Street Performers

City Cracking Down on Performers in Washington Square Park

2011-12-05T00:46:00.001-08:00

City Cracking Down on Performers in Washington Square Park

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/nyregion/city-cracks-down-on-washington-square-park-performers.html

Central Park ban angers NYC buskers

2011-09-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14963159

BART Musician Adam Young Shares Tips on Busking for a Living

2011-07-13T14:44:00.001-07:00

BART Musician Adam Young Shares Tips on Busking for a Living

by Caroline Chen, blogs.sfweekly.com
July 7th 2011 11:46 AM Adam Young was playing in the Powell BART station yesterday. But it wasn't the Owl City lead singer Adam Young. The Bay Area's own Adam Young is a cellist who has just started his first year at the S.F. Conservatory of Music. During the summer months, he busks in BART stations to earn his living.

When Young plays, he is serene -- his eyes half-closed, he cradles his cello as his bow weaves back and forth. Yesterday, in his black-and-white outfit, Young matched the monochrome floors and walls of the Powell BART station so that he seemed more like an art installation made for the space than a street musician.

As a BART regular, Young has a small local following. As I watched him play, a little old lady stopped to listen and began rummaging through her handbag. After dropping a donation in Young's cello case, she shuffled up to me and whispered, "Look how hot he is!"

But there aren't always adoring fans in the BART, and there are bad days as well as good ones. Young tells SF Weekly that it's important to have a cheerful attitude when busking.

See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zU3xnXQOSY

When did you start playing the cello?
I began playing cello when I was 10 years old in the Davis Joint Unified School. As soon as I started playing, it was like learning a foreign language, a secret language. I was really into it, I loved it. My parents had to get me to stop practicing and go outside to play with friends or to eat dinner.

What do you like about playing in the Bay Area?
I've been in the Bay Area for about three years, two of which I took off from school to be part of the classical music industry here in the Bay Area. I moved from Portland, where I was studying cello, but the competition wasn't fierce enough. Since I've been at conservatory, every subject has improved tremendously. Also, my interests have been further developed, and I'm exploring new territories, new crafts.

Such as...?
I recently started taking ballet, which is something I've always wanted to do, and that's something that's really wonderful about being in the city -- you can find these amazing opportunities. I've also been doing some sewing, my own clothes and stuff, a lot of sweaters, jackets, shirts ... no pants yet.

Do you still want to be a professional cellist?
You know, it always has been [my goal to be a professional cellist] and one thing that I envy about people who haven't had something that they've wanted to do their whole life is that they have so many things to explore.

Now I'm starting to be more interested in other tracks; I really like sculpture and building and sewing and origami and drawing. Cello as a profession isn't really lucrative -- you never really know where your next gig is going to come from, or [if] you're going to make that audition or when auditions are going to be available. So I've been thinking about maybe going into architecture.

How long have you been playing in the BART?
I've been playing in the BART since high school, and I've been busking since I can remember. I just remember being in a park with my parents as a little kid, and taking my cello out to play.

What have you learned from playing here?
Playing in public has affected two major things. My performance anxiety, because I'm just playing for hundreds of people a day. The other thing is my sound production. See that wall over there? [gesturing to the back of the BART station] It's way farther than the back of a concert hall. And so I'm sitting here trying to get my sound to ping off the back wall so a person over there can get a chance to listen to it and potentially tip me.

How much do you make on an average day?
Oh my goodness, it's so different, always. It's good enough that I don't have to flip burgers -- it's more than minimum wage. But it's hit or miss. Weekends are usually good, and days after festivals. The day after Pride was one of my best days all year.

Sometimes you get people that give you only change, and sometimes you get people who give you fives or tens or twenties. I've even gotten a 50 once before. And so you just never know. Yesterday I played for two hours and only made $10, but today I played for about two hours and I probably made over $60.

What advice would you have for a musician who's just started busking?
Don't let the hard times get to you! You can sit out here and be ignored by the people who are walking by. They aren't obligated to pay attention to you, and that can be really disconcerting. You're out here really trying to work hard and really putting your emotions into it and they can pick up on that. So if you're happy, they can feel it, and they can feel when you're angry too.

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Original Page: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2011/07/adam_young_street_musician.php

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Council draws up code of conduct for buskers

2011-07-04T23:57:00.001-07:00

Council draws up code of conduct for buskers

by DAVID McCANN, news.scotsman.com
June 27th 2011

• Owen Moore says complaints are rare when performing on the city's streets.

Under the council-devised scheme - dubbed 'Hit the Right Note' - street entertainers will soon receive credit card-sized guidance notes outlining best practice for considerate busking in Edinburgh.

If they fail to comply, the matter can be referred to the courts and equipment seized.

Advice will be offered on playing music at respectable volumes and include instructions to move to another pitch at least 50 metres away after every two hours.

Buskers will also be urged not to perform near doorways or cashpoints and should stop performing when requested by "anyone who is inconvenienced or disturbed" by the entertainment.

Unless permission is granted by the council or Fringe Festival chiefs the use of amplifiers will be banned.

David Beckett, convener of the City Centre Neighbourhood Partnership, said: "Edinburgh is a vibrant and colourful city all year round and street entertainers add great character to our city streets. However, noise from buskers can cause distress, particularly in highly populated residential areas of the city centre.

"Noise nuisance from busking is one of the top complaints from local residents and the council has been working with police to address the problems associated with this type of antisocial behaviour. We want to ensure buskers have good, clear advice so everyone can enjoy a pleasant and entertaining local environment."

Owen Moore, 24, a professional busker and student who often performs on the Royal Mile and Rose Street, welcomed the move.

"It seems to me there's little difference from what they are doing now but I'm pleased there will be some clarification about busking here," he said.

"To be honest it's pretty rare that somebody does complain because Edinburgh is a tourist city and a pretty noisy city.

"As long as it's enforced as it is now, which seems to be in keeping with what the card says, I won't have too many complaints."

Inspector Dianne Bruce, who spearheads the city centre policing team, said: "Entertainers such as buskers add real val

ue to the atmosphere of Edinburgh City Centre, and are fantastic for furthering Edinburgh's tourism industry.

"We know, however, that it can sometimes be a different story for the local residents and business workers who can be disturbed by noise and crowds gathering.

"We came up with the idea to provide this guidance so residents and workers can have a peaceful atmosphere, while preserving Edinburgh's tradition as a hub for fantastic entertainment."

IN TUNE WITH CONSIDERATION

DO: Busk only between 9am and 9pm. Play at a considerate volume so passers-by can hear you but nearby businesses and residents are not disturbed. Move on to another pitch at least 50 metres away after two hours. Stop busking if anyone complains about what you are doing, or if asked by a police or council officer

DON'T: Set up your pitch within 50 metres of another busker. Use amplifiers unless permission has been granted by the council or Fringe. Spread out equipment or other items that could get in pedestrians' way. Busk near doorways or cashpoints. Act or speak aggressively to people asking you to stop.

Original Page: http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Council-draws-up-code-of.6791803.jp

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Buskers asked to keep the volume down

2011-07-04T23:56:00.001-07:00

Buskers asked to keep the volume down

m.stv.tv | Jun 27th 2011 11:58 AM

See Video: http://www.vimeo.com/null

They are an integral part of life in the capital and festoon the streets of the city every summer but now buskers in Edinburgh are being asked to be more considerate in an anti-social behaviour crackdown.

The campaign Hit the Right Note will provide advice to buskers playing in the city centre, asking them to only play between 9am and 9pm, stay away from doorways or cash machines and stop busking if asked to.

The City of Edinburgh Council, who have organised the campaign with Lothian and Borders Police, said that residents are often disturbed by the noise coming from street performers.

After an hour on one spot, performers will have to move to another location at least 50m away and amplifiers cannot be used.

Councillor, David Beckett, convener of the City Centre Neighbourhood Partnership, said: “Edinburgh is a vibrant and colourful city all year round and street entertainers add great character to our streets. However, noise from buskers can cause distress, particularly in highly populated residential areas of the city centre.

“Noise nuisance from busking is one of the top complaints from local residents and the Council has been working with Police to address the problems associated with this type of anti-social behaviour.

“We want to ensure buskers have good, clear advice so everyone can enjoy a pleasant and entertaining local environment.”

Buskers will be handed credit card-sized information with the new guidelines printed on them.

Inspector Dianne Bruce, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: “Entertainers such as buskers add real value to the atmosphere of the city centre, and are fantastic for furthering Edinburgh’s tourism industry.

“We know, however, that it can sometimes be a different story for the local residents and business workers who can be disturbed by noise and crowds gathering.

“We came up with the idea to provide this guidance so that residents and workers can have a peaceful atmosphere, while still preserving Edinburgh’s tradition as a hub for fantastic entertainment.”

Original Page: http://m.stv.tv/news/scotland/east-central/260306-buskers-asked-to-keep-the-volume-down/

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Buskers Bounced from North Division Street

2011-07-04T23:55:00.001-07:00

Buskers Bounced from North Division Street

mdcoastdispatch.com | Jun 24th 2011
OCEAN CITY- A street performer accused the Ocean City Mayor and Council of retaliation this week as they passed an ordinance to restrict performance of any kind on the Boardwalk at North Division Street due to the street’s key role as an emergency access point.
The ordinance prohibits, “exercise or perform such activity or display in any area of the Boardwalk other than within the area encompassed within the extended boundaries of the street ends, except for the area encompassed within the extended boundaries from the south side of the Boardwalk ramp on the south side of N. Division Street to the north side of the Boardwalk ramp on the north side of N. Division Street, where such activity is also prohibited.”
The council approved the ordinance in a unanimous vote. The council also asked Mayor Rick Meehan to sign the ordinance as an emergency ordinance and he concurred. The law went into effect has soon as the mayor signed, which he did on the spot during the Mayor and City council meeting on Monday evening.
Spray paint artist Mark Chase later approached the Mayor and City Council to discuss their final vote. Chase has led the argument that the city has no right to remove performers from North Division Street or forbid them from being vendors because it is against his right to exercise the First Amendment.
“I ponder why the council wishes to abandon American values and make North Division Street a constitutional free zone,” he said.
Chase accused the city council of ignoring his offering in assisting the council in amending the ordinance to eliminate North Division Street and the problems that would incur. Last month, Councilman Brent Ashley and Doug Cymek met with a group of street performers, representing the council in the form of a “street performer committee,” to discuss the busker’s concerns over the rules and regulations proposed restricting the performers on the Boardwalk.
“The so called street performer committee was really nothing more than a joke,” Chase said. “It was you guys trying to validate what you wanted. We feel, as street performers, our concerns were really never taken into effect to begin with.”
Chase said to ban North Division Street as an area of expression is unconstitutional. He added that if the police enforce the ordinance, they will be held liable for deprivation of rights, and the council will be in violation of conspiracy against rights. He added that he felt the council was retaliating against him because he had been the most vocal over the proposed law and the most successful performer on the Boardwalk, which has gone unnoticed.
“You have the rights, but you don’t have the right to take our rights away,” he said. “Just because someone complains or disagrees with our performance or what we are expressing does not allow the police force to remove them from the public or ban them from the public, which I witnessed over the weekend.”
Chase concluded by asking the council to stop hiding behind public safety because that is nothing more than a misnomer then a true agenda to remove the successful expressionists from the city.
Councilwoman Margaret Pillas responded to Chase by saying the town’s effort in public safety, egress, and access has been active long before he had come to Ocean City.
“This is an effort that has taken place for years and years on record before there was you doing your thing on the Boardwalk,” she said.
Councilman Doug Cymek referred to the two hour and 45 minutes that he and Ashley spent meeting with a group of street performers to address their concerns in response to Chase’s accusation that the town ignored him and others.
“I know you hang your hat on your First Amendment right, but the community and our people we are here to serve and protect have a right to have an emergency access to the Boardwalk and the beach unobstructed,” Cymek said. “So, as you’ve heard tonight, we’re not letting anyone set up under those arches anymore, it’s not just artists.”
Mayor Rick Meehan made clear that Chase’s comment over the council ignoring his concerns was his own opinion.
“I suggested the committee and the reason I did that is so that you would have direct dialogue with members of the council that were representing us and they were to bring back information to us and hopefully in that atmosphere have open dialogue,” the mayor said.
Meehan added that the council recognizing Chase’s success is not retaliation but a compliment, nonetheless because large crowds gather around his area of his performance creates an issue if it is the area of emergency access.
“Why don’t you respect that…if you were out on that beach and you were in the midst of a massive heart attack you would appreciate that access,” Cymek concluded.
In an email submitted to The Dispatch on Wednesday Chase wrote, “I can promise you, Americans will have their freedom of expression returned on North Division Street and all areas of the city…simply have patience while Ocean City continues to make impractical, unconstitutional, and immoral actions of segregation and discrimination toward street performers.”
Chase said that on Tuesday June 21, the same day the council eliminated North Division Street from performances of any kind in an emergency ordinance, he was shut down in a non-designated area when the restaurant Caruso complained to the police that they smelled Chase’s spray paint and it was bothersome. Chase said that he hadn’t fully set up his performance area nor had he used his paints yet at that time.
“The police force has over stepped their bounds by forcing artists, magicians, and any form of expression to be removed for any form of complaint whether founded or unfounded,” Chase wrote. “I can guarantee the police will arrest me this summer unless they begin to back down and stop enforcing unconstitutional laws that the council haphazardly make.”

Original Page: http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/articles/2011/06/24/Top-Stories/Buskers-Bounced-from-North-Division-Street

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Vendors, performers flout law, crowd Strip walkways

2011-07-04T23:54:00.001-07:00

Vendors, performers flout law, crowd Strip walkways

lvrj.com | Jun 30th 2011

Edgar Saul jolts when he hears the siren.

He chose this spot on the pedestrian walkway between the Tropicana and Excalibur specifically for the vantage point it gave him of the Strip. He'll see the cops coming, and he will have a chance to run.

False alarm, this time. It's only an ambulance trying to cut through Strip traffic. Saul laughs, his teeth a gleaming white strip in his suntanned face.

He cheerfully returns to breaking the law.

"Water, $1," he calls out to passing tourists. Every fifth or sixth person stops, digs in pockets or purse for change or peels dollars off of wads of bills. In return, Saul reaches into his blue cooler and pulls out a dripping, icy bottle of water. Drinking it on a scorching day like this recent Thursday must feel like hitting a royal flush.

Saul, 39, is one of a small army of unlicensed vendors that has invaded the Strip's pedestrian walkways in recent years. Sometimes they line up three or four in a row, their attempts to hawk their illegal wares, play their music or perform drowning each other out.

Hawkers, water pirates, criminals. Buskers. Unlicensed vendors. Whatever you call them, they were largely nonexistent during the Strip's adult Disneyland heyday. Now, they are a sign of the times.

When the first pedestrian walkway was built at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard in 1994, it significantly improved traffic flow and decreased pedestrian accidents, Clark County public works director Dennis Cederburg says.

Over the years, a total of 14 elevated walkways have been constructed along the Strip. A 1996 county study estimated that as many as 100,000 pedestrians a day will use a walkway during peak hours.

While the walkways help keep problems from developing on the streets, these sky-high sidewalks have come with their own set of issues.

"They're elevated, so some of the criminal element believes they can conduct their activities up there and out of sight," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sergeant Chulawudt Baker says. "They'll see us coming; they'll take off running."

True, Saul says. If he sees the police, he packs up, hides his blue cooler and extra bottles of water in the bushes and waits for the all-clear. When the police are gone, he goes right back to selling his water.

Saul is a jumpy fellow. Originally from El Salvador, where he served in the army, Saul left his country, his wife and three children 11 years ago in search of a better life in the United States. Every week, he sends money home to them.

"Before I left, I prayed. I said to God, 'You're my Father. I need a different life. Give me a chance. If you no help me, I hang myself,' " Saul says.

He started selling water on the pedestrian walkways last year after losing his construction job. He knows it's illegal; Saul's been ticketed and even arrested for doing business without a license.

"Last week, I stayed in jail for four days," he says.

The fine is $200 for such a charge, but Saul has no steady income, assets or even identification. He always ends up back on the walkways selling water, even knowing that the police will come again. The money is too easy. On a good day, he'll make $100.

The walkways are veritable gantlets of people trying to make a buck: dancers, singers, guitar players and vendors. Some sell T-shirts for concerts or sporting events, while others sell sunglasses and tickets to shows. Their presence is taking income away from valid businesses and public coffers because they pay no licensing fees or taxes. The water vendors are unique in that they present a health hazard. Some have run a scam in which they refill empty plastic bottles, glue the lid on and sell it as a new bottle of water, Baker says. When customers open the lid, it snaps and can seem like the seal is being broken for the first time.

There was a time when police didn't hassle the water sellers, says Steve Pleasant, 43. He started hawking bottled water for $1 in 2007 after losing his job in construction. He had taken his wife and kids to the Sirens of TI and saw a guy with his cooler on the Strip.

"I asked him how much he made. The next day, I was out here with my own cooler and water," Pleasant says. That guy told Pleasant he made $200 a day.

Pleasant says he makes $400 to $500 on average during the summer. His best day was last year when he raked in $1,000.

In 2009, a water seller hit a homeless man while they both vied for money on a pedestrian bridge. The man later died of his injuries. After that, Pleasant says, the police started citing him for doing business without a license. Last June, he went to jail 21 days in a row for selling water.

"I've got a stack of tickets at home. I've got a stack of failure-to-file letters from the D.A.," says Pleasant, who has gotten off with little more than a fine for breaking the law.

It's a daily battle for police, Baker says. They receive complaints from casinos and people about aggressive tactics employed by some unlicensed vendors or performers. Right now, there is little to deter people from coming back again and again after getting arrested. The money they make is too good.

But the police are working with the district attorney's office to start prosecuting some of the worst offenders, Baker says. Eventually, they hope that a person's arrest or citation record will follow him so that when he is detained multiple times, the punishment can be increased accordingly.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.

Original Page: http://www.lvrj.com/living/vendors-performers-flout-law-crowd-strip-walkways-124558929.html?ref=929

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Central Park's Strawberry Fields Designated A Quiet Zone

2011-06-06T23:54:00.000-07:00

Central Park's Strawberry Fields Designated A Quiet Zone

by Wendy, blog.mydot.com
May 21st 2011

New York City has set up new quiet zones in Central Park that ban singing and strumming. As you might imagine this hasn’t gone over well with the street musicians in the city. About 20 of them gathered at Bethesda Fountain with cellos and guitars to sing Ava Maria to protest the ban. There are eight zones set up including the Bethesda Fountain and Strawberry Fields, a memorial for John Lennon.

“Strawberry Fields is a memory of an icon,” said lawyer Norman Siegel. “Imagine what John Lennon would have felt if he knew this?”

Geoffrey Croft, president of the NYC Park Advocates said, “This is not Madison Square Garden, this is Bach, and Beethoven being sung from angels.”

Signs went up the end of May warning performers of the new quiet zones. Performers who violate it are being ticketed and one has been arrested.

The Central Park Conservancy says that the quiet zones were put in place due to residents complaints. The combined areas only make up 33 acres of the park with the 850 acres remaining open for playing.

Retired teacher Isabel Berkowitz said, “The less noise the better,” as she sat on a bench in Strawberry Fields reading.

“The city so noisy, this is a refuge to me. If someone was playing Beatles music and it was good, I might stay.”

Original Page: http://blog.mydot.com/post/Central-Parks-Strawberry-Fields-Designated-A-Quiet-Zone.aspx

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Victoria may reform busking bylaw

2011-06-02T21:21:00.001-07:00

Victoria may reform busking bylaw

by Bill Cleverley, timescolonist.com
May 28th 2011

Victoria could be tuning up its busking bylaw.

Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe has suggested possible changes to the city's street entertainment bylaw to both help entertainers pick up more change and to bring relief for merchants growing weary of listening to the same old tunes.

