Adventures in Winter Busking

Yesterday being a wash-out which cleared away most of the snow, and today being an unseasonably warm 50 degrees and sunny, I decided to spend a little while playing for money at a spot that looked to me like it had a lot of potential when I walked by it a couple of weeks ago.

This is the entrance plaza to the bow bridge at the south end of the boating pond in Central Park. The bridge is one of the most photographed landmarks in the park. The picture gives you an idea of what the bridge looks like, though today there was no snow there. There were plenty of people though, most of them being European tourists.

At the south end of the bridge there is a little "plaza" where 3 foot-paths converge. One path goes north over the bridge, the second goes east towards Bethesda Fountain, and the third goes west towards the west park drive. There was a guy selling hot dogs there already, standing right next to the place where I wanted to be. So I stood on the other side of the path, which wasn't bad, facing the sun with my back to the pond.

I only spent about 45 minutes because I had to be downtown. I made about $6.50. This was a bit disappointing, compared with my experiences further North in the park. Some of this may be down to bad luck; my experience is that donations come in spurts, highs and lows. I think I may have experienced a low, but then didn't hang around long enough to experience a high. My other theories are:

1) Maybe there is not as much traffic here as first meets the eye. Although the spot is always crowded and bustling, I saw a lot of the same people going back and forth. This seems to be a spot where people hang around, taking in the view, taking photos and eating hot dogs. So there may not be as much total "throughput" as some of my other spots.

2) There seemed to be a lot of European tourists. Maybe they don't appreciate American folk and country music as much as the locals do. And maybe they don't feel the same need to throw money around during the holidays as Americans do (not that I was playing Christmas songs).

3) There was a lot of photographing going on. People love to take pictures of the bridge, especially Europeans, many of whom are extremely enthusiastic photographers. So maybe everyone was thinking about taking in beautiful sights, and no one cared much about the beautiful music.

One guy, Italian, I guess, kept pointing his camera at me, then backing off. And he kept kind of staring at me. So finally I nodded and said, "It's OK," thinking he was being shy about taking my photo. (Yeah, right. Shy people don't walk around with 600 pound cameras and stare at you.) He just nodded back and then didn't take my photo. Now I think he really wanted a certain shot of the bridge and the pond, and he wished I wasn't there. I'm sure he can find a nice postcard with the shot he wants. But when's the next time he'll hear "Hey, Good Looking," performed live on a D-28?

By the way, in the traditional Indian pueblos they always restrict photography. Many don't allow cameras at all, or only with a permit; they tell you to photograph people only with permission, and they never let you shoot their cemeteries or traditional temples called "kivas". (Often they won't even let you get near a kiva). I can't tell you exactly what bugs me about Europeans with big cameras in Central Park. Maybe I'm just part Pueblo Indian.

Songs I remember playing:

Don't Think Twice

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Jambalaya

Your Cheating Heart

Clipper Ship

Hey Good Looking

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues

Buckets of Rain

Heartaches By The Number

They Might be Giants!

Interesting feature on New York based group they Might Be Giants, ran today on New York 1:
http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/features/110093/-i-one-on-1-extra---i--they-might-be-giants-extras?ap=1&Flash

St. Francis Gig

My friend from Washington Square Park was gracious enough to invite me to accompany him on a gig yesterday afternoon. This was in the basement of St. Francis church, on 31st St between 6th & 7th Ave. It was a nice room, with a few big tables. The performance was at 1pm, put on for a group of seniors (about 25), who were also served sandwiches and coffee (unfortunately I didn't have time for either, as I was working my butt off, then had to leave for an eye test).

People were very appreciative, both with their applause and thanks. This was mostly Pete's show, but it had much of the spontaneous charm of our performances / jam sessions in WSP. A third guy joined us, who is excellent on the keyboards, flutes, cigar box uke, and who also does magic tricks. Two of us dressed in black slacks and white shirts, the other dressed in black slacks, a black shirt and red tie. (I was thinking of wearing a tie too, but the last time I did that was when I got married, and my neck is still a little irritated.)

One high point was Pete's performance of Blowin in the Wind towards the beginning. His singing was strong, and because it is a simple song that we know well, we were able to back him strongly. I'm also happy with the medley that I sang (Pete's conception, my execution) of "When the Saints Go Marching In", "Will the Circle be Unbroken", and "I'll Fly Away". There was also a bunch of Christmas songs, which I enjoy, especially knowing that they'll only be around for a few weeks.

P & G Cafe Open Mic

I did a set at the P&G Cafe open mic last night (located on Upper West side of Manhattan). The open mic is very friendly and low key.

I was the only guitar player there who did not have a pick-up built built into the guitar. So they had to mic my guitar, which sounded OK, except when I unknowingly moved the guitar to the right, so that the mic was directly in front of the sound hole. This causes some nasty feedback. Luckily I found this out between songs, not in the middle of one.

This was the first open mic I have ever done. But I have played in front of much bigger crowds than this. The main thing that surprised me was that you can't see a damn thing up there. The room is small and darkish and the performer doesn't look spotlit. But what they do is put a blue spotlight on the performer. You hardly notice it from the audience, but it's blinding from the stage. To me it was a little disconcerting to play to people who I know are there, but can't see at all, except dark shapes, and faces very close to the stage.

The songs I did were:
Mursheen Durkin (traditional)
River in the Rain (Roger Miller) / Into the Mystic (Van Morrison) medley
Lost Highway (Leon Payne)

All "covers", but the Into the Mystic thing is an original treatment, with a special bonus refrain.

This is mostly a singer/song-writer crowd, with mostly original material. Good by open mic standards. I would love to contribute more original material, but I would love for it to be really good. I know you have to start somewhere, of course. A lot of singer-songwriter stuff that I hear recently sounds similar and a little boring. I sometimes wonder whether one guy with an accoustic guitar an earnest heart and guts is still a formula for success in the modern world. But then I think of my favorite singer-songwriters--Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Guy Clark--and I think the medium can always work if the songs are good enough

A lot of what makes a song good (meaning lots of people enjoy listening to it) is to have some words that are easy to remember (less is more). Like "Bye, bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry...", or "Hey, good lookin', what you got cookin'?" combined with a memorable musical line. Songs can have all sorts of sophisticated lyrics, but there has to be something for the audience to hook onto easily. A good song should be jovial and easy to enjoy. Even a sad song, or an angry song, at least has to have a melody line or rhythm that you want to listen to.

I would like to write a really good song like that. I don't have much interest in going on a stage and performing bad songs. I don't have much need to express myself, or make my voice heard in the form of mediocre music. But I know, you have to start somewhere.

In conclusion: this open-mic is friendly and supportive, and there are some interesting singers and performers. Most everyone is serious about what they're doing, and I will go back.