Just Keep It Down

A nice lady helped me carry my busking cart up the stairs at the subway station, even though she herself had a load of bags to carry. Some people are so kind!

There were three Nortenos on the train, playing bass guitar, regular guitar and accordion. They were wearing white straw hats that had the word ‘Rodeo’ printed on them.

Ron Gibbs, a jazz guitar player, was at the Music Under New York spot at the Times Square subway station. As he packed up his busking gear and I set up mine we talked about the importance of making eye contact with the audience while busking.

The homeless man with curly hair who likes to travel said ‘hi’. He had a bad smell today but was cheerful as always.

A guy named Paul told me that he worked on the movie “Dummy” with actor Adrien Brody and me 🙂

The MTA track inspector was wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Michigan Dad’. I asked him if he is from Michigan – turnes out his son is studying there. Even though this guy is only in his 40’s, he has a 23 year old daughter and he has grandchildren. “Things happen… 🙂 ” he said. I told him this is really lucky for his kids and grandchildren to have such a young father/grandfather.

The record store owner told me that he calls the cops on the hip-hop dancers. One cop confiscated money and equipment from the dancers and gave them a summons.
He also told me that he learned to identify people’s accents from working at the store.

The acrobat with no legs who travels in a wheel chair set up on the other side of the store. His interesting skill of playing a harmonica while balancing on one arm catches people’s attention. He spends time both in NYC and in Santa Monica, CA.

Cesar, the keyboard player/singer, told me he got a ticket for $50 two weeks ago, for playing on the platform with an amp. He moved to the Far Rockaway and was now on his way to give his 80 year old mother his shopping cart. “It takes her two hours just to go to the store to buy sugar. I got to take care of her now”, he said.

Geovanni Suquillo, the guitar player, had the permit for 3pm at the spot. He told me he had a problem with undercover cops at 14th street last Thursday evening. They claimed he was not allowed amplification on the mezzanine (which is absolutely not true). He showed them his permit and they said “just keep it down”…

Below on the platform the older Chinese dulcimer player who never says ‘hi’ was packing up his busking gear. He doesn’t seem to play too long in one spot – maybe two hours and he packs up.