Suggestions include allowing buskers to sell products such as CDs or (in the case of sidewalk chalk artists) postcards of their work; developing a uniform sign that would indicate buskers are allowed to solicit donations and a change to the street entertainers guidelines that would make entertainers move every two hours or at the completion of their repertoire.

"The busker bylaw is always one about management. There are always little flashpoints of concern," said Coun. Chris Coleman, who chairs the community development standing committee that will review the suggestions next month.

"Coun. Thornton-Joe would like to have staff review it [the bylaw] and offer some possible good management strategies."

Allowing the sale of CDs would legitimize an existing practice for some, Coleman said.

"There are a number of people who, in the past, have hawked their wares without a busker's licence who bring in materials

-say carved materials -that's supposed to be their own work but isn't. This is saying if it's your work and it reflects what you're presenting on the street, it should be available."

Coleman said the idea of a standardized sign that says buskers can solicit donations comes because some tourists see the small licence tag buskers must display and think that they are actually being paid by the city.

The idea of having buskers move after two hours or once they've finished their repertoire -whichever comes first -is to bring some relief to established businesses. Current guidelines say an entertainer may play at any one location for a maximum of two hours and then must move at least two blocks away and not return for at least three hours.

"We've said that a busker should be allowed to play for up to two hours. That has been interpreted by some people to say: 'I've got this spot for two hours and I've only got two songs so I'm going to play them over and over again.' That isn't always the image we want. "

Coleman said any changes couldn't be made until next year. bcleverley@timescolonist.com

Original Page: http://www.timescolonist.com/business/Victoria+reform+busking+bylaw/4856625/story.html

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Life as a living statue

2011-05-21T11:31:00.001-07:00

Life as a living statue

guardian.co.uk | May 11th 2011

"The odd idiot might give you a hard time and then keep coming back all day. Most of us get walloped once or twice a year and you get flashed at, groped and touched up."

I like to think I'm unafraid of learning new skills, but after Ed Johnson's warning I start to have second thoughts. No, I am not about to perform in a Soho strip joint. Instead of a podium, I'll be standing on a box, and hopefully the audience will put money into my hat rather than my pants. Yet it seems my debut as a living statue could be almost as risky.

Fortunately, I''ll have protection in the form of Ed's 6ft 4in, shaven-headed ultramarathon-runner colleague Matt Walters, who's been standing still professionally for over 25 years. Attracting the attention I actually want, on the other hand, will take a little more effort. "Try not to let people see your eyes flicker, or your chest move," says Matt. Sadly, unlike him, I'm not blessed with a heart rate of 24bpm – so slow you can barely detect he has a pulse – nor do I have Ed's ability to go for half an hour without blinking.

However, it's not just about standing still. "It's more about what you do when you move," says ex-drama teacher Ed. "If you do something spectacular, it amazes people." Nevertheless, Ed remains so still you'd swear he was made of stone. His realistically unreal costumes take him weeks to make; I have three days. Three days to make a costume, discipline myself to be motionless and work on some audience-pleasing actions. Oh, and fit in some Rada training. "To be any good, you have to get inside a character," says Matt, whose regular Covent Garden incarnation, a chimney sweep, is "a grumpy old man".

By now, the only character I feel like being is a grumpy old woman who would do anything to avoid being a human statue – but Matt has promised to do my makeup, and when I mention I had considered portraying a bride he immediately offers to help with my outfit. The next afternoon, we cover a wedding gown in off-white masonry paint. "If there's a bit of wind the dress will blow about too much; the paint will give it some weight. It will also make it seem more stony," he explains.

Two days later I arrive at Covent Garden, where to my relief there is only one statue out working. At the weekend, especially in summer, all five of the council-approved pitches will be occupied. It's not unknown for performers to stake their claim on the most lucrative ones as early as 3am, which occasionally leads to plinth wars.

"One morning when I came here," says Ed, "I saw a big pile of gold paint and silver paint, and a little drop of blood in the middle – the detritus left by the gold man and the silver man! Last year, someone on the Southbank [the capital's other living-statue site] was hospitalised. Being in your own head all the time without an outlet means things can get out of hand."

These days, both he and Matt work primarily in the less-trying environment of global corporate events – but they do still enjoy the buzz of the street, where statuing in its present form began in the 1980s. So popular is the art now that it even has its own international championship, held every year in Holland. While busking and street theatre originated in the ancient world, stationary performance can be traced to the medieval mystery plays, in which biblical scenes were recreated by groups assembled in silent, static tableaux vivants (living pictures). The Victorians revived the practice as a way of titillating audiences at a time when it was illegal for naked performers to move. In music halls and circuses, sculptures would be represented by women clad in little more than stone-coloured body paint.

For my own Medusa treatment Matt takes me to makeup suppliers Charles Fox (most human statues prepare in a local loo), where he expertly slathers my skin and hair in layers of marble-coloured gunk and lightly sprays black over the top to give it a weathered look. It's uncanny: I have apparently time-travelled to Pompeii on my way to Gretna Green. I catch myself in the mirror speaking, and shudder. As I step onto my plinth, I follow Matt's advice and keep my eyes lowered to hide my blinking and my hands loosely clasped, so they won't sway or ache. I feel strangely relaxed, yet focused, and I'm keen to be seen – a shameless though silent exhibitionist.

I don't have to wait long before a child nervously runs up with 20p. I bow, and his mum takes a picture. Then a fashionably dressed Japanese lad puts some coins into my bowl, so I attempt to blow him a kiss. It looks like I'm signalling to him to shut up, but it seems to work. His mate gives me more money. I curtsey, narrowly avoiding catching my lace glove on the bow of my dress, and they take photos. I begin to feel like a D-list celebrity as families, groups of teenagers and young couples all vie to stand next to me and grin for the camera.

Some approach tentatively, as if I might suddenly attack them; a schoolgirl shrieks with delighted surprise when I touch her hair. One person thinks I actually am a statue (incredibly, given my swaying hands); others call me "it" and most discuss me as if I can't hear. A scouse bloke stops by twice, loudly extolling my merits. He would apparently like a picture of me in his house, as I'm "amazing and creepy". I half expect him to pull me down off the plinth and try to take me up the aisle.

The man to my left has different ideas. "It's the Bride of Chucky!" he shouts. In any other situation, being likened to the murderous mannequin consort in the comedy-horror franchise Child's Play would prompt me to a real bout of 18-rated violence. But all I want to do is smile at his peculiarly apt comment.

Only once do I actually feel like lashing out – when a sassy young woman clicks her fingers next to my face as she walks along, causing me to blink like a demented Belisha beacon. I remind myself of the slaps and punches Ed and Matt have endured and manage to ignore her – along with the teardrops creating rivers of grey sludge on my cheeks – and concentrate on keeping still. That is, until a guy starts talking to me. How rude, I think – until I realise it's Matt, telling me, to my disbelief, that my hour is up.

I feel energised, confident, on a high. Ed and Matt say statuing is addictive and I can understand why – especially when I count my takings. I've made over £20, and that's not all: there's a slip of paper among the coins. It seems someone has also dropped in their phone number. Who knows what they'd have done if I'd been working at that strip joint in Soho.

• Many thanks to Ed Johnson, Matt Walters and the staff of Charles Fox.

Original Page: http://www.guardian.co.uk//lifeandstyle/2011/may/11/living-statue-performers/print?mobile-redirect=false

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Still lives: why it's not much fun being a living statue

2011-05-21T11:30:00.001-07:00

Still lives: why it's not much fun being a living statue

by Tom Meltzer, guardian.co.uk
May 10th 2011

The Silver Wizard won't talk to me. Nor, for that matter, will the Golden Tin Man. This is, in part, because neither speak more than a smattering of English, and in part because both make a living as human statues, a profession in which not talking to strangers is, alongside standing still, more or less the whole point of the job.

To the outside observer, imitating a statue must look like the easiest and least competitive career imaginable. Turn up, get dressed, stand still, get given money by passing members of the public. But the Silver Wizard, if he spoke, would tell you otherwise. Competition is fierce, and he has got a 14in scar to prove it.

The wizard, real name Rumen Nedelchev, a 45-year-old former mechanic from Brest in Belarus, plies his trade on the southern bank of the Thames in central London, under the shadow of the London Eye. It was here that, one morning last year, his bronze rival The Invisible King clubbed the wizard to the ground with a concrete block for the simple crime of setting up his plinth in a prime location. After surgery, Nedelchev spent more than three months in hospital. Earlier this week, the king – 37-year-old Dechko Ivanov – was sentenced to a minimum of four and a half years in prison.

It is, undeniably, a crowded market. Yesterday, on the South Bank, the wizard and the tin man jostled motionlessly for attention with a Roman centurion, the Queen, a not-very-convinving Scream and a very sweaty Spiderman. Some of these buskers appear to be taking considerably less than the minimum wage. Though professionals earn upwards of £200 a day, making a living as a living statue is much harder than it looks.

David Ferguson, 42, of Statueman Living Statues, has been standing still professionally for 18 years. "To actually do it full time is quite strenuous. You have to be in control of every muscle in your body." He and his wife Pamela have never busked, but perform exclusively for corporate events and parties, coated head to toe in gold, silver or bronze body paint. "We do up to an hour and a half per set. That's the maximum you could do."

"There's a difference between buskers and professionals," he explains, when I tell him the Silver Wizard's story.

"It's extremely hard. There's a lot of people that do it but there's very few that do it professionally."

Original Page: http://www.guardian.co.uk//uk/2011/may/10/living-statues-no-easy-job/print?mobile-redirect=false

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Do My Job: Steph and Shawn are street performers

2011-05-21T11:05:00.001-07:00

Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL HomeDo My Job: Steph and Shawn are street performers

hawaiinewsnow.com | May 20th 2011 10:00 PM

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -

Stand still for hours, don't talk and don't move. It's certainly not the easiest way to make a living.

Street performers have been around for years in busy Waikiki and, as we found out, if you don't have the talent and the moves, you don't make the money.

Our quest took us to Waikiki to where the best of the best do their thing. That's right in front of the International Market Place on Kalakaua Avenue.

Our teacher to do this particular job is probably someone you've seen. Part cowboy, part robot and kinda shy: "Silver Man".

"Okay, you can show my face on camera", he said.

His real name is Wesley and he's the man in these parts when it come to putting on a good show.

We asked him, " If you're good, then you're here?".

"Yeah", Wesley answered, "We just kinda look out for each other".

His advice for us was this: "They really feel your vibe so, if you come out with a bad attitude, they won't even stop and say ‘Hi' to you".

Wes should know. He's been at this for over a decade.

The primetime hours are from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.. It attracts the older people and the kids.

Wes elaborated, "You'll notice little kids come up and they'll look and, if they can feel the vibe, they'll come and have fun".

Wes is a former U.S. Marine and, that night he took charge of us.

Shawn asked him, "Wes, if we show you our costumes, could you give us some tips on it?".

"Okay", Wes responded, "let's see your costumes".

We asked, "Will this stuff work? I've got a gold jacket and a gold hat."

Wes explained to us, "It all depends on your theme". "You got a theme?", he asked.

Shawn detailed, "I got a suit. She's got a flasher thing." "Oh, boy, is that my theme?", Steph asked, laughingly.

Shawn checked with Wes, "If she's gold and I'm silver, is it o.k. if we come by you?".

"That's fine", Wes assured.

We ducked into an alley ...

and turned into ...

"I'm not sure", Steph admitted. "What are we?"

There never quite was an answer to that very question. Shawn sported a silver mask, top hat, silver tie, silver coat, pants &, of course, some silver gloves. Steph's mask was gold & her attire was all basically the gold counterpart to Shawn's outfit.

Wes gave our costumes the thumbs up & gave us a few pointers.

Then it was time to get busy. Or, get…still.

"What's the coolest part of it?", we asked Wes. "The interaction with the people" was his answer. "A good performance means good tips", Wes noted.

So, it was time to bust a move.

Steph dazzled onlookers with some "isolations" work and other popping moves. Movement travelled along her arm, to her hand to her other hand, then along her other arm.

Shawn impressed others with what he calls the "Cloud 9": fancy footwork that makes him look like he's floating on air.

In this job, if you lose the rapport with your spectators, they are gone. Audience support makes or breaks your success.

One female spectator praised, "I think they're fun. The guy in the middle is the most fun."

Owen Gough critiqued, "The guy in the middle is a pro, for sure. The other two look kinda hokey with the mask. They don't seem to stand as still as the middle guy".

Gina Snelling quipped, "They're really good".

Terri Boden observed, "You know what she needs? She needs gold body paint."

Gough added, "The other two, I don't know. We might have to take tips out of their can".

Still, when we asked our mentor in this job of jobs, his response was encouraging: "Awesome job", he said.

"But don't quit your day jobs", he advised.

Copyright Hawaii News Now 2011. All rights reserved.

See Steph and Shawn make sausage.

See video of their work with city groundskeepers.

See video of their work at Sea Life Park.

Original Page: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/14688937/do-my-job-steph-and-shawn-are-street-performers?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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Sword-swallowing busker ends up on the sharp end of the law

2011-05-18T16:05:00.001-07:00

Sword-swallowing busker ends up on the sharp end of the law

by Greg Thom, heraldsun.com.au
May 13th 2011

A SWORD-swallowing Melbourne busker claims he was confronted by six heavily armed police who screamed at him to drop his "weapon", in a bizarre city encounter.

The alleged incident raised questions over the efficient use of scarce police resources and whether the force was being used "as a sledgehammer to crack a walnut".

Fire juggler Aerial Manx, 25, said he'd just finished a performance in Swanston St about 6.50pm last Saturday when he was surrounded by police with two Melbourne City Council officers in tow.

He claimed one police officer unclipped his revolver while repeatedly screaming "drop the knife, drop the knife".

"I was literally just licking my knife clean, which I do after every performance, when I looked up and I was surrounded," Manx said.

"It was pretty crazy."

Manx said the police attitude changed dramatically when they realised he was not a threat.

After he sheathed his sword and doused three of his flaming torches, two council officers issued him with infringement notices totalling $1500 for not having a busking permit.

Manx said the incident was seen by a fellow busker and several other people.

"It was obvious I was not a threat. I'm just a street performer trying to entertain people," he said.

"The police body language indicated they didn't like being called in to such a trivial matter."

He has refused to renew his permit because of claims the council was not doing enough to protect buskers on the street.

City of Melbourne CEO Dr Kathy Alexander said it was illegal to busk without a permit and repeated attempts had been made to get Manx to obtain one.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed at least two officers attended.

"Council officers requested we attend as they had already asked him (Manx) to move on and he'd refused," she said.

Original Page: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/busker-in-bizarre-police-confrontation/story-e6frf7l6-1226055065408

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How much does it cost to enforce busking law=?UTF-8?B?Pw==?=

2011-05-18T16:04:00.001-07:00

How much does it cost to enforce busking law?

by Cathy Davis, canada.com
May 10th 2011

Re: 'Busking bylaw necessary and important' (Daily News editorial, May 4)

I too was tried in the Nanaimo courthouse on November 24, 2010. After spending 14 years of my life sitting on committees and going to council meetings, last year I decided not to buy a busking license in Nanaimo. I fought long and hard for auditions, so that the public and local merchants could be assured of quality entertainment on our prominent city streets. Since 2004 when Bylaw 5723 was passed into law, I have seen unlicensed buskers, untalented buskers in prominent spots throughout our downtown.

Most musicians that I know in Nanaimo refuse to participate in the license process because they don't want to be associated or identified with one string buskers or one song buskers.

The initial bylaw was designed to improve Nanaimo's busking scene, to raise the bar so that buskers would be an asset and not a disgrace. Nanaimo bylaw officers have made a mockery of the original bylaw by allowing people with no talent or social skills to take over the busking scene in our city. These people are not being harassed or ticketed. If you want proof I have it.

Your article speaks of altercations between buskers, of physical and verbal abuse. Where is your proof of that? Your job as an editor is indeed to have an opinion; however your opinion should be based on fact. It is not. You have shown no evidence.

More importantly the public needs to know the cost of this bylaw and its enforcement.

We have bylaw officers wandering around without ticket books and then driving to the north end to deliver tickets a day later. We have the cost of staff's time, council's time, the cost of the court, two city lawyers, a bylaw officer and a business license inspector and a security guard for wages while sitting in the court. Nanaimo city council has a big treasure chest of taxpayer's money to take buskers like Tim Lander and I to court. Tim and I must defend ourselves.

The real cost though, is the fact that Nanaimo has become notorious for having the most absurd bylaws in the world.

Do your research, Daily News, and find out how much this is costing taxpayers. Then compare it to the cost of the loss of face that happens every time a tourist sees a terrible busker at Diana Krall Plaza.

Cathy Davis

Nanaimo

Original Page: http://www.canada.com/much+does+cost+enforce+busking/4756416/story.html

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Opera busker 'too loud' for mall

2011-05-18T16:03:00.002-07:00

Opera busker 'too loud' for mall

au.news.yahoo.com | May 12th 2011 3:00 AM

Fiona Mariah has been touted as Australia's own Susan Boyle, but the City of Perth is threatening to ban the busker and television talent show contestant from performing because she is too loud.

Shoppers stopped in their tracks yesterday as her classical voice poured into every nook and cranny of Murray Street Mall.

The judges on Australia's Got Talent were similarly impressed on Tuesday night, praising her performance. She received a standing ovation and is likely to go through to the semifinals next week.

But the city council has told the powerful opera singer, who studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, that if she continues to sing such high notes she will be banished from city streets.

Five local businesses have complained the volume was interfering with their trade.

Mariah said it was not practical to sing softly in the opera genre.

"It's the high notes which make an opera singer," she said.

PCC acting CEO Peter Monks said the city encouraged buskers because they added interest and variety to the streets.

"However, one person's opera is another person's noise," he said, adding Mariah had breached the noise regulations attached to the busking licence.

"The City of Perth has to be mindful of the interests of retailers and visitors," he said.

Onlookers, however, said her voice was "beautiful".

Watch the video at

Original Page: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/9359643/opera-busker-too-loud-for-mall/%3e/

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Last man standing - life as a living statue

2011-05-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

Last man standing - life as a living statue

telegraph.co.uk | May 14th 2011

Growing competition between the artistes claimed its first victim when Dechko Ivanov, also known as "The Invisible King" was sentenced last week for an assault on Rumen Nedelchev, or "The Silver Wizard". The flatmates, from eastern Europe, had fallen out after the Wizard was accused of stealing the King's prime spot under the London Eye.

To find out the pressures of life on a pedestal, a stony-faced Ben Leach dressed as sculpture of Lord Nelson and spent three days positioned close to where the battle took place. Here is his column.

2.00pm: Near London's South Bank I meet Jason Maverick, a street performer who has been runner-up in the World Championship of Living Statues. He applies a mixture of water-based grey and green face paints, then I get into costume: shoes, tights, trousers, jacket, itchy wig, and hat. The bemused faces of passers-by suggest the transformation is complete.

2.45pm: I choose a spot between an impersonator of the Queen, whose act seems to involve not much more than sitting down and waving, and a living statue in sunglasses. I ask Jason for his advice before I start; he tells me to keep my eyes closed 'unless you find it easy not to blink'. As I've never seen a photo of me with my eyes open I presume that I don't.

3pm: I climb aboard the polystyrene 'plinth' that Jason has given me, turn so that I overlook the River Thames, shuffle around a bit to find a pose that's comfortable, and, finally, close my eyes. My life as a 'living statue' has begun. The effect is instant. Within seconds a group of teenagers swarm around me, shouting "make him laugh", "tell a joke". Here is my first challenge. In fact the jokes are so bad I don't even break into a smile. I'm a natural. Several more groups try their luck. Some are complimentary ("that's cool"), some less so ("he's rubbish") and others border on threatening ("push him over"). After what seemed an age I decide to take a quick break. I check my watch. Three-and-a-half minutes have passed. Not as easy as I thought.

