It happens so often, but it still amazes me. Yesterday I had just finished busking and was ready to leave the spot when a "locally famous'' news commentator/musician walked up and handed me a tip.. All I could do was to say, "Thanks, Tom." Today, just as I picked up Harry Hare with the intention of leaving, an 8 year old girl who had stopped by earlier, quickly approached and gave a $2 tip to me.. Someday I plan on just setting up and taking down.. no actual busking...just to test the idea that arriving or leaving increases tips!!!
Someone asked why I charge $450 for a fiddle playing puppet like Harry Hare.. Well, first of all, Anyone could make their own puppet for FREE..no charge.. 'go for it'... .. Second, I'll assume that anyone wanting such a puppet can already play a fiddle. Thirdly, it takes 30-40 hours to put one together .. (let me see,.. 30 hours times $15/hour...$450)... seems about right. Not to mention that if the fiddler wanted to BUSK on weekends, he/she could easily make $2-300,, a weekend.. Well it would be paid for in TWO WEEKS.. So.. Small investment, large return.. Isn't that what everyone is looking for? Unfortunately.. most people wanting such a puppet don't really want to busk!! Go figure.....I've made my case, and I'm stickin' to it..There is no such thing as 'something for nothing', but there is always MONEY for those who put in the time ON THE STREET...
wow....15 bucks an hour...slave labour….
I may be starting to 'lose it".. Today I was busking with my puppet and I noticed that His violin's tailpiece fine tuners were touching his violin.. That has GOT to affect the sound and I need to fix that as soon as I get home....Then... I THINKS......Wait, the puppet isn't even really playing his fiddle...!! IT is just an illusion... I may have been spending too much time fiddling out in the sun..!
Something has changed in me this year.. In the past, I was busking with a passion.. There was a financial need that went along with it..This year, the financial need has been met and the NEED to busk has diminished. The good part about that is that I don't feel pressured to busk. The bad part is that I've lost some of the 'drive' to busk....It is ok to take a break, isn't it?
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 06/27/2019 12:59:46
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaverI may be starting to 'lose it".. Today I was busking with my puppet and I noticed that His violin's tailpiece fine tuners were touching his violin.. That has GOT to affect the sound and I need to fix that as soon as I get home....Then... I THINKS......Wait, the puppet isn't even really playing his fiddle...!! IT is just an illusion... I may have been spending too much time fiddling out in the sun..!
Something has changed in me this year.. In the past, I was busking with a passion.. There was a financial need that went along with it..This year, the financial need has been met and the NEED to busk has diminished. The good part about that is that I don't feel pressured to busk. The bad part is that I've lost some of the 'drive' to busk....It is ok to take a break, isn't it?
Just to make my point.. I went busing over 230 times last year... Yes, it can get old.
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaverSomeone asked why I charge $450 for a fiddle playing puppet like Harry Hare.. Well, first of all, Anyone could make their own puppet for FREE..no charge.. 'go for it'... .. Second, I'll assume that anyone wanting such a puppet can already play a fiddle. Thirdly, it takes 30-40 hours to put one together .. (let me see,.. 30 hours times $15/hour...$450)... seems about right. Not to mention that if the fiddler wanted to BUSK on weekends, he/she could easily make $2-300,, a weekend.. Well it would be paid for in TWO WEEKS.. So.. Small investment, large return.. Isn't that what everyone is looking for? Unfortunately.. most people wanting such a puppet don't really want to busk!! Go figure.....I've made my case, and I'm stickin' to it..There is no such thing as 'something for nothing', but there is always MONEY for those who put in the time ON THE STREET...
Any intelligent person could 'reverse engineer' my puppet. It is not rocket science..Fishing line, string, and a few springs..nothing more....Oh, and a LOT of sewing.
quote:
Originally posted by buckhenrywow....15 bucks an hour...slave labour….
$15 per hour is not a living wage around here, but there are tons of jobs at that pay rate. Some of those jobs even require extensive experience and knowledge, or even a degree! Housing costs are rising at an alarming rate, but not the wages.
Aww. That warms my heart.
That had to make your day.
