am working on an adaptation. The only song I'm currently doing from The Theory of Evolution is The Secret Life of Mr. Punch. From the Baaba Seth repertoire, I play:

Crazy

Wonderful

Poor Man

Heart of the Lion

Troubled World

Living With You

Ballad of the Rise and Fall

Getting Ready For War

Big Belly

Love is Better

Umfazi Omdala

Here For the Music

Human Tree

Delhi

I may be forgetting a few, but that's a pretty complete list. When I get to the end, I just start over again. By the time the next Baaba Seth gig rolls around, I think I won't need to rely on my lyric book nearly as much. The bigger problem will be adjusting to the band arrangements, after playing the songs acoustically so often.