3.05pm: I climb back on the plinth. Attempt number two. Again I close my eyes and detect an instant reaction. A group of tourists gather around me. One decides he would make a better living statue than me and decides to stand next to me to prove it. He lasts around 15 seconds before his friends wander off, laughing. Another victory.

3.30pm: I go through another round of attempts to make me laugh and provoke me. I'm impressed (and fooled) by only one of them – a young boy who tells me my flies are open. It takes me at least 15 seconds to work out how to react; do I check, or not? I decide to and move my one free arm (forgetting that Lord Nelson only had one arm) to check. My flies are closed. I look up and notice the kid is still there. He's laughing.

4.45pm: My first attack of pins and needles. It starts in my right foot and within around 15 minutes has spread to my thigh. I wonder whether if I remain motionless it will stop before it paralyses my entire body – and whether people would be more or less generous with their donations if that happened.

5pm: The Silver Wizard and The Golden Tin Man have left. As their professionalism is such that they have been known to start work at 4.30am to get the best spots it suggests to me that it is time to leave. I count my earnings; £15.12 for two hours work – time to reconsider my career.

5.05pm The day ends on a high note. As I start packing up my things a tourist approaches me with his son and says: "Excuse me, my son liked your show. He thought it was very nice."

DAY TWO

10am: I arrive at a rather deserted looking South Bank and have the dubious honour of beating The Silver Wizard to work. After 45 minutes of make-up and costume I am ready for another day of doing very, very little, and choose my spot beneath the London Eye.

10.30am: A group of eastern Europeans has arrived. They sit on the grass and talk for a while before changing into costume. At one point they all look towards me but none of them say anything and I am left alone. One of them then gets into the aforementioned Queen costume, another dresses as a chicken, the third as a Roman centurion, and the fourth remains sitting on the grass. The Silver Wizard and The Golden Tin Man arrive separately at around the same time.

11.30am: I notice some new characters arrive; a chameleon on a bike, a dancing Teddy Bear, and a bronze living statue. Things are starting to get competitive. But after a successful first day I'm confident I can rise to the challenge. I take a deep breath. Let the battle commence. After around 30 minutes I stop and check my earnings; 48p. I need to up my game.

Midday: It's starting to get windy – so windy, in fact, that my hat blows off – almost landing in the Thames. Fortunately, it doesn't quite make it over the barrier and an old lady promptly rushes over to collect it and returns it to my head. I'm not sure how to thank her so I nod my head, sheepishly.

1pm: A group of primary schoolchildren are desperately trying to provoke me. They take it in turns to run up and poke me, before running off laughing. It seems to last for hours. I start to wonder where their teacher is and I look up to find he's there with them. I'm tempted to ask what it is exactly he's teaching them. To make matters worse another child runs past and squirts me with a water pistol. I resist the urge to chase after and rugby-tackle him.

1.30pm: As the weather improves the crowds get bigger and more buskers arrive. To my surprise, some of their acts appear to involve some form of movement. Amateurs. Despite this handicap, one of them – a break-dancer, has attracted quite a large crowd. Next to him there is a group of African dancers. At one point during their act one of them balances his partner upside down on top of his head, without using his hands. No one seems to be interested in what I'm doing anymore. I can't say I blame them.

3.30pm: My hat blows off for the second time today. This time a boy grabs it and runs off with it. He puts it on his head and starts laughing and joking – in sharp contrast to the actions of the helpful old lady. I try to keep my poise and remain motionless. Eventually the child's mother snatches it off the boy and hands it back to me apologetically. I point to my money tin but she ignores me.

5pm: The group of eastern Europeans have all left, signalling that it's time for me to leave too. As I pack up my things another family of tourists approach me and I think the second day is going to end, like the first, on a high note. "Excuse me", the father says. "You have your hat on backwards." I count my earnings: £22.48. Not a great day.

DAY THREE

9.30am: The forecast is for a day of sun, and where there is sunshine there are crowds. The eastern European statues have anticipated this and are already here; dressed and ready for action. I get ready next to The Silver Wizard and The Golden Tin Man. They nod in acknowledgement. I say "good morning" and they smile in return. I test the extent of this new-found camaraderie by positioning myself just a few feet to the left of the Silver Wizard, expecting to be asked to find a new spot. To my surprise they say nothing. In fact they barely bat an eyelid.

10.30am: A group of screaming primary schoolchildren brings my focus back to the job in hand. They are shouting "is he real, is he real". One surprisingly observant member of the group tells them: "He can't be a statue. His eyelashes are too long."

11.30am: The sunny weather has brought out some new characters. Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are here, as are Michael Jackson, two Charlie Chaplins, another bronze statue, and a dog in a box.

1pm: A drunk tramp is sitting on the edge of my plinth and keeps trying to make conversation. He asks me where I'm from and keeps trying to shake my hand. I do my best to ignore him and he walks off murmuring "---- off". I tell myself not to take offence as he probably treats most nonliving statues like this too.

2pm: The physical demands of spending three days standing almost completely motionless are starting to have an effect. I awoke this morning with an aching neck, shoulders and back and I am feeling increasingly uncomfortable. I take a deep breath and remind myself that I am on the home straight.

3pm Somebody walks up to me, stops, looks at me for a few seconds, then says: "Get a job". I manage to resist the temptation to explain to him the irony of his comment.

3.30pm The Southbank is packed. There are tourists and performers everywhere but I am getting less and less attention. I guess when they are surrounded by break-dancers, musicians, comedians and men standing on other men's heads, they are less likely to be impressed by someone who is doing nothing other than standing on the top of a box for hours at a time.

5pm Most of the performers have packed up for the day and the group of eastern Europeans start to do the same. I count my final day's take – £41.23 – and join them. I attempt to make conversation but none of them speak much English. I ask the Silver Wizard how his day was and he nods and smiles. As they walk off, one looks at me and says "You're English? Find better job."

Original Page: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8514073/Last-man-standing-life-as-a-living-statue.html

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Well-known busker hit with fine after using wrong spot

2011-05-09T22:48:00.001-07:00

Well-known busker hit with fine after using wrong spot

by Danielle Bell, canada.com
May 4th 2011

A longtime and well-known Nanaimo busker was fined $25 for a bylaw infraction following a proceeding at the Nanaimo courthouse.

Tim Lander was called under the city's controversial street entertainer bylaw, now under review, for playing his flute in the wrong spot on the wrong day, according to city bylaw officials.

Lander was busking at the Diana Krall Plaza last summer during the incident. Late last month, Lander was issued the fine, which he has up to one year to pay.

City officials said it is "very rare" that buskers are issued tickets since enforcement is a last resort.

"Most matters are resolved before enforcement," said city bylaw manager Randy Churchill. "Our whole attitude is one of compliance. We don't go out looking for people to ticket."

Bylaw officials estimate up to a dozen tickets a year are written under the street entertainment bylaw.

Lander said he was surprised to be fined and frustrated that the bylaw is only just coming under review now.

Many Nanaimo buskers have protested the former bylaw, which has been in place since 2004.

"I got fined under a bylaw that's acknowledged to be out-of-date," said Lander on Tuesday. "I think the community benefits from buskers. It just seems illogical to be penalized for something like this."

The city's controversial street entertainers bylaw is under review, which included a public information meeting last month.

The city wanted community input on a new draft version of the bylaw, which officials say included busker feedback with the aim to be more "busker-friendly."

The draft removes even and odd days to play, which Lander and others feel limits busking opportunities too much.

"It's always confusing," said busker Gary Johnston. "I'd like to see people allowed to play as long a they have to play until someone (complains)."

Changes in the draft proposal also include the removal of the previous audition process for busker licence granting and an increase in fines.

The former street performer bylaw required a $25 fine paid for bylaw injunctions, up to a maximum $2,000.

The new maximum fine would be $10,000. Officials hope to bring the draft bylaw to city council by June.

DBell@nanaimodailynews.com

Original Page: http://www.canada.com/Well+known+busker+with+fine+after+using+wrong+spot/4724096/story.html

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Busking bylaw necessary and important

2011-05-09T22:46:00.001-07:00

Busking bylaw necessary and important

canada.com | May 4th 2011

There's a very long tradition of what we call busking, but even that must change with the times.

Tim Lander, considered a fixture downtown, is well known in some circles for his street music and poetry. While he may give credibility to the terms "bohemian" and "free spirit," Lander is not exempt from the city's street entertainment bylaw.

He was fined $25, probably a considerable amount for him, for playing his flute in public in the wrong spot on the wrong day.

Some time ago a local busker hired a lawyer to challenge the city's busking bylaw. The lawyer, Doug Christie from Victoria, who has been a controversial figure, went on YouTube with a passionate diatribe about how this bylaw cuts into free speech.

Perhaps being rhetorical, Christie in his Internet address asked us to imagine a place where it's illegal to sing in the streets. That's what's happening in Nanaimo, he said.

Perhaps the city's busker bylaw, now being reviewed by the city, is all wrong. Perhaps it ought to be scrapped, or rewritten. That remains to be seen pending the review and the court case, if it is still going ahead.

What we cannot forget is that this bylaw was brought about partly out of concern for buskers, but mainly for reasons of keeping civil order.

Prior to the explosion of homelessness in the city, which started around 2004, there was a small community of buskers who did well at various spots they considered lucrative.

By 2005, various problems arose around busking in Nanaimo that required a solution. Again, perhaps a bylaw isn't the best way, but it has been most effective approach.

The first problem was that some begging and vagrancy was masquerading as busking. Homeless people with absolutely no talent were hitting the streets and making a lot of noise that was in no way entertaining. They were, in fact, a nuisance for the public and merchants.

The other problem that came about happened within the busking community. Those buskers who had been around for some time, and able to provide decent entertainment, would arrive at their favourite spots to find talentless louts horning in on their livelihood.

And the opposite happened. The talentless louts would arrive at a lucrative spot and want to push off someone who may have been busking there for years.

There were instances of verbal and physical altercations that required police attendance. The next step was the bylaw.

The first effort at the bylaw needed some tweaking and after consulting with buskers that was done. But a number of buskers still didn't like the bylaw and the city is seeing if it can be tweaked further.

Now there is a group that wants no busking bylaw. That's no longer an option. Though Lander is right that the community benefits from busking, the bylaw is necessary. We reached a point where the buskers could not regulate themselves, due to a deterioration in social conditions, and something had to be done both for buskers and the community at large.

The bylaw is also a recognition that buskers have a place in our community. There are other jurisdictions in North America much closer to Christie's scenario, where it is almost illegal to sing in the streets by outlawing busking altogether.

This bylaw may not be perfect, and it will likely never satisfy everybody, but the chaos of unregulated street entertainment is no longer an option.

There are many people who like what Lander does. But he still has to follow the law.

Original Page: http://www.canada.com/Busking+bylaw+necessary+important/4724112/story.html

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Green light for buskers

2011-05-09T22:44:00.001-07:00

Green light for buskers

by Paul J. Henderso, chilliwacktimes.com
May 5th 2011

Break out your accordian, your juggling balls or your tap-dancing shoes, the City of Chilliwack is looking for buskers.

City council approved a pilot street entertainer program for 2011 at its Monday meeting.

The program was presented to council by Carolyn Marleau from the city's Parks, Recreation & Culture Department.

"The city has been approached by a number of individuals interested in offering busking or street entertainment,"

Marleau said, adding the department decided it was a good idea to set up a formal program.

The pilot program approved by council would see potential buskers pay a $40 fee after which they would conduct a two- to five-minute audition for a selection review committee made up of a city staff member, a representative from the Downtown Chilliwack BIA and a Chilliwack Cultural Centre stakeholder.

The pilot program is planned for three locations downtown: Central Community Park, Salish Park and the Clock Tower Plaza. More locations could be added later.

Similar programs exist in Kelowna, Vancouver, Nanaimo, New Westminster and Victoria, in addition to specific programs on Granville Island in Vancouver and BC Transit.

Marleau differentiated between panhandling and busking--the latter involves a person doing things such as playing an instrument, singing, dancing or juggling, but they may not directly solicit fees from those watching.

Some of the benefits of the program outlined by Morneau include helping foot traffic in neglected areas and surrounding businesses as well as introducing "a variety of cultural and entertainment experiences."

The street entertainment will be permitted to operate from April 1 to Sept. 30, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Coun. Stewart McLean asked about performances near residential areas that might be disruptive as late as 10 p.m. Marleau explained that amplification will not be permitted without a special exemption and the city's noise bylaw does not come into effect until 11 p.m.

Original Page: http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/Green+light+buskers/4731885/story.html

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Famous clown - Mr. Twister - punched, ticketed after fight in downtown Santa Cruz

2011-04-15T22:49:00.001-07:00

Famous clown - Mr. Twister - punched, ticketed after fight in downtown Santa Cruz

by Stephen Baxter, santacruzsentinel.com
April 14th 2011 4:09 AM SANTA CRUZ - Mr. Twister got mixed up in a fight Wednesday night, Santa Cruz police reported.

The 42-year-old clown, also known as Cory McDonald, creates balloon animals downtown and made international headlines in the mid-1990s for feeding expired parking meters between acts.

About 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, McDonald was in costume and a 17-year-old Watsonville girl asked him to pose for a picture in the bus lanes of the Metro Bus station on Pacific Avenue, said Deputy Chief Steve Clark.

McDonald rolled a suitcase cart with clown equipment, and he was on his way to the restroom in the Metro center, police said. He declined to stop for a photo because he was in a hurry, Clark said.

The girl and a 17-year-old Santa Cruz boy began to touch items in the cart, and McDonald later told police he worried his supplies would be stolen.

McDonald told the teens to stop, and then threw a cup of water in the girl's face, police said.

The girl and the clown then fought, and the girl punched the clown in the face, knocking off his red clown nose, Clark said.

At that point, the boy joined the fight and a passerby flagged down a police officer because the clown was "actively fighting with two juveniles" in Lane 4 of the bus station, Clark said.

Police broke up the fight and ticketed McDonald on suspicion of battery and annoying a juvenile, police said. The two teens, whose names were not released by authorities, were cited for fighting, Clark said.

No one was

arrested in the fight, police said.

Mr. Twister has a storied history in Santa Cruz.

A self-described "licensed latex manipulator," he has made balloon animals for crowds of people downtown in the last few decades. As a gesture of goodwill, he has also put coins in expired parking meters where the space is occupied.

In September 1995, a city parking official saw him put a quarter in an expired meter in front of Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Co. on Pacific Avenue. Parking meters could not be fed without the vehicle owner's permission by city law, and he was issued a $13 citation.

News of the crestfallen clown spread internationally, and the City Council eventually rescinded the ticket and erased the law from the books. Mr. Twister was even given his own parking meter.

He then performed in Hawaii and other locations and moved to Las Vegas in 2004 to attend two years of clown school.

He returned to Santa Cruz in summer 2010.

Mr. Twister video from August, 2010

Original Page: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/rss/ci_17847783?source=rss

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Suits & Sentences

2011-03-20T23:34:00.001-07:00

Suits & Sentences

blogs.mcclatchydc.com | Mar 8th 2011

Boston Globe reporter Donovan Slack on Tuesday succeeded in blocking a former Boston street performer's effort to subpoena her.

In a 14-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell rejected the pleas by performer Bruce Peck. Peck was seeking to compel Slack's testimony, a part of his suit against the city of Boston. Specifically, Peck was trying to find out more about space restrictions imposed by Boston on street performers at the city’s Faneuil Hall beginning in the summer of 2008.

As Judge Howell noted, the Globe in August 2008 published an article by Slack entitled “A Rhythmic, Rocking Cradle of Liberty No More, City Corrals Street Artists at Faneuil Hall.” Wrote Slack:

"City security officers descended on the plaza around nearby Faneuil Hall and imposed new restrictions on the artists who have become accustomed to entertaining the crowds on the historic site, known on tourist brochures as the Cradle of Liberty...[Boston Police Officers] shooed away clowns and caricature artists. They ordered music and dance acts to contain their performances to a single, small patch of brick – measuring 15 feet by 15 feet – near a stand of trees."

Peck said the city's crackdown violated his First Amendment free speech rights. When he sought Slack's testimony, she invoked a reporter's privilege. Judge Howell upheld her, in part because Peck had failed to demonstrate he had tried to his utmost to find the information he sought through alternative means. Wrote the judge:

"The court will only override a reporter’s privilege as a last resort, and the plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that he attempted to identify other sources. He has not provided the Court with specific details regarding efforts he has taken, the number of witnesses he tried to contact, depositions he attempted, or even the number of hours he spent attempting to track down alternate eyewitnesses."

Original Page: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/law/2011/03/judge-cuts-boston-globe-reporter-some-slack.html

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Reporter wins subpoena battle in street performer's suit

2011-03-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

Reporter wins subpoena battle in street performer's suit

rcfp.org | Mar 9th 2011

Keywords: subpoena

A Boston Globe reporter is privileged from having to testify about her coverage of the city’s crackdown on street performers, a federal court ruled earlier this week.

As part of his civil rights lawsuit against the city of Boston, street performer Bruce Peck subpoenaed Globe reporter Donovan Slack in January for deposition testimony intended to confirm observations “concerning the physical layout of the restricted street performance area" and statements made by officials in the Aug. 1, 2008, story by Slack, according to the opinion issued Tuesday by the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Slack now lives in Washington, and was subpoenaed there.

The article reported on then-recently enacted restrictions on street performances near Faneuil Hall, a historic landmark and tourist attraction in downtown Boston. Peck claims the restrictions violate his First Amendment right to free speech by severely limiting the amount of space in which he may perform. Peck wanted Slack to confirm the story’s statement that the restricted area in question was 15-by-15 feet, as opposed to 5,000 square feet, as the city contends.

Slack moved to quash the subpoena, invoking a First Amendment-based reporter’s privilege to refuse to disclose information obtained during the newsgathering and dissemination process.

Applying a two-prong balancing test adopted by federal appellate courts in D.C., the district court concluded that the reporter’s privilege should prevail and block the compelled disclosure of information held by Slack.

Under the first prong, the court evaluated Peck’s need for the information, finding that it weighed in favor of Slack’s compelled testimony.

“The plaintiff seeks Ms. Slack’s testimony solely to confirm the size of the area designated for street performances,” the court said. “This factual issue is certainly critical to the . . . analysis of the First Amendment burdens at issue in plaintiff’s case, and goes to the heart of the plaintiff’s claim against the City of Boston.”

However, under the second step of the reporter’s privilege analysis, the court ruled that Peck was unable to demonstrate that no alternate source of the information exists. Because the designated area changed over time, Peck said determining its size during the summer of 2008 by measurements taken at later times or today is impossible. Moreover, Peck said he tried to obtain the information by searching for and contacting potential witnesses, and by serving discovery requests on city officials.

However, the court noted that these mere “general descriptions of his efforts . . . are insufficient to sustain his burden of showing that alternative sources are unavailable.”

For example, Peck could have tried to obtain the information by approaching local business owners, street vendors, residents, local police responsible for enacting and enforcing the restrictions, or individuals who frequent the area, the court noted.

“The plaintiff may be having ‘difficulty’ in locating sources to confirm that the area designated for street performances near Faneuil Hall was of the size that he contends,” the court said. “He has not demonstrated, however, that he exhausted alternate sources for the information he seeks from Ms. Slack.”

— Kristen Rasmussen, 6:27 pm · Comments: 0

Copyright 2011 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Original Page: http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=11749

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Busk a=?UTF-8?B?wqBNb3Zl?=

2011-03-19T10:16:00.001-07:00

Busk a Move

thelinknewspaper.ca | Mar 8th 2011

Echoes of Johann Sebastian Bach resound through the basement walls of the Saint-Jean-Berchmans church on Cartier Street in Rosemont.

The large, well-lit room is bare except for a cameraman, green-screen, a panel of judges, a registration table, a few onlookers and a man named Charles Muis, who—along with his violin—is the source of the intricately played music flowing through the space.

