The Guide to Busking

By Tom Senkus

Ever wanted to learn the fine art of street performance?
Ever wondered what compels musicians and performers to go out on the street and earn their living? Then this ebook is for you!

Inside, you'll learn the when, the where, the what, and the how of busking.

As for who, it just may very well be you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tom Senkus
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311516916

Tom Senkus

I'm a 30 year old writer, musician, and some other witty stuff. Originally from Long Island, NY, I've traveled around the world playing music in such places as Lithuania, Germany, Spain, France, UK, and many other great places. I've lived in Boston, New York, Oregon, Georgia, Florida, California. I've hitchhiked and rode freight trains all throughout America, worked a lot of crappy jobs, and busked for a living.

Book preview

The Guide to Busking

By Tom Senkus

Copyright 2013 Tom Senkus

Smashwords Edition

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Discover other titles by Tom Senkus:

1000 Titles for the Lazy

1000 Titles for the Lazy EXPLAINED

1000 MORE Titles for the Lazy

1000 MORE Titles for the Lazy EXPLAINED

Fluzzy/Blurry

Groping in the Dark for the Broken Lightswitch

Microfiction

Perfectly Good Unused Ideas

Poems No One Asked For

Taxi Cab Professions

Find out more at tomsenkus.com and theguidetobusking.com

Table of Contents

Introduction

Busking Origins: My Story

Types of Busking Acts

Material and Repertoire

Tip: A Word on Backing Tracks

Audience Participation

Stage Banter

Picking a Spot

Permits and Ordinances

When to Play

Problems and Gripes

Night Crowd

Fringe Benefits and Detriments

Wardrobe

Money

Being Filmed

Overexposure

Co-opted?

Gear

Weather

Merchandise

Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

Recommended Reading

Thoughts

This book is dedicated to Sharmini Wijeyesekera.

Without her, this book would not be possible.

There, I said it.

Introduction

Busking is performing on the streets for money and exposure. It isn’t any more complicated than that. There’s no booking agent, no press releases, no need for premeditation. When most people are waiting around for a gig, there’s an opportunity on the street corner. There’s promise in the dirty, abandoned storefront. You want the dream? Chase it, the stage is empty and the curtain’s been pulled—what’re you waiting for?

Is it begging? Yes. Busking even sounds like a dirty word. The popular platitude is no, it’s about performing for people to spread beautiful music, that’s just a see-through hippie line. It’s about cash. The truth is that societies—Indian, American, European, you name it—treat musicians poorly. Always have been, always will be. Sure, you have your celebrities, but as an amateur, you’re a nobody; a cipher; a second-class citizen. There’s disparity. Worse, there’s backlash. How dare you come here and liven up the place with something live when we can fill it with canned music? If you’re playing to those who wish they could be musical, you’re sure to arouse feelings of envy, guilt, and missed opportunities—not exactly a position that anyone wants to experience.

The world is changing. Blame the internet, but artists are clamoring for attention via electronic means nowadays. Record companies are fading and the bloated business model is going the way of the dinosaur. However, the new boss looks an awful lot like the old one. Instead of album sales, it's Facebook likes. Twitter. Your social media cache. There thing$ can be bought. Do you want direct-distribution, fans to bands? No middle-man, no manager. What better way to be direct than to be several feet away, plying your trade?

In few other professions can a person not be compensated for performing a service. If I were a carpenter and I’ve finished assembling a cabinet, I expect compensation. If I’m a performer playing for a packed house, I have to beg to make enough for expense reimbursement—profit is a luxury and not mandatory. On the other side of the coin, what determines quality is arbitrary. One man’s symphonic perfection is another’s excuse to yawn. Herein lay the vagaries that perpetuate the status-quo. Don’t look for it to change; it won’t. Take matters into your own hands.

So, busking is a musician’s revenge. You get to be a hustler. Invoke guilt in the passersby’s heart for all those uncompensated hours of practicing! Best of all, you can get paid.

How?

Read on. Some people busk once—some make it a lifestyle. People are fickle. One town may compensate you with a cavalcade of free food and a wad of cash for your effort. Other towns will call the police on you or ignore you like a leper. Be prepared to get indignant. Dealing with these obstacles is a test of your endurance and how badly you want to be a musician. Gypsies don't ask for permission.

And, oh yeah, you can’t put this on your résumé.

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(Disclaimer: I’m not a physical artist. I don’t juggle, do fire-poi, or do gymnastics. This guide is meant for busking musicians, but I’m sure there’s something of interest for any prospective street urchin. And no, you can't have your money back.)

Busking Origins: My Story

During a brief tenure at the Berklee College of Music, a bunch of my friends decided to go down to Fenway Park. Someone proposed that we play one song continuously for Red Sox Fans to make beer money. No, we didn’t play Sweet Caroline. We repeated Mama Don’t Allow No Music Playing Here with a chorus of seven overeager students. Within minutes, we made a Twenty-spot. We stopped playing. Easy money. All we had to do was be in the right spot. The funny part is that most of the gigs I had played prior and during to college had barely netted that much cash. We bought beer.

Years later, I was living in Portland, Oregon. The economy was still pretty good, but working a straight job was just too much of a hassle. Overworked and underpaid, I could see my determinism and time diminishing the longer I had worked legitimately. Some of my coworkers