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| So what the heck is a busker anyway? Basically a busker is person who performs on the street and puts out a hat, guitar case or other recepticle to accept tips from people passing by. It is hard to narrow down excactly what a busker might be doing. You can find musicians, dancers, magicians, jugglers, fire spinners, mimes, and just about any form of entertainment that can be brought to the streets. Is busking a new thing, a fad? Busking has been around for a long time. It has been a respected profession in Europe for ages. Who knows -- it might be as old as that other "old street profession". What is the difference between a busker and a panhandler? Ummm, a busker doesn't ask for money. A busker provides entertainment and allows the people to decide if and how much they want to pay. Here is one way I like to look at it -- it is not unlike going to see a band and paying a cover charge, only you only pay what you can afford or what you think the act is worth. Or, you can just watch and enjoy for free. But I have been to a "busker's festival" where the performer does ask for money at the end of their act. What's up with that? To me, this is not the purest form of busking, although the performers are very talented in their own right. Technically they are buskers in the sense that they are not getting paid a standard salary. The reason I differenciate between the two types of busking is that these festivals are more organized, commercial events. There are scheduled acts, flyers and advertising. The acts are usually well-choreographed to last 45 minutes to an hour. They also require an audition tape, sometimes up to a year in advance. It is perhaps a good analogy to think of this as a sort of circus held on the streets. While I do have a lot of respect for these entertainers, it is different from what I currently do. Why have you made the choice to be a busker? Busking offers a certain amount of freedom. It can be difficult at times but it allows me to be self- employed and follow my ambitions for a career in music. I set my own schedule and can make money while travelling. One aspect of busking is that I am playing a lot, thus giving me plenty of practice, which I would not be getting if I were spending that time flipping burgers, for example. It is also a good way to meet a lot of interesting people. As a drummer on the street I get to meet many other musicians and have had people hire me to do session recordings, not to mention tons of band offers, based on what they see on the street. It can be a good way to drum up (pun intended) other opportunities. Is busking on the streets dangerous? For the most part people are really nice to me. In the three years that I have been doing this, I have had two or three people who I thought might get violent, but I haven't been attacked yet, unless you count the crazy wheelchair panhandler who attacked me on the Halifax waterfront. She cursed and swore at me and then proceeded to ram my busking kit with her motorized wheelchair. I suppose there is a certain amount of risk. I do know of other buskers who have been assaulted either for their earnings or because somebody had something to prove. It tends to be more dangerous if you are busking at night outside night-clubs because of the high number of drunks. Can you make a living off busking? Yes, I have been doing this for three years, although I don't play through the winter. It has been my summer job between my years at University. I also know some buskers who do it year-round. Like anything else in the entertainment business, your earnings are affected by your level of talent, creativity, uniqueness and personality. I guess people do seem to think I have these qualities as I have been featured in newspapers and on television a number of times, and people are still dropping money and offering kind words and encouragement. Any good busking tales? I met Thomas Stephen, Jeff Healy's drummer. He gave me a twenty dollar tip. He explained who he was and told me it was "the coolest thing I ever saw". He even sat down to play my kit. That was pretty cool. Some guy gave me twenty bucks once on behalf of Jesus. That's right -- the Jesus. (Even he thinks I'm cool, and I'm not even a member of his club!) I also got to jam with a sitar player. I got to play while a girl spun fire. Once a couple of guys broke out into these awesome breakdancing moves complete with backflips and shit. |
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