Muis is in the midst of an audition. He hopes to be granted a membership at Le régroupement des musicians du métro du Montréal—a union that represents the interests and rights of the musicians and buskers that play in the Montreal Metro.

He is the first of many that have registered for the day’s tryouts. Musicians must pre-register for auditions, which take place every Sunday, and will last until everyone that wants a chance to try out has had one.

In order to become a member of the RMMM, musicians must pass an audition in front of a panel of experts. If they are given an OK, they then have the option of paying a $60 fee for an annual membership.

While the RMMM membership card is not a requirement to play music in the Metro, there are certainly numerous benefits that go along with having one.

Stéphane Lemieux, president of RMMM, explained that the union acts as a vehicle for Metro musicians to express their needs and concerns to the Société de Transport de Montréal and vice versa. Lemieux said that joining the RMMM gives musicians increased credibility and, most importantly, a voice.

Lemieux recognizes that the Metro is a shared space and says that the union works closely with the STM in order to ensure that everyone’s underground musical experience is enjoyable.

While he is currently pleased with the RMMM’s collaboration with the STM, Lemieux hopes to take their relationship to the next level. Ultimately, he would like to see the RMMM membership card become recognized as a permit—required for anyone wanting to play music in the Metro.

The RMMM and STM have been meeting frequently and will continue to do so over the upcoming months. Lemieux says to expect significant developments in the next six months—but he can’t reveal anymore than that.

While legal advances are important to him, Lemieux also focuses his efforts on ensuring that buskers are recognized for the important role they play in the lives of Montrealers.

“We want to promote the role of the musician in the Metro, which is to bring people back to their emotions,” said Lemieux. “People pass by on their way to work and school, and we try to bring them back to their feelings.”

Jean-François Lapierre has been playing music in the Montreal Metro since the ‘80s, and has recently taken up the position of vice president of RMMM.

Lapierre is a full-time busker who wakes up very early, often as early as 5 a.m., to schedule his playing slot for the day. He feels similarly to Lemieux in that his main goal is to touch people with his music.

Lapierre takes his job very seriously and hopes that he is not seen as a charity act.

“I’m not looking for generosity,” he said. “The way I see it, I’m proud of what I do, and hope people appreciate it.”

This is the mindset the RMMM is looking for from candidates at its auditions. This year’s panel is made up of musical experts Jean-Pierre Labrèche, Ray Malone and Alexis Cochard.

The panel will ask those auditioning to play two pieces of their choice. They will then use a basic list of criteria to evaluate musicians in various categories. Regardless of how the audition goes, the panel will provide the artist with feedback, and offer them tips on how to improve.

“We try to bring them to a professional level,” said Labrèche.

The judges explained that while they are there to weed out the contestants who “don’t even know which way to hold their guitar,” they aren’t there to be the gatekeepers of an exclusive club.

“It’s not American Idol here. We aren’t here to laugh at anybody or put them down,” said Malone, the coordinating judge. “What we really need to think about are the people who are walking through the Metro everyday—we must ask ourselves, is this acceptable for them?”

The judges explained that they see a wide range of styles and talents at auditions. While obviously honed talents such as Muis are a shoe-in for the card, you don’t have to be virtuoso to get into the RMMM.

“If we see that if in their heart they are a musician, then that is fine with us. “ said Malone “We are not here to judge who is and who is not a musician.”

As the vibrations of Bach in the background switch over to the mellow chords of a folksy acoustic duo, it’s evident that RMMM’s search for true and passionate musicians is off to a good start.

This article originally appeared in The Link Volume 31, Issue 25, published March 8, 2011.

Original Page: http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/1120

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Creative busker turns to pavement art

2011-03-19T10:02:00.001-07:00

Creative busker turns to pavement art

by People, thelincolnite.co.uk
March 11th 2011

A creative form of busking can be found in Lincoln. Street painter Mark* creates artwork on the street maintaining what he believes to be a dying art.

Mark goes on the High Street and replicates popular works on the pavement for everyone to see: “I do it for an income and it’s not for a hobby, but I’m a painter and decorator by trade.

“I travel from town to town. I usually come out two or three days a week and try make most weekends, I use public transport so I’m not really mobile.”

Talking about how he creates his work, Mark said: “They’re copies of old masters from the Renaissance and I use pastel chalks.

“It’s always been a passion for me. I’ll usually take them to different cities and place a completed one next to one I’ll do from scratch.”

To produce a painting, it can take Mark several hours of hard work: “Usually one on the street takes me about four hours, the ones I bring with me tend to take between a day and day and half.”

Mark’s work is not very popular with the authorities, as this week he received a fine.

“For the first time in my life this week I was fined by a community police officer for £75, not for drawing on the streets but for writing the titles on the pavement.”

But Mark says street painting is not as popular as it used to be: “About 20 or 30 years ago they were quite a few street painters, but now most of them are 3D artists.”

3D art is where a street painter will create a piece of art but it will be drawn to have a three-dimensional effect as if the work is coming off the canvas.

*Name has been changed at request in order to protect his identity

Original Page: http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/03/illegal-street-paintings-make-for-pretty-art/

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City buskers okay, but Melbourne less charitable towards street fundraisers

2011-03-19T10:01:00.001-07:00

City buskers okay, but Melbourne less charitable towards street fundraisers

m.theage.com.au | Mar 8th 2011

MELBURNIANS overwhelmingly believe city buskers are doing a great job - they are less enamoured about the proliferation of fundraising in the city.

A new Melbourne City Council report has found 74 per cent of 246 people who contributed to a council survey on street activities ‘‘felt that busking performances in the city over the last 12 months was excellent’’ — only 5 per cent thought the performances were poor.

A council committee will tonight consider a new draft ‘‘street activity policy’’ with the report by council staff recommending the ‘quality’ of a busking performance should not be assessed through an audition process.

But the report hedged its findings by recommending buskers on Bourke Street face an audition process.

The audition would include consideration of; ‘‘ability to entertain and engage an audience’’; ‘‘polished performance’’ and evidence of ‘‘highly developed repertoire eg. does the performer know a wide variety of music and songs’’.

Other characteristics to be measured include; whether the performer is punctual and prepared, the performer’s equipment is in good working order and the ‘‘performer possesses a unique quality, subtle or dramatic, that gives them an interesting edge and makes them unlike other performers’’.

In September Lord Mayor Robert Doyle flagged moves to audition buskers.

‘‘I hope this is the end of the dodgy buskers. You will need a permit, there will be fines if you don’t have that permit, and you will need to go through an audition process if you want a permit,’’ he said last year.

The Draft Street Activity Policy to be considered tonight by the Future Melbourne Committee of the Melbourne City Council also recommends tighter controls on fundraising in the city.

‘‘The number of fundraisers operating in the city should be reviewed and limiting numbers of organisations that were operating in close proximity,’’ the report recommends.

‘‘Although city users felt that fundraising was important, they often felt annoyed by fundraisers approaching them in the city,’’ it said.

More than 70 per cent of people who responded to the council survey said they ‘‘got annoyed with fundraisers in the city’’.

A third felt the number of fundraisers in the city was ‘‘about right’’ and 47 per cent said there were too many.

The council will now consider locations for fundraising and also a definition of what constitutes a day of significance.

Original Page: http://m.theage.com.au/victoria/city-buskers-okay-but-melbourne-less-charitable-towards-street-fundraisers-20110308-1bm3x.html

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Q&A with The Great Morgani

2011-03-18T13:38:00.001-07:00

Q&A with The Great Morgani

cityonahillpress.com | Mar 10th 2011 4:01 AM

Retiring at an early age from the stock brokering business, Frank Lima became a street musician. Not just any street musician — he became the Great Morgani.

His act is more than accordion playing. He is the man in downtown Santa Cruz or at farmers’ markets with the most elaborate full-body costumes covering every inch of his body as well as his accordion. While many know of the walking, accordion-playing spectacle that is the Great Morgani, few know much about him.

City on a Hill Press: How did the Great Morgani become who he is today? What was the turning point?

GM: Ah, “the Great Morgani day”? Actually, boredom. Pretty much, I’ve done my career backwards. I was a stockbroker from age 18 to 35, then I retired, and then I did, well, nothing. I remodeled and traveled and traveled and remodeled for 19 years and then I was bored. So, 14 years ago I put on a funny hat, got my accordion out and played on the street. It evolved into this very strange character of 130 costumes and 42 accordions.

So, what are your crazy costumes inspired by? Why is your face always covered?

When I first started on the street, I just had a funny hat and some boots. My accordion case was my money box. But I just wanted to push the envelope a little more. So I thought, “OK, let’s see. I wonder if I can play with gloves. Then I thought I wonder what would happen if I cover the accordion in material. Well, then the only thing left showing was my face — might as well cover that up too. So it’s all illusion. I always say my act is a sort of alienesque Cirque du Soleil.

You make your own costumes?

Yes. I make all my own costumes on a 1943 Singer sewing machine. It’s as old as I am and probably in better shape. I like dressing in the most elaborate colors. I wish they’d invent new colors for me. People want to see the spectacle!

And this is why they are so extreme?

Yes. I love it when little kids come up to me and ask, “Are you a man or a lady?” and I say, “I’m an alien!” You really can’t tell what I am — I mean, I could be anything. It’s very, very visual, it’s got to be the entire package. It can get a little manic. I mean, now my business card has got to match the outfit and then the stage I stand on, and my money box has also got to be coordinated. Some of the really elaborate costumes can take up to 100 hours to put together.

What kind of events do you usually play?

I love street performing, but I do a lot of private parties too, like birthday parties. What’s terrifying is when I have to play kids’ birthday parties. I think people think that I’m a clown and I’m going to do a lot of interacting with kids. Little kids terrify me. They’re just spontaneous, and you have to be on your toes.

So no kids’ birthday parties…

No. I worked for a non-profit organization called Young at Heart for eight years. It sends musicians to play at nursing homes and convalescent hospitals and retirement homes. The interaction with the people was just incredible. I know tons of old songs and I’d get them to sing along. I had fun doing that.

In costume?!

Oh, no. If I did those in costumes there’d be wheelchairs burning rubber to get out of there! I usually would just wear a top hat and gloves, something that’s a little bit out of the norm. Not something freakishly disturbing.

So costumes and gigs aside, why the passion?

I’ve been in the downtown area now for 37 years. I’m representing myself as a musician performance artist, but I’m also representing the community. I would say now that I’ve established myself here I feel that I’m contributing something — I’m contributing an art form. The ultimate compliment for me is “Your music makes people smile and makes people happy.” That’s what it’s all about, you know?

So it makes others happy. And you?

I’m blessed. I love what I do, the area that I’m in, and it’s all here. You’ve got to pay your dues along the way. What I did as a stockbroker was to have the financial security to do what I want to do today. That sounds very preachy — I’m sorry. I get very preachy sometimes. See that’s Frank Lima, he’s an old poop. The Great Morgani is a lot more fun.

Original Page: http://www.cityonahillpress.com/2011/03/10/qa-with-the-great-morgani/

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Music of The Revolution: How Songs of Protest Have Rallied Demonstrators

2011-03-18T13:12:00.001-07:00

Music of The Revolution: How Songs of Protest Have Rallied Demonstrators

movements.org | Mar 3rd 2011

Music almost always plays a pivotal role in protest movements, with songs and chants unifying dissidents in their rallying cries. Unlike movements of decades past, however, protest music made popular during the recent revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, and beyond spread virally with the help YouTube and Facebook.

TUNISIA

Twenty-one-year-old Hamada Ben Amor, known as El Général—an underground rapper living in the town of Sfax south of Tunis—uploaded a song he had written called "Rais Le Bled" ("President, Your Country") to Facebook on November 7. The rap called out then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali for the problems faced by average Tunisians trying to make a living, including food scarcity, a lack of freedom of speech, and unemployment with lyrics like: "Mr. President, your people are dying/People are eating rubbish/Look at what is happening/Miseries everywhere Mr. President/I talk with no fear/Although I know I will only get troubles/I see injustice everywhere."

See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeGlJ7OouR0

The rap was picked up by local TV station Tunivision and Al-Jazeera and resonated with many Tunisians who quickly began sharing the song. Soon enough, the government blocked the musician’s Facebook page and cut off his mobile phone. Despite the attempt to make his music disappear, El Général’s song quickly became the anthem of the Jasmine Revolution.

El Général then recorded another song of protest call "Tounes Bladna" ("Tunisia Our Country") on December 22. By that point, Ali’s regime had had enough with the musician. El Général was arrested by state security on January 6, taken to the Ministry of Interior, and interrogated for three days.

He tells The Guardian, "They kept asking me which political party I worked for. 'Don't you know it's forbidden to sing songs like that?' they said. But I just answered, 'Why? I'm only telling the truth.' I was in there for three days, but it felt like three years." The public was outraged and began demanding his release. The pressure mounted on the government worked and he was soon released from detention.

Since Ben Ali left office on January 14, El Général’s tunes have continued to serve as a rallying cry for other demonstrators in the Middle East, and his work has proven to be popular among demonstrators in Bahrain.

EGYPT

Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm ("Uncle Ahmed"), a popular voice for the poor who has spent 18 of his 81 years in Egyptian prisons, wrote “The Donkey and the Foal," a commentary about then-president Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal. Musician Ramy Essam, who had taken to playing in Tahrir Square during the protest, set the poem to music and sang the song as Negm stood beside him.

Essam then penned the song "Leave," inspired by the slogans and chants being shouted around Tahrir Square:

“We are all united as one,

And what we ask for,

Is just one thing: Leave! Leave! (x3)

Down, down Husni Mubarak! (x4)

The people demand: Bring down the regime! (x4)

He is going away. We are not going anywhere! (x4)

We are all united as one,

And what we ask for,

Is just one thing: Leave! Leave! Leave! (x4)”

See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPhj5XnPjaU

Amir and Adel Eid from the Egyptian rock band Cairo-Kee gathered up other artists to record "Sout Al Horeya" ("The Voice of Freedom"), which quickly became another anthem for the revolution.

The video for the song was shot entirely inside Tahrir Square during the revolution using a basic digital SLR camera.

“I went down to the streets vowing not to return, and wrote with my blood on every street.

Our voices reached those who could not hear them

And we broke through all barriers

Our weapon was our dreams

And tomorrow is looking as bright as it seems....”

See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgw_zfLLvh8

LIBYA

Traditional songs have also played an important role in demonstrations. Libyans in the liberated eastern parts of the country forged bonds by singing the old national anthem while waving the tricolor flag from before Gaddafi came to power in 1969 as “a symbol of the reinvention of the Libyans.”

In this video, the massive crowd in Beghanzi sings the old anthem to share their pride in being liberated.

ARAB RAP DIASPORA

The Narcicyst, an Iraqi-born rapper living in Toronto, joined with other musicians from the Arabic rap diaspora in North America, such as Omar Offendum, Amir Sulaiman, and Canadian R&B singer Ayah, to record a track called "#Jan25 Egypt," based off the popular hashtag used during the demonstrations in Egypt. In an Al Jazeera English interview, Omar said that it’s a “song of solidarity with the Egyptian people and [a way] to open it up [what’s happening in Egypt] to an audience in the United States.” The song starts:

"I heard ’em say

The revolution won't be televised

Aljazeera proved ’em wrong

Twitter has him paralyzed

80 million strong

And ain't no longer gonna be terrorized

Organized - Mobilized - Vocalized

On the side of TRUTH

Um il-Dunya's living proof

That its a matter of time

before the chicken is home to roost"

See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCbpiOpLwFg

LOOKING FOR MORE MUSIC?

Check out Mideast Tunes, a hub launched by Mideast Youth for the region’s underground and alternative music scenes. You can browse music by country or genre. The site has highlighted a number of other protest songs coming out of the region for its listeners (1, 2).

Abdulla Darrat, co-founder of the enoughgaddafi.com (Khalas) site run by a Libyan exiles (now found at http://feb17.info), put together a "mixtape" featuring hip-hop artists from the region. The mix, called "Mish B3eed," or "Not Far," features songs describing the conditions in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. It can be downloaded here.

Durrat says, “[These musicians and emcees] very successfully put into words a lot of the sentiments that young people in the area are carrying with them, and they're voicing really the struggle of...everyday people.”

Are any popular protest songs missing? Share them in the comments below!

Original Page: http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/music-of-the-revolution-how-songs-of-protest-have-rallied-demonstrators/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Feed:+movementsorg/blog+Movements.org

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The musicians are taking incredible risks

2011-03-13T14:21:00.001-07:00

The musicians are taking incredible risks

freemuse.org | Mar 3rd 2011 On the Music Freedom Day of 2011, Mark LeVine reminds us that “we all owe it to the artists who are risking so much by taking the lead, to stand behind them and ensure that if they are silenced, we will raise our voices as loudly as did they to win their freedom.”

By Mark LeVine

The Ancient Israelites had their trumpets and harps. The French Revolutionaries had their republican hymns. The American civil rights and anti-war movement had Dylan, Baez and Hendrix.

And now, Egypt has Ramy Essam.

Essam, a 26-year old singer from the Nile Delta town of Mansoura, was not well-known before the Revolution, but he is one of Egypt’s rising stars today.

“I watched the images of what was happening at Tahrir Square, and I knew I had to be there, to help however I could,” Ramy explained to me one day as we made our way through the Square, in the midst of ever larger crowds. Ramy had been living in the Square for almost two weeks, in a tent, when we first met. I had only heard of him a few days earlier, when, preparing to leave for Cairo, I came upon a youtube video of him performing a late night show in the Square.

The video was meaningless; the light was too low to get anything but an overly grainy image of the stage, too obscure to see Ramy. But the music was so powerful I immediately downloaded it and sent it to my producer, Anton Pukshansky. Together we created a hiphop drum and bass track underneath the live song, and I scoured the internet trying to find contact information for Ramy.

After close listening to the intro of the video I picked his name out, and after much searching using multiple English spellings for this name, I found what appeared to be his facebook fan page. A few more clicks and I found the facebook page of his producer, Taher Saleh, which unlike Ramy’s fan page could actually receive messages. I immediately facebooked him and hoped he’d respond before I arrived in Egypt. When I first heard the song it had 314 hits, by the time I met Ramy he told me he’d surpassed half a million.

Music is the weapon
Fela Kuti, the Nigerian Afrobeat legend, titled his the album before his death ‘Music is the weapon of the future.’ As a slogan it has become a mantra of sorts for me, as I’ve traveled across the Muslim world for much of the last decade, studying its various music scenes and working with some of the best artists I’ve had the good fortune ever to meet. And if music is a weapon, the political struggles in which artists like Kuti have been involved are very much like wars, with artists among some of the most prominent victims.

It is for that reason that Freemuse is, for me, as important as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch in the global struggle for human rights in all its aspects. If --- we musicians are ‘all one tribe’, we need to be doing a lot more to protect our fellow tribesmen.

Luckily, Ramy didn’t need my help, although if he’d become that overtly political just a few weeks before he might well have wound up in jail or worse. Egypt under Mubarak was an extremely authoritarian society. It was very dangerous openly to take on the regime through art if you lived there. And for this reason most of the younger artists who wanted to be critical of the regime would do so in a coded way, letting the medium itself-like heavy metal or hiphop, styles which have long political traditions within them-shape the message without having overtly to take on the ‘Pharaoh’.

But these genres are also somewhat marginal to mainstream Egyptian culture, and Ramy also clearly wanted to be a rock star, and has the looks and charisma to be one. However, it seemed to me that until the Revolution happened he hadn’t found his voice. At heart, he is a rocker, and even a metal head (or ‘metallien’, as they’re referred to in Egyptian slang). But in order to achieve an audience he felt he had to do much softer and more commercial rock music, closer to the Egyptian mainstream.