I was busking in West Seattle today at a community fair.. A security guard who hadn't played a fiddle since he was bout 10 (Now 56).. could still play Go Tell Aunt Rhody...A child could play anything she wanted, and a street sweeper posed as if he was bout to get my tips.. Harry Hare stayed home.. It was still a fun, profitable day.. perfect weather and lots of nice people..https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10218791869565323&set=pcb.10218791896085986&type=3&theater
I wasn't alone. There were a lot of YOUNG buskers on the street. Talented youngsters.. but NO older people like me.. Busking is SO Much Fun. It constantly amazes me why there are not more of YOU out there... Your lives must be very Complete, and Comfy.....AGAIN. If you would even busk ONCE on ANY corner in ANY city, you'd surely busk a hundred times...
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 07/13/2019 17:34:47
It was a crazy night for buskers.. On a walk we saw a bongo player, a guitar player, a bagpipe player, a flute player and guy juggling knives while riding a unicycle and 7 kids all under about 10, playing Suzuki violin pieces.. Warmed my heart, it did..
There ARE some things that I hate about busking.(TIC). I hate it when twin 11 year olds set up 100 feet from me and play Mean fiddles... My tips dry up... Hate them!! (TIC)
I hate it when a down and out person comes and I think he wants his corner back but he gives me a tip instead..Do I sound so bad that he thinks I need the money more than him? (TIC)...I hate it when some guy gets a five gallon plastic bucket from Lowes, and beats on it so that he sounds better than Kenny Aronoff...and makes a lot of tips...and is bad for the drum department of the local music store.. Hate it when that happens (TIC) I hate it when I walk by a business and the owner sticks his head out and says, Welcome, glad to see you back.. So I set up down the street in front of another business and that business owner stick his head out and says.. Hey, could you move on down the street, you're bad for business (TIC)... (TIC=tongue in cheek)... NOT TIC.. I love to BUSK.. We are all one big community.
FINALLY!!! I"m just one TIP from being a BEGGAR, to Being a Filthy RICH BUSKER..
Unfortunately, I don't know which tip it will be..!!!
Folks...I'm NOT making this up.. Real life is much more exciting than fiction....
Quite exciting.. Our local farmers market has had an issue in which a certain booth has as its operators, people who are White Supremacists/Nazis.. (or so it is acclaimed)..Protestors abound, some gun toting.. The market has officially been closed for the next two weeks because vendors and shoppers are intimidated.. Protestors are at all of the market entrances..SO ... there is now a New market venue, this time Private, not City operated, so they can pick and choose which vendors will participate..Anyway.. tonight I got an email requesting Me and Harry Hare to busk at the new market... ( who says there is never such a thing as a 'busking emergency'...they NEED US... and we'll show up) . DUTY CALLS!!!!
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 08/09/2019 15:21:47
Yes, Harry and I went to the new, temporary market.. It was in a Large K-Mart parking lot. I've never seed such a market crowd.. I had difficulty finding parking and adjacent parking lots were all full... THis is Good in that the community is supporting the market..I had to busk in the sun for 2 1/2 hours because the few shady spots available for buskers were already taken by talented buskers..Hopefully, next week, we'll be back at the regular venue.. 'sans guns'...
Today we got paid to Busk for four hours (I'm wiped out) at the Indiana State fair... We were visited my Miss LaGrange County, a wonderful harmonica player from Lafayette, and a little girl with a Unicorn balloon.. There were countless kids under the age of 10 who got to try to play "Grasshopper",or "Mississippi River", rhythms on my fiddle. Really, interacting with the passersby is more fun than just playing a puppet..but I can't have one without the other.. Maybe one or two of those kids will be inspired to take up playing a violin in school.. I tell them that if a rabbit can play a fiddle, YOU can play a fiddle...At some deeper level, I feel that is there is such a thing as purpose in life, then encouraging people to fiddle may be MY purpose.......I've been told to 'mind my own business and leave people alone' more than once..I don't give credence to such 'naysayers'... ..See you on the street corner..!!
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 08/11/2019 14:43:21
One of my many busking signs reads, "Rule #2..Tip sidewalk performers." Generally, no one ever asks, what rule #1 is..(seriously, I think that only ONE person has ever asked what rule #1 is).... Well, I know you are wondering.. Rule #1 is..."Be kind"...........
