A New York Moment

I was packing up my street performing gear at the end of my busking day at the Union Square subway station. A lady came up to me saying “I was just talking about you!” She motioned to a few friends who were with her and said: “I was just telling them how mesmerizing your music…

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Last Wassailing Day in the NYC Subway

Today was my last wassailing day of 2016 in the NYC subway: ╰☆╮A guy told me it is 3 years now that I have been putting a smile on his face. ╰☆╮A guy from Texas told me last time he visited NYC I was his favorite NYC subway busker. He has been telling his friends…

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Thanksgiving

Yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving Day, I played at the 34th street subway station. The closest piece of music I could come up to for matching the theme of the Thanksgiving turkey was… the ‘Swan’ by Saint Saens 🙂 Three people said they missed me – they noticed I wasn’t at my usual busking spots.…

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Just Like Marlene Dietrich

They say if you sit in one place long enough in the NYC subway, eventually everyone will pass by you. Today it felt true: I just started my day busking at the 34th street subway station. A man came over, put a dollar in my donations’ bucket and said: “my grandmother played the musical saw”.…

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A Glimpse Into People’s Souls

I was playing ‘Danny Boy’ at the 14th street subway station when a man approached me with such a look on his face. He told me he is a writer and was just coming back from a meeting with a publisher, who accepted his first book. The book is about Ireland. He walked into the subway…

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Sometimes we need a blessing…

Today was pretty “dead” in the subway when I was playing at the Times Square station. A drummer who came to say ‘hi’ to me said it was “dead” at his spot by the Grand Central Shuttle, too. “Mondays are slow”, we agreed. I was contemplating leaving early, but thought I’d hold on for a…

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Redeeming a Saw Memory

When I was busking at 14th street subway station a man told me he had a defining memory of saws from when he was 5 years old, growing up in Porto Rico. His uncle was a handsaw maker. One day the uncle’s horse kicked his son and injured him badly. The uncle was so mad…

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Spirituality in the NYC Subway

At one moment when I busked at the Times Square subway I intended to stop my play-list and go back to the beginning. But before I was able to do so, ‘Moon River’ started to play, and I found myself playing it. I was thinking to myself: “why am I playing this song now? I…

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One’s Measure of Success

When I played at 14th street subway station today a lady came to me and said “I haven’t seen you in two weeks – is it just that I wasn’t in the right place at the right time or were you not playing in the subway?” I explained it was too cold to play in…

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Vox Humana

When I got to the Union Square subway station today I had a few minutes to wait before taking over the busking spot from musicians Zack (banjo) and Scott (violin) (who btw will be playing with me on January 23rd at the http://www.spikehillmusic.com/event/198839/?utm_source=fb1 ). I set on the bench next to a homeless man named…

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