The music was fine, but not my cup of tea, and had I heard that first, I might not have looked further into Ramy’s music or expected much in the way of a powerful anthem. ‘Ilhar’, however, was so intense, even with just him on an acoustic guitar it literally rocked the Square. When I asked him about the disparity between ‘Ilhar’ and the music he normally played, and he explained, “In fact I love metal, I love bands like Limp Bizkit or Slipknot. But I do this kind of music to reach a larger audience.”

Drumming and poetry
The revolution, however, had allowed Ramy to come out of his shell, which was probably as good for his soul as it was for the ears of the people of the Square, for whom he’d performed several times a day, almost every day, since his arrival in the Square. With just an acoustic guitar and his increasingly hoarse voice, he might have started out hoping to be John Cougar, but he’d become Bob Dylan. And like Dylan just before his ‘electric’ period, Ramy told me that if the revolution succeeded he hoped that metal would become accepted enough so he could take his music in a much harder direction.

It’s hard to explain how powerful Ramy’s performances were, especially the ones late at night, when only a few dozen or 100 people were still at the Square, desperately in need of a shot of adrenalin and of hope as the uncertainty of the future and the possibility of immanent attack by government goons or even tanks, loomed in the darkness. I know that Egypt’s has been dubbed the ‘Facebook revolution’, and social media like Twitter are being described as having played crucial roles in the successful toppling of Mubarak.

But I can tell you that from Tahrir Square, the most important means of communication was the drum — or rather, the daf and the darbuka — and poetry, whether of the innumerable chants of protesters or the lyrics of the songs many artists came to perform at the Square. Indeed, what made ‘Ilhar’ so brilliant was precisely that Ramy took the best chants and made them into the lyrics for the song.

This shouldn’t surprise us. Facebook, Twitter, myspace and other social media websites and platforms are ultimately “mostly useful for publicity,” Hossam el-Hamalawy, one of Egypt’s most prominent bloggers and a major organizing force at the Square during the protests explained to me.

His body language in saying this suggested he was a bit annoyed already with so many people assuming that the revolution wouldn’t have happened save for Facebook. Rather, it was, he explained, surveying the sea of peple around him as we stood in the Square, precisely the coming together of hundreds of thousands of people, day after day, for weeks, all chanting the same demands, in harmony, with the drums beneath their voices setting the tempo and rhythm, that brought down the Pharaoh.

Music was quite literally the rhythm, the heartbeat of the revolution in Tahrir. As you walked around the Square, every 20 meters or so you’d run into another group of people chanting and banging drums, or pass by another stage with someone leading prayers or offering poetry, or just giving a captivating speech (it seemed that everyone had suddenly been given oratorial skills comparable to Martin Luther King, Jr. or perhaps more relevant, to Nasser). The music was what kept you moving, hour after hour, what provided the rhythm ith which you read the thousands of posters, cartoons, treates and other artistic and political documents that covered most every square inch of the Square.

As Andy Morgan wonderfully shows in his piece ‘From Fear to Fury’ in the Observer, music has been an essential part of the revolutions sweeping all the countries of the Arab world, from Tunisia to Bahrain. In Libya, people are returning to the old national anthem, which Qaddafi retired in favor of an Egyptian marching song. In Palestine, where young activists are planning their own revolution to begin March 15, it’s hiphop rather than rock that’s become the voice of youth, much like in Tunisia, as rappers have spent the last decade writing trenchant critiques of their society in the form of rhymes, adding some of the most innovative beats and productions techniques around to provide the aesthetic-political ambience for their powerful words.

Taking incredible risks
What is crucial as people increasingly take notice of and celebrate the powerful role of music in the Arab revolutions, is that the musicians behind the music are taking incredible risks by becoming the voices of their revolutions. Even in Egypt or Tunisia, where leaders have been toppled, authoritarian systems remain more or less in place and could strike out at prominent voices of critique and dissent at any moment. Even if democracy does flower, majoritarian rule could easily bring more censorship of voices deemed as irreligious or against conservative morality. And if the revolutions fail, the artists will likely be among the first victims of whatever new dictatorship emerges.

So as we all enjoy the stories of how music has become a potent weapon in the struggles for freedom across the Arab world, let’s bear in mind that the situation could change for the worse at a moment’s notice, and that we all owe it to the artists who are risking so much by taking the lead, to stand behind them and ensure that if they are silenced, we will raise our voices as loudly as did they to win their freedom, and those of the peoples for whom they’ve risked so much.

Mark LeVine is a professor of history at the University of California, USA, and a rock guitarist. He is the author of the book ‘Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam’, and of the 9th Freemuse report, entitled ‘Headbanging against repressive regimes — Censorship of heavy metal in the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia and China’

Photos by the author.

Original Page: http://www.freemuse.org/sw40704.asp%3E

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In Search Of Protest Singers & Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute Reviewed Jim Keoghan, March 1st, 2011 07:33

2011-03-12T12:38:00.001-08:00

In Search Of Protest Singers & Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute Reviewed Jim Keoghan, March 1st, 2011 07:33

thequietus.com | Mar 1st 2011 7:33 AM

Jim Keoghan asks Billy Bragg, John Robb and Dorian Lynskey whether the protest singer is becoming prevalent once more, while John Doran reviews the latter's new tome 33 Revolutions Per Minute

If the recent student protests have proved anything it's that people in their teens and twenties, long derided for their indifference, are far from apathetic. And yet, as they take to the streets in their thousands, where is their soundtrack?

For earlier generations social, cultural and economic upheaval was accompanied by artists who sought to reflect and channel the changing mood. But in recent years the relationship between music and protest seems to be in trouble, like a couple who have been married for decades but no longer have anything to talk about.

To find out why this has happened, we have to travel back 20 years to the last time that the two partners still vaguely fancied each other.

"As recently as the early 90s there was still a strong connection between music and protest," says Dorian Lynskey, author of 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs. "Although there have always been protest singers and protest songs, specifically on the folk scene, in Britain it was from punk onwards that music became more overtly political. From 1977 until probably Riot Grrrl in 1991/2, you had around a 15 year period when the relationship between music and politics was a particularly strong one."

The wider changes that had been taking place in the country were largely responsible for this; protest music has always emerged out of cultural, political or economic tension. Think of the folk revival in the US during the 60s and the backdrop of civil rights, the rise of the counter-culture and the protests against Vietnam. The same is true of other scenes with a political bent, each one needing a wider tension in society to feed upon.

"From the 70s up until the early 90s, Britain had all the ingredients to produce protest music to a greater level than was previously the case," continues Lynskey. "Massive social change, economic turmoil, a hugely polarised political environment; these are the factors that ensured that what began with punk continued long after that scene had fizzled out."

And this was assisted by the arrival of the independent music scene. Made up of bands drawn from working-class communities and anti-establishment by its very existence, the scene took the attitude and ethic of punk and carried it through to the years that followed.

"Punk had been political and that influenced a generation of bands," says John Robb of The Membranes. "Indie became a musical and political subculture. Everyone was aware - some in good ways some in bad - that music should be political. Whether you did this through your songs or by playing benefits didn't matter. The important thing was to just do something."

It might sound surprising today, in an age when a mixture of indifference and PR-savvy ensures that few artists from any genre ever veer into the politically contentious, but there was a time when the music press actually expected bands to have opinions.

"Music was the lingua-franca of resistance" says Billy Bragg. "Editors at publications like the NME and Sounds, and other magazines, thought that bands that were featured should have a radical edge, be aware of the political environment and have an opinion about it."

But from the early 90s onwards things began to change. All those factors that had coalesced to make the perfect environment for protest slowly started to disappear. No more Thatcher, then no more Tories. Totemic strikes, which had politicised and galvanised a generation became a thing of the past. And the economy calmed down too. The heady highs and abyssal lows that had blighted the country for years suddenly disappeared. Everything settled down to a gentle rhythm and as a country we became at best contented, at worst simply apathetic.

"All this made politics bland," says Bragg. "The country turned into a different place. It didn't help that after the collapse of the Soviet Union people stopped talking about left and right and began to cling to the middle. I was no fan of Thatcher but at least you knew where she stood. I still have no idea what Tony Blair stood for. In the whole of society a culture of complacency set in. It's difficult for protest singers to make music in a vacuum and for most of the past twenty years that's what this country has been like. You had a generation of people who'd rather go shopping than engage politically. It's unsurprising that protest music fell out of fashion."

But with a new age of austerity bearing down upon us it looks like things might be beginning to change. Tension in society is starting to make a timely return. The question is, will protest music return with it?

"I had a moment of clarity a few years ago, when the credit crunch first hit. I'd been living in a bubble until then and suddenly it just hit me that people in this country, and others, are getting fucked over left, right and centre. After that I had to do something about it".

The Agitator

Derek Meins, creative force behind The Agitator, is that rarest of things, a protest singer under the age of 25. With song titles such as 'Let's Get Marching', 'Get Ready' and 'No!' and lyrics that share the same sense of anger evident during the student protests, his band are providing the beginnings of a musical soundtrack sorely needed during these politically combustible times.

"A radical message and a radical sound, that's what we're about," he says. "No guitars, just drums and message of resistance. The kind of music you would march to anywhere. Citizens are getting screwed but they can do something about it. You're seeing the beginnings of change on the streets. It's about saying no to both the way that things have been done and the way that the country is going now."

Encouraging stuff. During the 70s and 80s it was on the margins of the music industry and in pioneering scenes where most protest music tended to emanate from. In the US that meant hip-hop, in the UK scenes such as punk, post-punk and C86. And in this instance, with their uncompromising, aggressive and inventive sound, The Agitator adhere to that tradition.

According to Lynskey, it's from these innovative and vibrant musical genres that we should look to for the protest music of the future.

"I think if protest music starts to make a significant comeback, it's more likely to come from places like Urban or similar scenes. It's not impossible that something will emerge from more established genres like indie, but really that's no longer the beast that it was 20 or 30 years ago. The whole thing has become much more corporate, endemically middle-class and culturally introverted. Are we really likely to see Mumford & Sons releasing an album of biting social commentary? Look elsewhere; that would be my suggestion."

Even if as a country we do become more political and develop a desire for this to be reflected musically, according to the folk singer Robb Johnson, often regarded as one of the country's genuinely political songwriters, one development of the last twenty years that seems unlikely to change is the attitude of the popular media.

"Years ago, there were opportunities for politically minded songwriters to occasionally reach a mass audience. For all its faults, even a show as populist as Top of the Pops still featured interesting artists now and then. What's left today? We've reached the point now where you've got things like Jools Holland - effectively just a cosy televised version of Mojo magazine - and the X-Factor, a show that is very unlikely to have a protest song week. Political or protest singers are going to have to work harder to get their music out-there."

What seems apparent is that the coming years are going to be different to the two decades that preceded them. As a country we're slowly emerging from our debt induced stupor and stumbling bleary-eyed around a very different landscape.

"The possibility is now becoming clear to a lot of people, specifically the young that living standards could fall in the future. In fact, this could be the first generation of young people who have lower living standards than their parents," says Billy Bragg. "It's going to make a lot of people want to challenge the system. That's what got me radicalised; the realisation that the things that I valued in life were under attack. In an age of fractured media, music might not be as important as it once was but it still has a role to play and now that resistance is back, don't be surprised if the music of resistance isn't far behind." Jim Keoghan

Given how good this voluminous book on popular recorded protest song is, it feels almost churlish to draw attention to the fact that John Lennon's sharp-featured profile takes up more space on the cover than Billie Holiday, Chuck D and James Brown in combination. But once you're past considerations of graphic design and marketing, this is an intensely satisfying read.

Lynskey, a Guardian music journalist, has put in the hours at his local library doing the kind of job which is all too rare in this age of cut-and-paste atrocities. (Leaving aside the fact that no one needs a book on MGMT — how good can one be anyway, if it's rushed out less than four months after an album?) The fact that the appendices, sources and epilogue run to 120 pages should speak volumes alone.

Any trepidation you have before diving in is forgotten almost immediately. (200 pages on folk music? Sweet baby Jesus save me!) This reader probably enjoyed the sections on the singers and acts he cannot abide more than the rest. The author's trick is to convincingly win back important musical figures — some of them genuine revolutionaries —from jabbering talking-head, TV filler shows and their songs from the defanged and whimsical soundtracks in which they have been used as signifiers for years. His knowledgeable, hard-boiled prose is slashed through occasionally with fine razor cuts of vivid description which jolt you out of any reverie you may have slipped into: it's a good read but it's not an easy read.

The chapter on Nina Simone reveals how she was unable to keep on ignoring the burgeoning civil rights movement, after the KKK bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed and injured 14 black kids. The author describes it: "As the bomb detonated and rafters buckled the teacher shrieked: ‘Lie on the floor! Lie on the floor!' [One of the children who died] Cynthia's father Claude would recall, ‘Even as she screamed, the faces of Jesus in the church's prized stained-glass window shattered into fragments.'"

And then we are left with Simone, who is almost tipped over the edge by the event, angrily trying to build a zip gun from household items so she can go into the street and kill a stranger. Instead we got the shocking ‘Mississippi Goddam'. And shocking it becomes again when rescued by the context. John Doran

The launch for 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History Of Protest Songs will take place tonight at Waterstones, 82 Gower Street. A talk and Q & A session will take place at 6 30pm, with tickets costing £3 (and redeemable if you purchase the book that evening!). For more information and to get hold of tickets, call 020 7636 1577 or email events@gowerst.waterstones.com.

Original Page: http://thequietus.com/articles/05773-where-are-all-the-protest-singers-billy-bragg-nina-simone-dorian-lynskey-33-revolutions-per-minute-a-history-of-protest-songs-review%3E

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Busking for a good cause

2011-03-12T12:33:00.001-08:00

Busking for a good cause

niagarathisweek.com | Mar 4th 2011

Seaway Mall performers raising funds for United Way on April 2

Busking for a good cause. Paul Gigliotti, Ryan Langdon and Danny Lamb are just a few of the local musicians set to play at the Seaway Mall’s Centre Court on April 2 as it is transformed into a streetscape as part of Busk for a Cause benefitting the United Way. Picture yourself on a quaint street, patrons passing in and out of shops stop to take in the melodies floating from a guitarist performing on the corner, now picture that in Seaway Mall.
On April 2 the Centre Court of the Seaway Mall will be transformed into a street corner, complete with a licensed “outdoor” patio and street performers serenading patrons, as the mall in concert with several local musicians launches the inaugural Busk for a Cause benefiting the United Way of South Niagara.
“I’ve always been a fan of local music and there is a lot of local talent that goes unnoticed,” said event organizer Chris Dabrowski. He explained Ye Olde Squire will be on site at the free event with a licensed patio. A portion of sales will go to the United Way and volunteers will also be on hand to accept donations.
“The Seaway Mall offers a great venue,” Dabrowski added, pointing out that with the United way offices on site the location seemed fitting. He went on to explain that support for the United Way is especially important as they support a host of local community support agencies
The unplugged concert will see several local musicians playing sets. Rita Carey and Rick Rose; Paul Gigliotti of Wave fame; Frank Pietrangelo; Matt Dell; Ryan Langdon, Joel van Vliet; Matt Taylor; Danny and Kyle Lamb from Mrs. Johnston; Matt Wells and Street Pharmacy front man Ryan Guay will all take to the centre court to entertain mall goers.
“It’s a good cause and I’m always willing to lend a hand,” said Gigliotti who explained that when Dabrowski called with the idea he was on board right away. He said he will be playing a few covers and some original solo work.
“I might even throw in some Wave,” he added.
“I’ll take any excuse to play acoustic guitar,” said Guay who is looking forward to performing some of his own solo-acoustic pieces in anticipation of an upcoming album release.
“I love using what limited talent I have to benefit the community,” he added.
“We want this to become an annual thing,” said mall president Michael Belcastro, explaining that Dabrowski approached the mall several months ago with the idea. Belcastro said the mall is looking at a host of methods for making the centre court look like a real streetscape including parked cars and signs to accompany the already present street lamps and soon to be set up patio.
United Way of South Niagara executive director Peter Papp said the event is great encouragement for the organization that is still shy of its annual fundraising goal.
“It’s in the spirit of entrepreneurship and philanthropic action,” he said.
Social Media Club Niagara will be on site to stream the performances to the web. For set times and more information visit www.buskforacause.com.

Original Page: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/what's%20on/article/962942--busking-for-a-good-cause

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Article "Relaxations on busking in Madrid"

2011-03-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

Relaxations on busking in Madrid
Relaxations on busking in Madrid
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By h.b. - Feb 16, 2011 - 9:01 PM
Street musicians without amplification no longer need permission
New regulations in Madrid exempt street musicians from needing any
licence or permission, provided they use no amplification and that they
make no noise ‘that can stop the public from resting’.

Only those street musicians who use amplification and have percussion
will now have to apply to the City Hall for permission to play in
public, and they will still have to show that they also cause no bother
by their performance.

The new regulations were approved on Tuesday by the PP, with the PSOE
voting against and the IU abstaining.

The text speaks of guaranteeing the rest of the citizens, while making
busking compatible with night time leisure.

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Article "Cops shoo away busker from market

2011-03-07T19:57:00.001-08:00

Cops shoo busker away from market

A longtime downtown street musician says he was run off by police while
busking outside the new Hamilton Farmers’ Market at its grand opening.

Violinist Michael Leech says he was playing on the city sidewalk outside
the market’s main gates around noon Saturday when market security called
Hamilton police to clear him away.

“The police threatened to charge me with aggressive panhandling,” Leech
said. “There I was, playing in the grand tradition of the banjo player
who used to play outside the farmers’ market. I’m not God’s gift to
fiddling, but I’ve got some chops.”

Leech said the pressure from the market’s property management firm and
police flies in the face of a new city policy now in the works that
recognizes buskers as a desirable element of a revitalized downtown.

It’s been determined by the law that just playing for someone with an
open case is not panhandling, he said.

“Look, it’s been a long, cold winter. I just thought I could come down
and pick up a couple hours at our farmers’ market. But apparently it’s
their farmers’ market.”

He said he left voluntarily, rather than risk getting charged by the
cops.

Hamilton police say the reason special ACTION squad officers asked Leech
to leave was because the landlord was upset about trespassing in the
building. Leech admits he tried to busk inside the market’s main lobby a
day earlier before being kicked out by security.

Meanwhile, a local lawyer says he believes the crackdown on buskers is
really a misdirected effort by police to rid the downtown of criminal
elements.

Michael Puskas’ client, street musician Ken Steffler, was charged three
times over the past year, only to have each charge eventually dropped.

Puskas says he thinks Steffler is an innocent victim of an attempt to
“try to copy the broken window policy in New York when Rudy Giuliani was
mayor.”

That aggressive policy of police laying charges for all criminal
activity and fixing broken windows to keep neighbourhoods from degrading
is heralded as a major success.

But the problem in Hamilton, says Puskas, is people on the streets here
are being charged when they aren’t breaking the law. Enforcement of the
law is being twisted to go after people who are causing no harm to
anyone.

“Poor people are getting charged and harassed. They’re being charged for
things that aren’t even crimes. People are being harassed and searched
with no grounds. It’s a travesty but no one seems to care.”

A justice of the peace recently dismissed a littering charge against
54-year-old Steffler. A police officer gave Steffler the ticket in June
because he thought he saw Steffler throw a cigarette on the ground.

Steffler contends he actually put the cigarette in his pocket after
extinguishing it. But it didn’t matter anyway, because the JP held that
throwing a cigarette butt on the ground doesn’t meet the definition of
littering, according to Puskas.

The littering citation came after Steffler was charged in May for
trespassing because he was busking outside Jackson Square. In January
2010, while busking on King Street a few blocks away, he was charged
with panhandling under the provincial Safe Streets Act.

The trespassing charge was tossed out of court after a Jackson Square
manager said she didn’t have a problem with buskers in front of the
shopping centre. The panhandling charge was dropped by a city prosecutor
before going to court.

Asked whether the outcome of the three cases would affect policing
downtown, Hamilton Police Service spokesperson Sergeant Terri-Lynn
Collings said: “It’s not my place to form an opinion on what happened
there.”

