Vancouver Sun, Weekend Section, front page
Saturday, August 26, 2000

[Webmaster note: Sections not relating to Noah Nine have been omitted]

…At the other end of the [Granville Island] market at Buskers Alley, Noah Nine, an oldies rock duo with Sean Dillon and Richard Dolmat, are belting out some old Beatles and Doobie Brothers songs.  They're veteran buskers, having performed before at least a million people over the past five years in Tokyo and Vancouver.

Inside the Market, 11-year-old Sasha Nielsen is finishing up a violin recital.  Merchants are so enchanted with her Hayden and Mozart and her favourite composer, Beriot, they often come bearing gifts.  "There was the apple lady, she gave me apples," she says.  And they there was the bakery lady and the silk purse lady and the bread lady.

This is the kind of day buskers love--sunny and warm, inducing people to part with a loonie [one dollar coin], a toonie [two dollar coin] or, bingo! A fiver.

The most lucrative pitches (busking spots) are at Granville Island where audiences love to spend a half-hour to an hour being serendipitously entertained.  About 170 buskers are registered for a spot on one of the four outdoor locations and everyone wants the Triangle.  A morning draw determines the schedules and they're allowed two spots a day (Inside the Market, buskers can sign up for the pitches).

Other popular spots are at English Bay, busy SkyTrain stations, Gastown, and Robson St. at night.  Translink [public transit authority] hold auditions every year, ensuring some quality control, and performers are slotted into schedules.  One Translink busker, a fiddler, went on to fiddle for Shania Twain, says Translink's Tamra Rezanoff.  "Someone told me he's the one that plays to her left in concerts," she says.

For some, busking is hand-to-mouth living.  The good ones do it for the love of it plus a livable wage, although not many are willing to discuss their "hat," or take, in detail.

Noah Nine can make up to $200 in an hour in one pitch.  They do it two weekends and are otherwise breaking into the music industry.  "We're starting to get radio air-time with our CD [Prehistoric Astronaut]," says Dillon.  "We made really good money in Japan but we didn't know what to expect here.  They're cautious, but generous here [in Vancouver]."

 It's different from Europe, where busking is appreciated as legitimate entertainment--Canadians sometimes think of it as begging and pan-handling.  Many do the international busker circuit, following the comedy or busker festivals.

During a comedy festival here, with a primed audience, a really well-honed busking act can make $400 to $500 in a day but day-to-day buskers earn maybe $200 tops.

"Some survive on it.  Some have quit their full-time jobs to do it and there's definitely getting to be more and more every year," says Rezansoff.

For 11-year-old Nielsen, it pays for her music training.  Nine days of busking paid her tuition and accommodation for a violin seminar in Calgary this summer.  She's also saving for a full-size violin which will set her back $30,000.

…Dillon adds that there are "good vibes" on the street.

There are job hazards though.  "Seagulls!" says Dillon.  "Often our equipment as well as heads are bombarded by pigeons or seagulls.  I've been shat upon numerous times and personal extracted bird dung from audience members' heads."

And they've had the toddling kiddy mobsters sometimes try hit and runs on their earnings in the guitar case.  "Well-trained!" they'll sing.
 

BUSKERTALK:

Busker: Street performer.  The term goes back to 19th century London where street entertainers played for tips.

Bottler: Someone who passes the hat for the performer.

Circle Act: A performance that grabs a huge audience.

Hat:  The receptacle for donations; the amount of money collected.

Hat line:  The performer's angle to encourage donations.

Pitch: The performance area.

Toonie: Canadian two-dollar coin; The best thing that's happened to busker livelihood.