#Little Darling…

Whilst I was studying at university I took a course module on Ethnomusicology, although picturing Messiaen et al collecting birdsong and folksong on cylindrical discs I was initially wary of the subject. I can’t deny that that’s a part of it, but I became hooked on the study of buskers. I produced an ethnography of a book on the subway musicians of New York. It detailed various musicians drawing their influences from around the world, playing almost every combination of instruments conceivable, but it also illustrated busking’s business side. I was surprised to find subway buskers in New York were subjected to yearly auditions, licensed, and had to be strategically placed so that a subway traveller would not encounter similar musicians in proximity to one another.

Today my interest was rekindled. I read Howard Mandel’s article ‘Busker Bastion’ in the New York Press which featured a professional busker during the daytime(playwright by night) who earns $200 a day, wearing his Gucci shoes. He talks about being happy without that invisible barrier between himself and the audience which I mention so much on here. It’s certainly a breath of fresh air from the guitar wielding ‘artistes’ you meet on the tube singing ‘Little Darling’ over and over…

Just for a bit of nostalgic viewing, I’ve also been looking at Wired New York.