“What we do is enforce the law. If there is criminal activity or any
kind of municipal act is being infringed, then we are going to act
appropriately,” she said.

Steffler could not be reached for comment.

mmcneil@thespec.com

905-526-4687

--
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/484851--not-the-world-s-greatest-fiddler-but-not-a-criminal-either
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Bourke St buskers risk being banned

2011-03-07T16:45:00.001-08:00

Bourke St buskers risk being banned

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/bourke-st-buskers-risk-being-banned/story-e6frf7kx-1226017347127

Ashley Gardiner
March 08, 2011

BUSKERS will have to pass an audition to perform in Bourke St Mall as
live performances are increased.

But Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has backed away from plans to force
performers elsewhere in the city to meet a minimum standard.

Buskers will have to follow strict rules or risk being banned from the city.

City councillors tonight will discuss tightening rules for buskers,
charity fund-raising, spruiking and horse-drawn carriages.

A council survey found a high level of opposition to plans to audition buskers.

But a panel of council officials, and an experienced busker, will
decide who can get a mall permit.

Bourke St buskers will need to be entertaining and engaging,
polished, and have a wide repertoire. "The performer (must possess) a
unique quality, subtle or dramatic, that gives them an interesting
edge and makes them unlike other performers," the draft says.

The number of mall sites would be expanded to six, and spaces would
be allocated by a weekly ballot.

For the rest of the city, buskers must perform in front of an
assessment panel. But they will be judged only to make sure their
performance is safe and not offensive, and not on artistic merit.

Only 5 per cent of people surveyed said the standard of busking in
Melbourne in the past year had been poor, with 74 per cent giving a
positive assessment.

Busker Des Kennedy, who was playing his harmonica at Flinders St
station yesterday, said there should be a cap on busker numbers.

"They should . . . curtail the number of buskers, and if a busker
doesn't renew their permit, someone else gets it," he said.

"Only two or three people in every 100 give money, so we need to be
able to work at busy thoroughfares, like Flinders St station."

The council plans to clamp down on harassment from charity workers.
Fund-raising would be permitted only if "passive in nature".

Horse-drawn carriages, would be capped at 10.

Alex MacDonald, from A Classic Carriage Hire, operates six carriages,
more than the proposed cap of three per operator. "It might put me
out of business," Mr MacDonald said.

Article " Vendors, senior, busker: Who will Farmers Market oust next=?UTF-8?B?Pw==?=

2011-03-06T16:50:00.001-08:00

Vendors, senior, busker: Who will Farmers’ Market...

Re: Celebrating Hamilton's market (Letters, Feb. 9) and recent stories

The situation of the ousted violin player calls to mind other
municipally sponsored, Hamilton Farmers’ Market-related “shooings:”

1) Shoo away vendors (23 vendor applications rejected, November 2010)

2) Shoo away senior photographer (City ejects senior from market, Jan.
31, 2011)

3) Shoo away street musicians (Cops shoo busker away from market, Feb.
12, 2011)

Who’s next?

Its seems like community services general manager Joe-Anne Priel’s
assurance that “today, the newly renovated Hamilton Farmers’ Market is
for everyone” is sadly forgetful of the past, and makes little attempt
beyond a marketing gab to address the real issues of equity raised by
concerned citizens and Farmers’ Market stallholders.

The city has shown poor leadership in addressing issues of
accountability through the process of reopening the renovated market.
Now, even buskers are on the hook for not “fitting in” to the
streetscape. All the pomp and pageantry of a grand opening cannot
compensate for the strains of street music, the richness of genuine
community or real accountability to the public.

Get me the world’s smallest violin — I think I might have some words for
a song …

Jennifer Hompoth, Hamilton, co-founder, Friends of the Hamilton Farmers’
Market

--
http://www.thespec.com/opinion/letters/article/485736--vendors-senior-busker-who-will-farmers-market-shoo-away-next
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Article "Picturing the man behind the busker

2011-03-06T16:49:00.001-08:00

Picturing the man behind the busker

Give this press release a star rating...

It’s a long way from the church but he’s here to rock’n’roll.

For the past 10 years Peter Hacquoil lived a quiet and sombre life as a
pianist at the Alice Springs Baptist Church.

But then the husband and father was tempted by the bright lights of
Adelaide and moved here to become a full-time busker with a bit of a
difference.

The “difference” is a Baldwin piano he uses, fully decked out with its
own set of wheels so he can, in typical busker fashion, move from prime
spot to prime location as he pursues his craft and his vocation.

His favoured spots are the Rundle Street end of Rundle Mall from 5.30 to
7.30 most week nights and on Gouger Street, near Cane Corner from 8.30
to 10 on Friday nights. On a rainy day you can find him playing in a
sheltered alleyway somewhere, even though the Baldwin has suffered
serious rain damage from time to time.

He plays a bit of old pop and, true to his roots, some "Contemporary
Christian" music, along with a dose of improvisation. “But my most
requested numbers are Billy Joel’s Piano Man and Elton John’s Tiny
Dancer,” says Peter.

Peter is planning on recording his own CD and frequents a new church in
Hahndorf on the weekends. If you want to book him for any gigs you can
contact Peter on 0458113258, at
pianobusker@internode.on.net
, or connect with him on Facebook. Just type Adelaide piano busker into
Google and all the paths will lead to Peter Hacquoil.

Peter is one of the featured buskers in a photographic exhibition
titled, Buskers of Adelaide Photography Exhibition which will open at
Light Square House Level 1, 9 Light Square, Adelaide at 7.30pm on
Wednesday, February 23 and will feature some of the buskers who have
been photographed, performing on the night. Not Peter, however, as his
piano can’t make it to the first level venue.

The exhibition, sponsored by Mad Australia Productions, will then be
open from 9am to 3pm February 24 and 25, then the same hours from
Wednesday through to Friday until March 11.

CAPTION: Busker Peter Hacquoil at work and in portrait.

About Matt Carty Photography

Photographic exhibition of Adelaide buskers.

About Mad Australia Productions

Video Production House and champion of the arts

--
http://www.newsmaker.com.au/news/7467%3E
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Article "Buskers audition for metro memberships

2011-03-06T16:48:00.001-08:00

CTV Montreal - Buskers audition for metro memberships

Updated: Sun Feb. 20 2011 6:50:19 PM

ctvmontreal.ca

MONTREAL — Performing in Montreal's metro stations isn't a right; it's a
privilege, said the Montreal Metro Musicians' Coalition Sunday, as it
held auditions to seek out the best and brightest buskers.

Commuters can become irritated with noisy, untalented musicians, said
the group, adding that when the public complains, the city's transport
agency eliminates designated busker spots.

The coalition said auditions help preserve real talent in the metro
stations.

"You would have all kinds of people and you would have fights and you
would have drunkards. They don't want that -- they want musicians
there," said judge Jean-Pierre Labreche of the coalition.

The Montreal Metro Musicians' Coalition organized the auditions to unite
the roughly 150 buskers who set up at the city's stations. It says it
doesn't want metro platforms to be a free-for-all. Auditions let judges
evaluate artists, and those who receive a passing grade can apply for a
card, which varies from $20 to $60, depending on the duration of the
membership.

"We try to get together to have a little better representation in front
of STM," said Dino Spaziani of the coalition.

Card-carrying members get priority at the busiest stations, where
competition can be frerce, said busker Lee Blanchard.

"At Berri-UQAM, you have a draw and you put the permit in for the draw,
so if you don't have one, you don't get to participate in the draw," he
said.

Where there is no competition for a spot, anyone has the right to
perform.

Members run the gamut of musical styles and influences, said Labreche.

"Today we had experimental ones, sometimes more traditional, we have
classical, we have popular, jazz, ethnic, world beat -- the range is
incredible there," he said.

Comments are now closed for this story

Stéphane Lemieux
I'd like to point out that the audition is for a member card, not for a
permit. Everyone is welcome to play music in the metro.

West Islander
I think a self regulated screening process is a great idea.

Over the years I've seen mostly amazing Metro artists but sadly a
handful were less than pleasant.

METALHEAD for LIFE
As a musician this is a great an stupid idea.

Great in a sense that yes, you don't want untalented people creating
annoying noise pollution and hence degrade the idea of having good music
while people are traveling.

Stupid idea.. Membership fees? really these people never heard the term
Starving Musician. The idea is to make sure talentless people don't hog
the stage and that people who have talent should play and make some
cash. So that means, if you are really talented, you can't play in the
metro?

Membership should be free! It is just a card that states you are
talented enough to play there.

Obvioulsy if the judges were REAL MUSICIANS, they would not impose this
fee. Only posers do crap that....

Emmanuel
Indeed ,it should be a Privilege, some of these Metro musicians are
better than Canadian Idol contenders and most of them are pretty darned
good. Certainly it should be a privilege .

Brian
20 to 60$ to play in the metro? the metro should pay THEM to play
instead of the other way around

--
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110220/mtl_metro_110220/20110220/?hub=MontrealHome%3E
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Article "Rules adopted for Fremont Street Experience vendors and performers - News - ReviewJournal.com"

2011-02-26T00:45:00.001-08:00

Rules adopted for Fremont Street Experience vendors and performers -
News

Posted: Feb. 2, 2011 | 6:38 p.m.
Updated: Feb. 3, 2011 | 7:41 a.m.

For the first time in nearly 15 years, Las Vegas on Wednesday enacted
rules governing conduct at the Fremont Street Experience that won't lead
to a federal free speech lawsuit -- and the City Council was all kinds
of grumpy about it.

"I, with great displeasure, move for approval of this item. This fight
is not over," Councilman Ricki Barlow said.

The council adopted the new ordinance 6-0.

The ordinance requires street performers, panhandlers and the like to
stay 20 feet away from doors, ATMs, fire lanes and crosswalks, and 10
feet away from retail kiosks and outdoor cafes.

It also sets up rules about using tables in the downtown pedestrian
mall, limits the amount of space a street performer can occupy and caps
how loud someone using an amplifier can be.

The goal is to allow foot traffic to flow and prevent interference with
visitors and Fremont Street Experience-sanctioned entertainment while
respecting the free speech rights of individuals.

Mayor Oscar Goodman lambasted the ordinance and the legal proceedings
that led to it.

The city had more restrictive rules barring unsanctioned entertainment
under the video canopy, but courts repeatedly struck those down, holding
that the Fremont Street Experience, created from a city-owned street, is
a public forum.

"I don't like it," Goodman said, calling that ruling "dead wrong."

"I don't think the Fremont Street Experience is a public street. I think
it's a private enterprise."

He and others worried that hawkers who hand out escort service
advertisements will start showing up downtown and become as ubiquitous
as they are on the Strip.

"I hope we don't have the situation on Fremont Street that we have on
the Strip because we might lose a family venue," Goodman said.

Councilman Steve Ross said street performers, or "buskers," should have
to be licensed before they can perform.

"I think we're going to revisit this again someday," Ross said. "This is
the start of the path in the right direction. I don't think we're quite
done yet."

His concerns were echoed by Councilman Steve Wolfson, who said many of
the street performers appear in costume and take pictures with tourists
for tips.

"The folks come down, many of them wearing masks. The next thing we
know, the children are being touched and picked up -- in a nice way," he
added hastily. "But we don't know who these people are."

Wolfson was absent when the vote on the ordinance took place.

The city, Fremont Street Experience LLC and the American Civil Liberties
Union of Nevada clashed for years, starting in 1997, over rules
concerning the pedestrian mall. Court decisions generally went against
the city. All parties worked together to craft the new ordinance.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the ACLU, asked that city
officials approach his organization again if the rules need to be
adjusted.

"I don't want to go back to court," he said. "We do live in a nation of
laws, and we live with laws that we don't like. We never quite get to a
situation where we're completely happy with the results."

Council members said they voted for the ordinance because they thought
it was worthwhile to have some agreed-upon rules in place .

"We have to start over again," Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese said. "That's
what we're doing today, starting over again."

--
http://www.lvrj.com/news/rules-adopted-for-fremont-street-experience-vendors-and-performers-115153129.html
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Article "Las Vegas council puts restrictions on Fremont Street performers - Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 | 2:52 p.m. - Las Vegas Sun"

2011-02-26T00:44:00.001-08:00

Las Vegas council puts restrictions on Fremont Street performers -
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 | 2:52 p.m.

Las Vegas News Bureau File

The 1,500-foot-long canopy over downtown’s Fremont Street Experience is
shown in downtown Las Vegas in this file photo.

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 | 2:52 p.m.

Fremont Street Experience performers will be regulated on where they can
stand and how much equipment they can bring in.

But restrictions can't be made under the First Amendment to keep out
those handing out leaflets — including those who hand out small cards
with near-naked women on them advertising escort services.

Those were the main components of an ordinance the Las Vegas City
Council unanimously approved today, although several city council
members voted for the measure reluctantly.

"I'm not mad, I'm angry," Mayor Oscar Goodman told City Councilman Ricki
Barlow, who also said he was reluctantly voting in favor of it.

"The fight is not over," Barlow said during the meeting. "This is
something I'm going to push to make right."

The ordinance was hammered out over the last year in hopes of balancing
the free speech rights of solicitors and the street performers who seek
donations with the rights of those who have commercial business
licenses.

Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese thanked the American Civil Liberties Union's
Allen Lichtenstein for working with the city attorney on the ordinance.

"I just hope this is a huge start for us," Reese said.

Goodman has vented his frustration that the ordinance would allow the
escort service handbillers to leaflet the Fremont Street Experience the
same way they do on the Las Vegas Strip.

"I don't like it," Goodman said during discussion on the bill. But he
said he supported it because Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese has said it needs
to be in place to protect the city from litigation.

Goodman said he has great respect for U.S. District Judge David Ezra, of
Hawaii, who presided over a lawsuit challenging the city's last attempt
at restricting activities in the pedestrian mall.

"With all due respect, I think Judge Ezra was wrong," Goodman said. "I
think the Fremont Street Experience is not a public street. I think it's
a private enterprise. I don't see any reason he can find that Wakiki
Beach in Hawaii, a seven-mile stretch of it, is protected from this kind
of activity, but our Fremont Street isn't."

Goodman said he questioned whether, based on some of the language in
Ezra's decision, whether Ezra had even visited Fremont Street because he
referred to the Las Vegas Strip in some of his comments.

Goodman said that in his nearly 12 years as mayor, the main complaint he
hears from visitors is about being "accosted, for lack of a better word,
by people out on the Strip who are handing out sexually explicit
material which they do not want to receive."

He had asked if the city could keep out those handbillers so women and
children wouldn't be subject to viewing them.

"I hope we don't have a situation down on Fremont Street that exists on
the Strip because I think we will lose a family venue that is so
important to the success of our downtown redevelopment projects," he
said.

He said he hoped that if it ever goes to court again, that it can be
litigated in front of a different judge.

Barlow commended the ACLU, the city's attorneys and the Fremont Street
Experience attorneys for working together on the ordinance.

"This is a very tough tightrope that everyone had to scale," Barlow
said. Unfortunately, tourists and local residents who come downtown will
have to put up with a "nuisance," of street entertainers or the
handbillers, he said.

"This is something I would like to see go away," he said. He said it was
"outright wrong" for those businesses who have played by the rules,
gotten a business license and pay taxes to have their customers be run
off.

Barlow said he felt like the ordinance shows there has been some
progress made in making restrictions.

The original ordinance proposed last year would have created "free
expression zones" that would have told performers and solicitors where
they could or couldn't be. It also specifically prohibited certain
activities at the Fremont Street Experience: those included using
megaphones, throwing objects into the air and using Hula-Hoops.

The new ordinance would not limit such activities, but would put some
restrictions on how much room they can take up.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic said the city has been litigating such an
ordinance for 15 years, but it's the first one that has support of both
the ACLU and the city in terms of the language.

He said the ordinance finally has a definition of solicitation that
complies with previous court orders. It has a new definition of street
performers who don't charge money, but ask for donations.

The ordinance also limits any tables brought to Fremont Street to be
only 3-feet by 3-feet. Tables can only be present for something done at
the table — someone can't just stack literature on the table, he said.

Performers, solicitors and tables have to be at least 20 feet from an
ATM, 10 feet from a retail kiosk, 10 feet from the the perimeter of an
outdoor dining area, and 20 feet from a fire lane or crosswalk.

Street performers also have to stay at least 200 feet away from a stage
performance taking place. They also can't perform during the light show
or during special events on the mall, including New Year's Eve
activities.

Entertainers also can't reserve space in the pedestrian mall by placing
cones where they want to perform. He said they are restricted to a
2-foot circle around their feet. And they can't bring anything with them
bigger than a backpack, unless there are certain items integral to the
performance, such as Hula-Hoops or items to juggle.

Amplified sound can only be used if it is part of a performance and only
then if the noise level is set at a decibel level that is equal to 70
decibels at the nearest kiosk.

There's also a prohibition against coolers, structures, racks and
booths, he said.

Todd Bice, legal counsel for the Fremont Street Experience, said he was
appreciative of the city's attorney, Brad Jerbic, and of the American
Civil Liberties Union's Allen Lichtenstein for working together on the
ordinance.

"We hammered out an ordinance that none of us, I think, are overly
thrilled with," Bice said. "But we view this as a step in the right
direction."

"We will likely have to be back to fine tune this," he said. "... We are
willing to work with the ACLU, give it a shot and see what happens as a
consequence."

Councilman Steve Ross said "this is the start of the path in the right
direction" and predicted the council will need to revisit the matter.

"It's that fine balance of how we balance those First Amendment rights
as well as allow businesses to continue to be successful," he said.

Ross said there should be some kind of license or regulation of those
performing for tips.

But Jerbic said unless the performers demanded money, rather than asked
for donations, they were protected by free speech rights.

Councilman Steve Wolfson said he was concerned that a lot of the
performers on Fremont wear masks, so the city doesn't have any way of
knowing who they are.

He said he was worried that tourists who bring children to the
pedestrian mall might think the city is sponsoring the masked
performers.

"The next thing we know these young children are being touched, in a
nice way, quote unquote, by the street performers, but we have no idea
who these folks are," Wolfson said.

Wolfson said the ordinance goes in the right direction but doesn't cover
all of the possibilities.

However, Jerbic said if a mask is part of the performance, nothing could
be done to prohibit it.

--
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/02/las-vegas-council-puts-restrictions-fremont-street/
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Article "Three Busker Festivals that Feature Crazy-Talented Street Performers || Jaunted"

2011-02-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

Three Busker Festivals that Feature Crazy-Talented Street Performers ||
Jaunted

· World Buskers Festival
This Christchurch, New Zealand, fest draws more than 300,000 people, who
come to watch 500 performances. You just missed the 10-day festival,
which usually takes place at the end of January. The donations-only
event featured 50 various different international performers, including
an American knife and tomahawk thrower, a Brazilian clown and a Japanese
break-dancing/miming/magic-doing duo.

· Halifax International Busker Festival
As Canada's oldest and largest busker fest, this Halifax event
entertains crowds of more than 500,000. The waterfront festival goes on
for 11 days across five outdoor stages. The lineup of this year's event,
which takes place April 4 to 14, hasn't been announced, but past
performers have included favorite fire dancers FlameOz, stunt man
Arizona Jones and escape artist Rob Roy Collins.

· Seaport Village Spring Busker Festival
Stateside, American buskers get their due at San Diego's free two-day
festival, which will go down April 16 to 17. Again, the lineup hasn't
been confirmed, but past buskers have included Skip Banks, a man who
puts himself inside a giant balloon; Murrugun the Mystic, who swallows
swords; and the Calypso Tumblers, who wow the crowds with acrobatics.

[Photo: The Seaport Village Busker Festival]

--
http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/8/1279/99023/travel/Three+Busker+Festivals+that+Feature+Crazy-Talented+Street+Performers
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Article "A diary of a Winchester busker (From Hampshire Chronicle)"

2011-02-18T10:57:00.001-08:00

A diary of a Winchester busker (From Hampshire Chronicle)

A diary of a Winchester busker

4:43pm Thursday 3rd February 2011

Marvin B Naylor is a musician, aged 48, and lives in Greenhill Road,
Winchester.

