This weekend it was finally warm enough to get to the park. On Friday, I took the day off from work to pack. But with temperatures in the 50's, and the sun shining, I felt a moral obligation to check out Washington Square Park.
On working days, the park belongs to tourists and NYU students. I watched a young man with guitar and harmonica knocking out a nice blues. That was when I decided that I better go home and get my Martin. When I came back he was gone. I sat in a sunny spot and did a couple of songs on my own:
*Stormy Weather
*Saint Louis Blues
*Whiskey in the Jar
A couple of people stopped to listen, including a gentleman who was very interested in talking about his own musical adventures (he claimed to have written a hit song in 1967, to have introduced Janis Joplin to Judy Garlin, etc.) For all I know he was sincere, and I listened for a while. But he was doing an awful lot of name-dropping, which is something I have little patience for. If you want to impress me, sing a song nice and loud and risk making an ass of yourself.
I walked over and found an old-time group (guitar, vocals, kazoo) who sounded good, in an up-tempo Washington Square Park kind of way. They were collecting a lot of dollars from passers by. They were young--probably students. They gave me a flyer which contained the name "Roots & Ruckus" and a myspace address: myspace.com/rootsnruckus
I also heard a guy playing stand up bass and singing his heart out (unamplified). He was standing behind the statue, facing Washington Place. I could hear him singing up on 5th Avenue and between 8th & 9th street--a good 4 blocks away.
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"A couple of people stopped to listen, including a gentleman who was very interested in talking about his own musical adventures (he claimed to have written a hit song in 1967, to have introduced Janis Joplin to Judy Garlin, etc.)"
I think it's sometimes fun to humor people like this. I figure if they're telling their life story to a stranger, they might be lonely. Some of them are great storytellers, if you can get past the fact that it's made up.
Hope the move went well!
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