NYC Musical Saw Festival 2008

I am the founder and director of the annual NYC Musical Saw Festival. This is the 6th year in which the festival took place in Astoria, NYC. The first festival had 5 musical saw players participating. This year we had 30 musical saw players. My, how the festival grew! Participating saw players came from Germany,…

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Please Vote for Me

Thanks to all the wonderful people who voted for me in the previous round – I made it to the next stage in the reality TV show I am participating in: ‘NYC Soundtracks’. This is a TV show about NYC subway musicians, but it’s in the form of a competition. The winner gets to perform…

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Missing in Action

As I was playing at the Music Under New York spot at the Union Square subway station, Zina, the painter, brought me a large replica of the caricature she made of me. Painter: © Zina Saunders Arnold, the messenger guy, told me that Albert, the other guy who works as a messenger and who is…

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I’m on reality TV – please vote for me TONIGHT

Dear friends, I’m on a reality TV show about subway musicians. The winner gets to perform at Madison Square Garden! Please vote for me – your help would be greatly appreciated. When: any time starting TONIGHT at 8:30pm – for 24 hours (until Monday night). where: http://msg.com/soundtracks/saw-lady.html Photo: Chad Batka I was told that you…

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Lady Steps Out of Limo to Put $300 in Buskers Hat

As I reached the subway station, on my way to playing in the subway, a lady looked at me and said “I saw you on channel 13!”. That’s so nice. When I got to the Times Square subway station there were two hoofers (tap dancers) on the platform. Each one of them had their individual…

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Madison Square Garden

One of the funnest gigs I recently did was playing the musical saw during one of the breaks at a WNBA game at Madison Square Garden. I had a sports themed day: in the morning I had a recording session in Brooklyn for an album celebrating the centanial of the song ‘Take Me Out to…

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Don’t Swipe

I was away from playing in the subway for 3 weeks (on account of playing at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC). As I got to the turnstile at the subway station today, I took out my Metro Card and was about to swipe it to go into the station. An MTA worker wearing an…

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Monkey – Journey to the West

The furthest south I’ve ever been in the USA is Charleston, SC. What brought me there was a fantastic show at the Spoleto Festival, which had a part for the musical saw in the score (The score of the show is by Damon Albarn. Most people might be familiar with Damon from his work with…

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He Made Me Laugh

While playing at the Union Square subway station a man with a great sense of humor interviewed me on camera. I have heard many musical saw jokes, but this guy is original and intelligent – he kept making me laugh. Thank you, RenatO!

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Subway Musician Comic Strip

Every now and then I come across a painting or a poem about a subway musician. But how about a comic strip? copyright Derek Lieu, “Kick in the Head” blog, printed with permission Cartoon artist Derek Lieu says in his “Kick in the Head” blog in the post about this comic strip: “I’m thinking specifically…

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