For 30 years he made a living playing in rock groups, but had to give up
last August when he developed problems with his hearing, and could no
longer play in loud groups. Unable to get another job, he turned to
busking on the streets, first in Southampton, and then in Winchester.

He started to keep a diary, he says, to recall some of the interesting
people he meets during his ‘sessions’. Below are some extracts from it.
And, by the way, he says he’s available for weddings, birthdays and Bar
Mitzvahs too!

December 10: After a month of no busking, I decided to start again… got
my Micro Cube (very small amplifier) and guitar and do a session
opposite WH Smith.

Winchester’s a small town and after 10 minutes I heard “Nice sound,
Marvin”. It was a friend of my neighbour’s.

Earnings: £10.12

December 15: I may tape a sign to my hat: ‘NO FOREIGN COINS, PLEASE’, as
I have had a couple chucked in, including a 50 Forint coin. After
research, I discovered it’s from Hungary and worth 26 US cents; but
worthless to me, as the banks will not change coins.

Earnings: £11.22

December 23: Had to hang around for an hour before a spot became vacant.
Salvation Army quartet in front of the Christmas tree, Rob the American
rock guitar guy sporting fingerless gloves (he’s a lucky so and so),
another Salvation Army sub-group and some guy sitting down hitting a
very small drum or lidded coffee cup in an entirely random manner. The
police have let the ‘traditional’ beggars stay, as long as they are seen
to be ‘playing’ something — so they’re not just sitting there begging.

Earnings: £8.02

New Year’s Eve: A nice old lady asks if she could buy a CD: “I could
listen to you all day”. Maybe she should talk to the girl at the desk at
Clinton Cards. She HAS been listening to me all day. She might change
her mind after hearing The Third Man for the 50th time.

Earnings: £46.48

January 2: Got harassed by a gang of 14- 15 year olds. Their leader: “Do
you know any...” (he names 10 bands I’ve never heard of). I say “No” to
all. “Know any Jimi Hendrix?” It’s his lucky day and he gets a
four-second burst of Purple Haze. As they leave, the one at the back
turned and said: “Nice sound, man,” very quietly, so no-one else would
hear, I suspect.

Earnings: £22.06

January 27: Then, one of the best moments of my life... It’s The Third
Man again, and there is a man in his late 20s sitting on the bench,
opposite eating a packed lunch and tapping his foot to the tune. This
pleases me. I finish playing, he gets up, comes over and says this: “You
know, you made me smile just then, and I never do that — my life is so
bloody awful. You made me smile, that never happens with you lot. But
you entertained me. I’m not making this up!). He put a £2 coin in my
hat. I didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry, I hope it gets better soon.
What’s your name?” “It doesn’t matter”, he said, and walked off.

Earnings: £19.30

For more extracts, see this week's Hampshire Chronicle, out now. For
more on Marvin, go to his website - www.diaryofabusker.com

--
http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/8832371.A_diary_of_a_Winchester_busker/?/
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Article "Ten Rules for Street Musicians - Speakeasy - WSJ"

2011-02-03T11:33:00.001-08:00

Ten Rules for Street Musicians - Speakeasy

By Max Judelson

My relationship to groceries is directly related to how much I earn as a
street musician. Since 2006, my primary means of feeding myself has been
playing the cello on the streets and subway stations of New York, Paris
and Boston. I moved to Boston in the fall of 2008 to study at Boston
Conservatory and began exploring the ideal circumstances for generating
the funds to feed my food habit.

This is what I’ve learned:

1. Day of week / Time of Day – I make two or three times more money on
Friday mornings than Monday mornings. Friday afternoons are second best.
On Mondays, it didn’t matter if it’s morning or lunch time, late
afternoon or evening. It’s almost always bad. Tuesday morning is better
than Wednesday morning although Wednesday afternoon is better than
Tuesday afternoon. Thursday mornings aren’t so good but Thursday
afternoons are. For the past two and a half years, I’ve played almost
every Friday morning at the MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) stop on
the Red Line in Boston (between March and October) from 7:00 to 9:00
a.m.

2. How to prepare for my job - I get up about 6:00 a.m., eat a solid
breakfast and listen to the Market Place Morning Report on National
Public Radio while I drink a cup of coffee. I don’t follow the stock
market. I’m not interested in it. Listening to Marketplace, I get the
lowdown about something I don’t understand. If it’s up, then the money
is much quicker. I don’t listen to the weather report, though. I’m
groggy in the morning but I can tell the weather by looking out the
window.

3. What to wear – For a while, I wore a large Cat in the Hat kind of
hat. It was tall and silly. I was thinking, “Everybody is going to think
this is the coolest hat and will give lots of money.” That hat works
well if I’m going out at night to play pop music with a singer at a
club. But during the morning commute playing top 40 classical arias for
cello, people were really weirded out by that hat. I didn’t wear that
hat after I figured it out. I dress respectably but not too nice -
somewhere between grungy and preppy. I wear brown leather suede shoes
and dark pants. If it’s cold, I wear a sweater but tee shirts are fine.
People don’t need to see a collar.

4. Eye contact - Eye contact is essential. I don’t wear sunglasses or a
large brimmed hat. There’s not a lot of eye contact in the commuting
world at rush hour. When Joshua Bell played at a stop on the Washington
D.C. metro in 2007, he wore a Washington Nationals baseball cap. I’d
never tell Mr. Bell how to play the violin but I bet he would have made
more money (he earned $32 and change in 43 minutes of playing – not bad)
if he hadn’t worn a hat.

5. Location - The Charles/MGH Station is best for me as a solo cellist.
It’s big, open and glassy, kind of like a greenhouse. I feel happy there
so my music is probably better. I’ve played a few different places in
Boston. There’s another stop deep underground in East Boston with a lot
of Central American riders. I played there at night with a guitar player
who lived for several years in Guatemala and knows lots of their pop
songs and traditional music. Almost no one plays at this stop because
riders have less money. We’re playing traditional and popular music
these folks know and they eat it up. If I went there and played what I
play at Charles/MGH, I wouldn’t do as well.

6. Competition - Once I showed up at the Harvard Square stop before 7:00
a.m. and wasn’t able to get a spot because other musicians were already
set up. I came back another day and found an empty spot. I start to play
and another street musician with a guitar comes up and said, “Did you
guys do the lottery this morning?” I said, “There was space. I started
playing.” He said, “Usually we show up before 7 and flip a coin to see
who goes first.” I don’t know what’s true. Street musicians talk a lot
of sh–. I don’t go Harvard Square anymore because people who play there
are so territorial. And the money isn’t as good for me.

7. Selection of music / Weather - In June of 2009, it seemed as if it
rained almost every day in Boston. It felt biblical how much it rained.
People were wet and down. I looked for good rainy day music. You have to
find the right tune for the right day. If it’s been raining for one day
or 20, it will be a different song every day. Once I find the right
song, I’m happy to play the same song over and over again on the same
day. I won’t play it back-to-back but will play it guilt-free more than
once the same day. One good rainy day tune is an aria from a Bach violin
sonata. It sings. It’s pretty emotional. It’s an aria so it feels vocal.
If you find the right piece for a rainy day, you can get to the heart of
people’s rainy day emotions. Then people throw money down.

8. Bad situations – One day, two guys come up. They’re older and bigger
than me. One shows me a handful of change and says, “You’ve got lots of
ones. Do you mind if I exchange coins for your bills?” I say, “No,
please don’t. I don’t need change.” He says, “What’s the problem?
Money’s money.” I tell him, “Exactly, so why do you need my bills? So,
please don’t.” They keep giving me a hard time. I say to them, “Can you
please just leave me alone? This is my workplace. Don’t bother me. I’m
just trying to do my job.” The second guy says, “Well, you don’t want to
know what my job is.” I say, “Just leave me alone.” I’m sitting. They’re
standing. There’s one of me - two of them. I have an expensive cello.
It’s risky taking it out in front of people because you don’t know if
some wack job is going to want to put their foot through it. Especially
some wack job who’s up close and mad at you. Anyway, they left in a
huff. That was the angriest anyone had ever been. But it was close.

9. Customer / audience demographics – Race and gender make no difference
if someone is going to stop, listen and/or give me money. But it is very
clear that young children are my best customers. They are the most
interested. They don’t have money but their parents consistently give.
If you can mesmerize a kid for two minutes, their parents are really
happy. Babies in strollers - they brighten up. Walking age toddlers
through 10 or 12 notice me almost all the time. Once they get in
college, they start to get that cold adult thing. Seniors and elders,
they are responsive. Younger and older people are in less of a rush. And
they don’t wear headphones as much.

10. How to measure success - I leave business cards with my email
address in my case so that people can contact me. One day was a bad day.
Everybody was unhappy. I didn’t get much money. But when I got home,
there was an email from a woman. She wrote, ”Every time I see you, it
brightens my day.” Her expressing gratitude for what I do made up for
how little money came in. Another day when I hadn’t even played on the
subway, a different woman wrote a similar thing. That’s sweet. People
are there to get on a train to go someplace else. It’s a big deal if
they stop when there’s no train. It’s an even bigger deal if they are
listening to me and their train comes in AND they stay to listen to me
some more. When they applaud, that’s really sweet. A few times, people
have stayed to listen to me play and two trains have come and gone. That
means something.

--
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/01/11/ten-rules-for-street-musicians/
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Article "Local Street Performers Getting the Boot - KTXL"

2011-02-01T20:47:00.001-08:00

Local Street Performers Getting the Boot

OLD SACRAMENTO —

They've become a part of Old Sac's tradition, but it looks like the
people who entertain you while you shop will soon become history.

Part of just about every visit to Oldtown Sacramento includes the street
performers, from the guy who makes balloon animals to the person who
draws caricatures.

Now, the city is replacing the performers with people from out of town.

For those who have worked in Old Sac the last 25 years independently,
the city is not renewing their permits, allowing some to work on a
limited basis and others, told they can't come back at all. They found
in their mail boxes recently a letter from the city telling them there
were big changes on the horizon.

"Management didn't think we represented Oldtown Sac well enough, and
therefore, didn't think we should be here," said street performer Greg
Sumbardt. Another street performer, Kevin Powers added, "The permits
have all been taken away..the program has been shut down."

The city cut a deal with a company out of Vallejo to provide street
performers. That deal though is only for 2 months during the summer.
They also issued a statement which read, in part: "The Old Sacramento
Historic District office has recently evaluated the street performing
program and is looking into collaborating with the successful street
theatre program launched last summer. Our obligation as a national
historic landmark district and state historic park is to portray
activities and performances that depict the historical significance of
the district and provide experiences to our visitors that mirror the
1849-1870 time period of Sacramento's history."

"I feel like the people who have let us work here the last 25 years are
abandoning us and a vaccuum will be left," commented Roy Ele, a street
performer for 15 years in Old Sacramento.

"I wasn't getting rich..but I love doing what I'm doing..it's been my
livelyhood," added Powers.

"We represent Oldtown Sacramento because we are the people who wear the
costumes..people see us walking the streets and I think Oldtown Sac will
miss that a lot for not having us here."

--
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-local-street-performers-gettin-01202011,0,1771857.story
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Article "Smartphones for the modern busker « The nomadic diary of Onyx Ashanti"

2011-02-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

Smartphones for the modern busker « The nomadic diary of Onyx Ashanti
Posted by onyxashanti in Uncategorized.
trackback
One of the emerging big movements in the world of technology lately, is
the smartphone. Let me preface by stating that the term “smartphone” has
been around for years to describe phones with functionality that allows
them to do much more than merely make voice based phone calls. I am not
really talking about that device. I am referring almost exclusively to
the world wrought by the introduction of the apple iphone. In 2007,
apple released a device that repurposed the term smartphone to being a
small continuously internet connected device, running an OS capable of
running “apps” which enhanced the abilities of the device after the
point of purchase. Before this, almost all smart phones came preloaded
with carrier specific applications that allowed severely limited
functionality. The iphone blew that out of the water. Now you had a
device that could run apps, downloaded over the air, to allow you to do
things far beyond anything possible before on a device of this size and
type. With its integration of high speed wireless internet,sensors, a
camera, gps, wifi, Bluetooth, multitouch, and even PHONE CALLS, the
iphone lived up to the hype, as a device that changed the world.

For myself and my busking exploits, the iphone is now indespensible. I
use mine as a wireless midi controller using an app called TouchOSC.
When I arrive in a new city,looking for locations to busk, I make use of
a gps enabled map app called MotionX GPS which allows me to download
maps of an area before departing home, then drop map points of interest
either from research at home, or from recommendations of people I meet
in said city. It allows me to arrive in a new place and bike around,
finding interesting locations as I go. When I find one that is viable
based on the criteria to be covered in the next chapter, I drop a map
point and location notes onto the map. This allows me to do recon on
many areas of a new place, quickly and efficiently then when I am ready
to play, I can focus on playing rather than pitch recon. If one
potential pitch is occupied or in some way, undesirable, I can look at
my map and go to the next closest potential pitch,without having to go
into “recon” mode,which saves a lot of valuable time.

This is digital nomadism. Which is defined as The ability to use
technology and the internet to work remotely from anywhere, is
profoundly freeing. Maybe not so much if you work for someone elseand
are inundated with a constant barrage of emails from your employer, but
as a freelance artist, YOU are the boss and your now enhanced ability
control your own destiny, easily, fromanywhere, will prove to be life
altering, to say the least.

The ability, in between sets, to return email, or inform fans on your
social networks of your performance whereabouts, or find a local jam
session or open mic quickly, then navigate right up to the door of the
venue using gps and online maps, means you can spend much more time
performing and less time scanning local magazines and paying for
overpriced internet cafés to find out what going locally. At very least,
you can use the GPS to find places where buskers and other musicians
hangout and ask real people face to face.

That is only the tip of the iceberg of the reasons that modern buskers
need a smart phone. Selling merchandise? With a smartphone you can
accept different forms of payment in different currencies. It is now
easier than ever to accept credit cards with systems like square and/or
you can use paypal, which has grown far beyond a simple method of making
payments on E-bay. (Although you may want to refrain from selling
Wikileaks cables, lest paypal shut off your account;-) ).

How about creating spontaneous street concerts in the form of flashmobs?
You can simply inform fans and friends on your social networks that you
will be at a particular place, marked by a gps map point they can see in
google maps or equivalent mapping service, at a particular time, and
watch as dozens or hundreds (ok, your girlfriend and one guy from a
music forum you frequent, but still…)of people come to check you out.
This type of spontaneous gathering is all the more powerful now, with
these tools.

One of my favorite functions of such devices is as a portable press kit.
I love busking as much as I love playing shows in venues. Many times
people who book such venues, will see me on the street and hire me to
play. But sometimes I happen upon a place or person and strike up a
conversation and said person wants to see what I do. So, I whip out my
trusted iphone, which i have preloaded with different types of videos.
Some more “jazz” oriented for cafes and jazzier places, some more “dance
oriented” for clubs and bars, and some live “street oriented” vids for
farmers markets and street fairs. A picture may say 1000 words but a
video says it all. The video quality on the iphone is extremely high and
the volume is adequate. Very useful and powerful.

If you keep a blog, which you should, being able to photograph and post
the many wonderful locations you find yourself a part of, builds
excitement about you and your art. On my summer 2010 busking tour, I
blogged daily with nothing more than my iphone, even without a cellular
data account in the countries I went to. I simply took pictures and
notes then the following morning during breakfast, I would summarize the
previous day and include a pic or two that was the most descriptive.
Afterward, I would use the wifi connection to upload it to my blog where
an automatic link would be sent to my twitter feed and facebook account.
I received loads of very positive feedback from the people who follow me
online. Some of whom commented back instantly asking me to do such
things as “take a picture of yourself for in front of the Eifel
Tower”,which I was more than happy to do! All of my fans came with me on
my adventure!

So here are are few suggestions for incorporating a smartphone into your
busking concept.

- Pick a smart phone that has apps. That may sound silly today, but
there are still a class of these devices which look like modern
smartphones, but are really just holdovers from a bygone age. I prefer
the iphone, which I have jailbroken, and the google makes an OS called
Android that is, in some ways, just as good, some ways better (and also
runs on my jailbroken iphone) . it is your choice. Just make sure that
you are able to acquire apps that allow you to do the following things.
-
- Take and EDIT photos and video. Although the capability to edit video
wasn’t even around just a couple of years ago, I find it indespensible
now. Being able to edit in the device allows you to record your career
without having to go to the financial and temporal expense of
laptop/dedicated camcorder based editing. You can take your pics/vids
and do what you want with them, instantly. It also allows you to take
pictures of the many flyers, and business cards you receive while playng
in the street.
-
- office software. Knowing when and where you can perform is very
important. Such as knowing the local farmers market schedule and the
name and mobile number of the person you must speak with there. Having
decent contact management and scheduling will make your life much easier
as you jump around from place to place.
-
- GPS. Having a database of map points with associated information such
as event schedules, crowd type (local/tourist/festival), event type,
trouble makers (drunks, jealous vendors, cops,etc), will make your
busking much much more efficient and therefore stable (ie profitable).
If you share your mappoints with other like minded buskers, and they
with you, you will have a viable “busking circuit” that will allow you
to work consistently, anywhere in the world. I will cover this topic
later in the book.
-
- Always have performance videos, pictures and audio recordings of you
act. You would be amazed at who you meet and when. Many times, upon
seeing what you do,people offer up valuable information concerning
everything from potential busking locations to potential paid gigs. Make
sure that the media that you share, is of high quality and focuses on
your art, so no “drunk at a party” pic or vids, please. Your media
should show what you would look like or bring to a particular place so
different videos or different types of performance may be necessary.
-
- Payment systems. There is no reason not to have paypal on your device.
Same goes for Square, which is a credit card merchant account type
system that allows you to swipe credit cards using a small “square”
reader that plugs into the headphone jack of your device. All processing
and verification is done online and the purchaser gets a receipt sent to
their phone as an sms msg. elegant. This will increase your sales
potential and best of all, both of these are free to download and use,
except for a transaction fee.
-
- Musical controller. There is currently a revolution in mobile music
making, not seen since the rise of laptop music making. From guitar fx
to vocoding to midi controllers to gestural-multitouch synthesizers, to
full DJ applications and sheet music, these devices are becoming
powerful musical devices. So much so, you may find that you need more
than one; one as a dedicated musical device and another for the
functions I mentioned above. My iphone/touchOSC based system is so
integrated into my live performance and studio music making concept,
that I can no longer perform what I now consider as “my music”, without
it.
-
These types of connected smart devices will only get more powerful and
the above suggestion only scratch the surface of what is possible so, as
soon as you are capable of absorbing the cost of one of these device,
you should definitely acquire one and learn how to use it. You will be
happy you did!

--
http://onyxashanti.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/smartphones-for-the-modern-busker/
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Article "Fewer buskers despite simple permit system | Otago Daily Times Online News Keep Up to Date Local, National New Zealand & International News"

2011-02-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Fewer buskers despite simple permit system

Click photo to enlarge

Buskers Dion Birch-Thompson and David Bell make the most of a break in
the clouds to play a few tunes. Photo by Joe Dodgshun.

The streets may not be as alive with the sound of music compared with
last summer, with officials saying the number of busking permits issued
this season was down on last season.

Lakes Environmental manager for regulating and corporate Lee Webster
said only 16 permits were issued for the period from November to
mid-January, compared with 19 for the previous corresponding period.

He said the process for applying was very simple.

"If you want to busk, you get in an application form; we check it; we
say `yes' or `no' and there's no charges."

The kind of activity allowed under busking permits is not limited to
acoustic guitars and pan pipes - even bagpipes and drummers could be
considered.

