Buskers Look Out for One Another

When I got to the Music Under New York busking spot at 14th street there was a homeless guy looking inside the garbage can. On the bench a man and a woman were displaying posters – probably religious.

An older guy carrying a heavy load took the stairs and not the elevator. I often see people carrying heavy things walking down the stairs. Why don’t they take the elevator? It’s hard to miss the elevator – it’s right by the stairs. And this elevator doesn’t smell like some others…

Alena from Prague took some photos of me. She is studying pantomime and tap dance. She’ll stay in NYC for another month and a half, but she hopes to come back in a few months.

Stuart, the Norteno in black hat who plays guitar on the trains came up stairs especially just to say ‘hi’ to me. He had to hurry back down in order not to miss the train which his partners were going to take.

It’s nice when people take their ear-phones out of their ears in curiosity when passing by me.

The blind blond lady said ‘hi’. Her broken arm seemed much better.

Anthony, who plays guitar and mandolin in country style told me he had never heard a musical saw before.
Romero, the singer who sings on trains, told me his CD is coming out next week. He is singing with the ‘Handerson Brothers’ now, doing lead vocals. The CD is being made in CA. So now he will have a CD to submit to the Music Under New York audition.
The four-men Danish band ‘Brothers Moving’ came to say ‘hi’. Their guitarist showed me that he bought an amp in accordance with my suggestion. “Guitar Center?”, I asked. “Sam Ash”, he replied.

Theo Eastwind, the singer/song-writer/guitar player was on his way to busk up town. Soon he and his wife will take a trip to Hawaii, where his wife is from. Theo was wearing newfangled white glasses.

Natalia, the teen-ager, said ‘hi’. She was wearing a “fight breast-cancer” badge.
A guy told me that he thinks the theme to the TV show “Dr. Who” would sound good on the musical saw.

Colin Huggins, the guy who schleps an upright piano to the subway, came to say ‘hi’. He now has tap-dancers dancing to his playing in the subway. He said he feels like in order to attract attention in the subway he needs to put on a show. You would think a piano in the subway would be a visual attraction on its own, but Colin feels it’s not working that way. Colin couldn’t stay long to chat because he was on his way to his day-job with the Joffrey Ballet company, but he said he will be playing in the subway at 6pm this evening.

The Danish Band ‘Brothers Moving’ were playing up stairs. Barbara the guitar player/singer and her friend who also plays guitar and sings with her on the trains stopped to chat. One of them went upstairs to tell the Danish Band that I am leaving and they could have my spot. Buskers look out for one another.
Barbara told me that the police doesn’t bother buskers on the trains so much any more because of a law suit that was won by a pan-handler about 1/2 a year ago.

On my way home I saw a Chinese erhu player on the platform.