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 08/12/2019 14:24:58
This is my latest Facebook post.. Maybe you will enjoy it..
"There are Busker Festivals all over the world, but here in BLoomington...I've had to explain what a busker was....to buskers....!! No joke.. This is busker no-man's-land...
Under appreciated, equated with panhandlers (not that there is anything wrong with that), and basically ignored... Just the other day a 10 year old boy asked me if I was Homeless (Not that there is anything wrong with that , either) ..!! Another time a guy asked, "Why do you Have to do this.?" (as if I was desperate).... Such misunderstanding.. One "friend" thinks I'm begging..!!! (I'm begging him to get educated)...AND< AND< AND>> Facebook just set me up with a "DONATE BUTTON".. Even Facebook thinks I'm begging.. Woe is me.. All is lost..." How, think about it.. You know me.. I'm not smart enough to have made these facts up myself.. THEY ARE TRUE..!!!
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 08/15/2019 14:07:31
The White supremacy scare is almost over.. The market has reopened in the usual place..with CCTV all around, armed police, market ambassadors and just a few empty stalls..Too bad this had to happen, but "that's life". LOTS of buskers in the area. I counted 7 besides me and Harry.. It is good to be back..and it is good to see so many buskers. There was a guitar trio, a guitar solo, a bongo solo, an accordion, a Parrot, and that pair of twin 11 year olds who play OT fiddle so well (hate them..JK . they are amazing..)...Not to mention the PAID band in the gazebo..It was a great and festival market.
"BUSKING" made the newspaper today.. Apparently a busker was using a tambourine to hold his donations.. Some lady took the tambourine and ran with it.. The busker ran after her but was punched in the face and knocked unconscious by the woman's boyfriend.. The police caught them and she said she need money for gas..!!
Busking in town is crazy these days . We still have our people dressed in black wearing masks demonstrating against 'hate'... and that is scaring off a lot of the Farmers Market customers.. Tips have been down...Harry Hare wants to have a bullet proof vest 'just in case'..so I think I'll put him into a metal garbage can and see how he feels about that.. This weekend there will be Three (3) festivals going on downtown at the same time.. It is estimated that there will be over 50,000 attendees. I don't know how the tips will be but the Fun Factor will be very high.
Correction.. We are having the Farmers Market, Jazz Fest, Bubble fest, Gay Pride fest, Art Fest.....all this weekend...And of course Harry Hare... he will be a main 'draw'..
Lots of people at the Farmers Market today.. Lots of people at Gay Pride festival today. . Lots of people at Garlic Fest today. Lots of people at the Fourth Street Art Fair today... Yep.. All on the Same day at the Same time..and there were no more than three blocks between any two of the festivals.. People had to ride on each other's shoulders just to go down the streets.. It was a buskers dream/nightmare!! So many people and I could only stand in ONE place at a time..!!! Antifa (political protesters) was nowhere to be seen but there were about ten large, burly, tough looking guys sitting around at the Farmers Market ...who hadn't bought anything..I suspect that they thought they were intimidating..Harry and Me aren't afraid of anyone..(gulp).....
Also, today's mail brought a package containing a Teddy Bear.. Supposedly, I'm going to make it into a functioning, fiddle playing, busking puppet.. What have I gotten myself into... Looks like I have my work cut our for me for the next two or three weeks..
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 08/31/2019 13:26:44
More of a comment than a story..Busking, solo,... when I busk solo I'm always intimidated because there are not those wonderful guitars/banjos/ second fiddles.. that add to the sound and make things more like MUSIC.. If anyone thinks that they are a good fiddler..well, just busk SOLO... and then LISTEN to how you sound.. My recent posts in the SOUND OFF forum teach me a lot.. I thought I sounded much better than the video sounds.. It is humbling..
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 09/01/2019 15:05:14
Just got back from a “clam steam” jam. So some guy-3 sheets to the wind to be polite- really REALLY liked my fiddle playing- he INSISTED that I serenade his wife who was totally embarrassed but kept nodding at me. So I ran thru the only romantic number I could think of. Angeline the Baker. ?? Then he tipped me $5. ?? I tried to refuse but he kept insisting. His wife began mouthing, “please take it”. So I caved, and bought myself a 2nd beer
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