"Basically, you can pretty much make any application you like. But if
you are making a nuisance we can make you move on or revoke your
permit."

Buskers Dion Birch-Thompson, of Queenstown, and audio engineering
student David Bell, of Christchurch, said it was a simple process to get
a permit and they were not sure why busker numbers were down.

"Maybe there's not too much money to be made," Mr Bell said.

Mr Birch-Thompson agreed.

"You make $40 to $50 a time and it depends on the time of the day and
the sort of people around as well."

They both noted the best busking returns came when the weather was fine,
an observation echoed by a French busker.

"It's too windy to busk ... My music just goes flying everywhere," he
said.

He also thought the volatile summer weather might have something to do
with the drop in busker numbers, and said he had witnessed other buskers
leaving when conditions worsened.

While he apparently did not know a permit was required, Lakes
Environmental did not come across many errant performers, Mr Webster
said.

He said tip-offs sometimes came from members of the public who were
curious whether certain buskers had permits.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

--
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/queenstown/145140/fewer-buskers-despite-simple-permit-system
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Article "Hitting the right note=?UTF-8?B?PyAtIFRoZSBJcg==?=ish Times - Sat, Jan 22, 2011"

2011-02-01T20:20:00.001-08:00

Hitting the right note? - The Irish Times
The Irish Times - Saturday, January 22, 2011
Bad busking in Killarney has driven local workers to distraction, so
quality control is being imposed. But judging Dublin’s street
entertainers is a tricky business, writes KEVIN COURTNEY

THEY’RE A FIXTURE on our streets, working in rain or shine (but mostly
shine). They pitch up in alcoves, in front of hoardings and shop windows
or on strategic corners, strumming Beatles classics, standing like
statues for the afternoon or gyrating to ghetto blasters. Many of them
no doubt dream that one day they will be spotted by a record-company
mogul, and be swept off to play at the O2, but the rest of the time most
are just hoping to go home with enough money to buy dinner, a few drinks
and perhaps a new E string.

They add colour to a busy street for many of us. But, as they tunelessly
bash out the same handful of songs day in and day out, they irritate a
lot of us, too – including Killarney Town Council, which is to introduce
bylaws to get rid of bad buskers from its streets after complaints from
local businesses.

The council insists is not attempting to outlaw busking: it just wants
to introduce a bit of quality control to the street-entertainment
equation. Councillors described some of the busking as Chinese torture –
probably referring to the chap who plays the same tune on the tin
whistle every day for six hours at a stretch.

They’re not the first group to take action. In 2006 Clare County Council
announced that would-be buskers would have to apply for one of a limited
number of licences to perform at the Cliffs of Moher, and were required
to play music that reflected the “culture and traditions” of the cliffs.
Councillors stopped short of holding auditions, but they met and
interviewed 17 candidates, and were “very pleased” with their approach
and their “genuine interest”.

And busking can lead to greater things: Glen Hansard, Liam O’Maonlai,
Damian Rice, Gemma Hayes, Paddy Casey and Cora Venus Lunny are among the
musicians who have paid their dues by busking on Grafton Street.

This writer once regularly bashed out REM, Waterboys and Smiths tunes
outside Bewley’s on Grafton Street, trying to make enough cash to
finance another night out at the Pink Elephant.

Having often howled The Whole Of the Moon under a freezing January sky,
I feel qualified to rate the capital’s buskers. If Dublin City Council
is looking for a busker-assessment officer in the near future, I’m up
for it.

To see what I might enounter, on a cold January afternoon I set out to
scout the talent. My rating system is simple: skill plus entertainment
value minus nuisance factor. Let’s see if anyone here has what it takes
to go all the way to the top of Grafton Street.

The New Grey Whistle Test How do Grafton Street performers measure up?

Kristian Varga

BRONZE MAN

A Hungarian with an IT degree, Varga has been in Ireland for three years
but hasn’t found a job. So he makes his living as a living statue,
bronzed up and bolt upright for two or three hours at a time. Amazingly,
he enjoys it. “Summertime is better, but I survive.” Silence is part of
his act, so there’s less chance of him annoying shop owners. “I never
stand right outside a shop doorway or in front of a window display,” he
says. It takes him almost an hour to put on the stage paint, then he
buses or cycles from his home, in Smithfield, to his spot on Grafton
Street. Living statues don’t move me at all, but kids love them, and
Varga certainly makes a convincing sculpture: put an Afro on him and he
could be the Phil Lynott statue.

Skill 5

Entertainment value 4

Nuisance factor 2

Overall score 7

Mutefish

INSTRUMENTAL FIVE-PIECE

Move over Afro Celt Sound System: here’s a bunch of up-for-it lads from
all corners who play a mix of trad, reggae, ska and whatever you’re
having yourself. Guitarist Bo is from Poland; percussionist Mark and
bassist Tomas are from Lithuania; drummer Peter is from Ukraine; and
flute player Daithí is from Dublin. The band met on the street and
decided there was strength in numbers. They have pitched up so close to
the window of Marks Spencer that they could be a funky display. The
manager doesn’t seem to mind them there. “A girl came over from Brown
Thomas and asked us to play at a 40th birthday,” says Daithí. “In the
summertime there are so many buskers the gardaí kind of have to move
them on, but this time of year there’s not many buskers around. We’ve
been here all week, no problem.” The band also play regular indoor gigs,
which makes up for the quiet days on the street, and there’s always a
chance someone will purchase a copy of their CD, On Draught . “We
mightn’t make much money today, but we have a gig tomorrow night which
will pay us. .”

Skill 7

Entertainment value 8

Nuisance factor 6

Overall score 9

Ben Burns

SOLO SAXOPHONE

A young hepcat from Seattle, Washington, Ben Burns sports dark shades
just like his heroes the Blues Brothers. There’s a framed photo of Jake
and Elwood in his sax case, serving as a talisman. Burns has been
busking in Dublin for three months, and finds the crowds “very
accommodating” to his solo jazz-blues stylings. “I think the bar is very
high. You get a lot of talent on the street here, which is very
encouraging.” On a good day Burns can pull in €30 an hour, but money’s
not his main motivation, he says. “I just want other people’s ears to
hear what I’m doing.” No problem there: Burns’s sax is so loud it easily
drowns out the tin-whistle player who is jostling for the same pitch.
I’ve never been a fan of the lone saxophone, but at least Burns stays
away from the Kenny G end of the sax spectrum, blowing a range of jazz
standards with aplomb. Still, it’s bloody loud. Any shopworker within a
50m radius had better like saxophone music – or find another job.
“Occasionally you’ll get a disgruntled shop owner asking you to move,
but I’m perfectly within my rights to play on the street.”

Skill 8

Entertainment value 4

Nuisance factor 8

Overall score 4

Perpetuum Mobile

INSTRUMENTAL TRIO

“The other two lads came up with the name,” says electric guitarist Seán
from Dublin as we peruse the cover of their CD. “We were all playing
individually on the street, and we’d all just mix and match until we
eventually found people we liked playing with.” Another multicultural
act, this trio includes Peter from Poland on acoustic guitar and Tom
from the Czech Republic on double bass. They are all experienced
musicians, and have long ago mastered the art of jamming. I doubt if
these fellas even need to rehearse. They seem to be able to just pick up
a song and run with it. They knock off a hornpipe that sounds like
something off Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells , then follow it up with
U2’s With or Without You . Because they don’t have drums they’re less
likely to antagonise nearby shopworkers, but, says Seán, pointing at a
nearby shop, “We’ve got to walk on eggshells, especially with that shop
over there. The woman in there goes mad. We try to position ourselves so
we’re not directly facing a shop door or annoying anyone upstairs.”

Skill 9

Entertainment value 7

Nuisance factor 3

Overall score 13

Niall Donnelly

SOLO ELECTRIC GUITAR

Sixteen-year-old Niall Donnelly from Rathmines is in transition year –
and, yes, his mother knows he’s out busking. He plays blues guitar and
hopes eventually to be as good as his heroes Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray
Vaughan. Donnelly says he’s busking for “a laugh” and to save up money
to buy a new guitar. He’s having a good day so far: Shane MacGowan of
The Pogues has just dropped €15 into his guitar case. That’ll go a
little way towards the Gibson. Though he displays a nice, loose-fingered
guitar style, he still needs to practise – that blues progression sounds
a bit scritchy-scratchy. But Donnelly is pleasantly modest: “I don’t
think I’m that good. Like, I’m surprised at the amount of money I have
already.” Walking back down the street, 15 minutes later, I’m
disappointed to hear he’s still scratching out the same blues
progression. He should team up with a school pal who can sing the blues;
then they would really rock the street.

Skill 5

Entertainment value 4

Nuisance factor 6

Overall 3

--
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0122/1224288063551.html
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Article "Out Of Tune With Business: Sour Note To Bad Busking In Killarney - The Irish Times - Wed, Jan 19, 2011"

2011-02-01T20:18:00.001-08:00

Out Of Tune With Business: Sour Note To Bad Busking In Killarney - The
Irish Times
The Irish Times - Wednesday, January 19, 2011
ANNE LUCEY

BYLAWS ARE to be introduced to regulate bad busking in Killarney. This
follows complaints from office workers and businesses in the town centre
of poor playing and monotonous tunes played over and over for up to six
hours on screeching instruments.

Killarney town clerk Michael O’Leary said some businesses, all
ratepayers, were finding it difficult “to transact business due to the
sounds created by the buskers”.

He said there were several complaints to the town hall and the council
was being asked to amend the town bylaws.

A meeting of Killarney Town Council heard this was not a request to
outlaw busking altogether, particularly if the music was good. It was a
complex issue in a tourist town, but the particular difficulty was
during the day.

Killarney town councillor John O’Donoghue said a man with a tin whistle
was playing the same tune at the same corner every day, and office
workers were being driven to the edge of sanity.

He did not know the name of the tune.

“Busking adds to the character of the town, but there’s a big difference
between someone playing the same tune for six hours on a tin whistle and
busking,” Mr O’Donoghue added. “Anyone in an office would go mad.”

The practice of other cities, particularly Galway, should be examined in
Killarney, with certain locations designated as busking sites. “I feel
so sorry for businesses who have to put up with this,” he said.

Other councillors described some of the so-called busking taking place
in Killarney as “Chinese torture”, nuisance and simply noise.

The council meeting heard that where buskers took on other buskers was
the worst scenario of all.

It was claimed there were instances of competition between buskers in
Killarney as to who could last the longest and play the loudest.

--
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0119/1224287860394.html
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Street Musicians: Make Eye Contact, Choose Wisely

2011-02-01T12:48:00.001-08:00

Street Musicians: Make Eye Contact, Choose Wisely

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/19/133054857/street-musicians-make-eye-contact-choose-wisely

January 19, 2011

Street musicians dot the corners of city blocks, populate subway
stations and camp outside of national monuments. But professional
street musician Max Judelson says there are rules to follow, and
tricks of the trade to ensure maximum earnings on the sidewalk or
subway platform.
--

NEAL CONAN, host:

Anybody who has taken a guitar or a violin and started to play for a
passerby at a subway stop or a park knows that street musician is a
profession with rules of its own. Yes, of course, location, location,
location, but that's just one of the tips Max Judelson listed in a
recent piece for The Wall Street Journal. Max will join us in just a
moment to offer insight into the profession, advice for aspiring
street performers and the rules you've got follow.

So street performers, we want to hear from you: What's the key to
filling up your instrument case with cash? 800-989-8255 is the phone
number. Email us, talk@npr.org. You can also join the conversation on
our website and find a link to Max's article there, go to npr.org and
click on TALK OF THE NATION. Max Judelson plays cello on the streets
of Boston and joins us now from our member station there, WBUR.

Nice to have you with us today.

Mr. MAX JUDELSON (Professional Street Musician): Thanks for having me.

CONAN: And maybe not on the streets of Boston so much as in the
subways of Boston.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I found it's a little bit easier for me as a
soloist to play in the subways. It's easier to project, and the sound
doesn't just go out into the sound of cars and all that.

CONAN: But, Max Judelson, don't you have cars rumbling through every
few minutes?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. It's true. I try - I play mostly at the Charles/MGH stop.

CONAN: That's Massachusetts General?

Mr. JUDELSON: Yes.

CONAN: Okay.

Mr. JUDELSON: On the Red Line, on the outbound side. And it's a very
large station, and it's really pretty resonant, for me. And so I'm
not too close to the cars - the train cars, but it is hard to hear
when they come by.

CONAN: It's interesting you mentioned that there's another stop at
Harvard Square that's also very popular but also very competitive, so
the competition, you have to aware of that. That's one of the tips you offer.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I guess, the name of the article should really be
called more guidelines for a musician because - street musician
because it's not really any written rules or anything like that. But
I found there I didn't quite have such good luck because there are a
lot of musicians who play there and a lot of the passerbys sort of
tune out to the musicians there.

CONAN: Oh, so they're - if they - they'll just walk from one to the
next to the next to the next, but also, you said you got there at 7
o'clock one morning and all the spots were taken.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. There's really one spot there on the inbound side
of the Red Line, and that's right on the platform. So it's - it gets
pretty crowded, and there's a lot of noise. And, yeah, 7 o'clock in
the morning is a busy time in the subways for street musicians or
subway musicians or whatever you want to call it.

CONAN: What do you want to - buskers, I think, is the...

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. That's another term.

CONAN: Yeah. Here's an email we have from Ty(ph) in Denver, Colorado.
Bring a dog, he writes. Even if it's not yours, people can't resist a puppy.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. JUDELSON: That's a - yeah, I haven't thought of that one.

CONAN: I...

Mr. JUDELSON: I don't have a dog.

CONAN: Well, you might be well advised to buy one. It might be well...

(Soundbite of laughter)

CONAN: ...worth the ALPO.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah.

CONAN: I wonder, when you open your case, you obviously want people
to put money in it. Do you seed the case with some money of your own,
maybe folding money to encourage them that paper money would be fine,
to donate that as well as silver?

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I've tried a few different things. You know, if
you put change in - sometimes, if you put change in, people will give
you change. If you put bills in, they'll give you bills. Other times,
when you start from an empty case, it fills up just as quickly as
anything else. But it's important to not - to have your customers
feel comfortable that they're putting their money in the right place.
So it's mostly just to show people where to put the money is what -
is why I do that.

CONAN: I see.

And this is a tip from Matt(ph) in Nashville, Tennessee, who writes:
You can never let two much money pile up in your case. People don't
want to give you money if they think that you have enough.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. That's definitely true. I try to keep a
reasonable amount of money there, so, in some ways, people see, well,
other people liked him, so I might too. And then - but if you have
too much, people think, well, you don't need my dollar so -
especially big bills. If you ever get any, you know, five, 10, $20
bills, those are sort of important to keep away from...

CONAN: Keep away from...

Mr. JUDELSON: ...from the eye.

CONAN: ...from the eyes of the public.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah.

CONAN: We're talking with Max Judelson, a street musician, a subway
musician in Boston Massachusetts. We'd like to hear from his
compatriots in the street musician trade. 800-989-8255. Email us:
talk@npr.org.

Matt(ph) is on the line from Baldwin City in Kansas.

MATT (Caller): Well, hi. I used to be a street musician in the music
under Boston program. And I found that my biggest success was just
playing a rather odd instrument. I, you know, found a certain amount
of people interested in what I was doing. I play the hammer dulcimer,
which in 1980 was really not all that well-known and has a very
pleasant sound. And one of the ancillary benefits was somebody took a
picture of me when I was doing this and it wound up in the American
Heritage Dictionary under dulcimer.

(Soundbite of laughter)

CONAN: That's good, Matt.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MATT: At least it was in the 1980s. And then, in the 1990s, they
switched to a little bit clearer picture of a hammer dulcimer. But if
you find the second college edition, I'm in there.

CONAN: Okay, Matt. Well, I hope you got some wonderful royalties from that.

MATT: Oh, they're rolling in, I have to tell you.

(Soundbite of laughter)

CONAN: Thank you very much for the phone call. Appreciate it.

MATT: Thanks, Neal. It's a great subject.

CONAN: An odd instrument - is a cello considered odd in Boston, Max?

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. A lot of people don't - well, I mean, I also play
the upright bass. I'm a bass student at the Boston Conservatory and
cello is sort of like my first instrument, but a secondary instrument
now. And it's sort of a novel instrument because you don't - people
don't usually take them out. They're sort of large. You see a lot
more guitars and violins or yeah, I mean, those two things mostly.
But I also played upright bass in Paris, on the street with a
drummer, who played he had a snare drum and a plastic bucket and sort
of a pin-like chamber pot sort of thing.

CONAN: Mm-hmm.

Mr. JUDELSON: And that whole scene, having upright bass and sort of
strange percussion was - the novelty of it really sold pretty well.

CONAN: It is interesting. You write also about repertoire. And you
have to be careful to attune your musical selections to the mood of the day.

Mr. JUDELSON: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I have - I don't have a huge repertoire.
I don't really claim to be a great cellist. But I have enough music
to suit many different days. And just because I like one tune doesn't
mean I'll play it - it might not work for that day. You know, I'll go
through until I find something that works and that touches people
that day. And it's not always the same tune.

CONAN: Let's go next to Rod(ph) and Rod is on the line with us from
Beulah in Colorado.

ROD (Caller): How's it going, Neal?

CONAN: Not too bad.

ROD: Good. Great subject you're working on here today.

CONAN: Well, thank you for that.

ROD: Yeah. I - the first time I started to play for tips, busking,
was in Germany back in 1965. And that's kind of where I learned how
to make that work. And it's quite, quite fun and it actually can be a
source of employment.

CONAN: And how did - what did you find that particularly worked for you?

ROD: Well, I think you have to reach out to the pedestrian, to the
passerbyer, the person that's come up and joined the queue and is
watching and see what's going on. I've seen a lot of buskers who -
they're just kind of into their own music. They're into themselves.
They don't look at the people who might stop and listen or might
approach them. And I think that's really a key, and that's in
addition to having some musical expertise.

CONAN: And Max Judelson, you said that was key, eye contact.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. Eye contact, warm - that's what I pretty much
worked on was warm, positive, engaging, smiling. I might even, you
know, if I'm playing upbeat tunes, which I - that's what I do, I
might just dance right along with the pedestrian and have fun doing
that. Whether they turned around and they wanted to give me a tip or
not was kind of beside the point, because that engaged - other people
saw that, and it also brought up my energy and mood.

CONAN: And Max, I'm not sure it's easy to dance with somebody if
you're playing a cello. But you did write that eye contact was very important.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah, absolutely. Even just a glance. I mean, there's
so little of that in the commuting world. Even in the everyday world,
people don't look you in the eye very often. And it sort of - it's a
boundary that needs to be broken in order to reach people. And so,
you know, I don't wear sunglasses. I try not to wear hats. I realized
the other day that the picture in the article, I'm wearing a hat.

CONAN: Yeah.

Mr. JUDELSON: And I apologize for the inconsistencies. But, yeah, eye
contact is paramount. Yeah.

CONAN: And do you find most of your donors are people who are walking
by and nod in appreciation and take something out of their pocket and
throw it in, or are they the people who stop and listen for a little while?

Mr. JUDELSON: It really depends. I mean, I play usually - I mean, I
pretty much only play at the Mass General stop and only in the
mornings between 7:00 and 9:00. And there are a lot of the same people who...

CONAN: Come through every day, yeah, regulars.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, there's a woman
who sometimes - if I'm - if I just get there, she usually is there a
few minutes before 7:00. I try and show up a few minutes 7:00 also.
And sometimes, she comes up the stairs and I'm not playing yet. I'm
still sort of setting up and getting - sort of waking up also. And
she'll, you know, throw some dollars down just because she knows who
I am and has heard me before. And just because Im not playing right
then, she still supports me.

CONAN: Were talking with Max Judelson, whose article "Ten Rules for
Street Musicians" appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Theres a link
to it at our website. Go to npr.org. And youre listening to TALK OF
THE NATION from NPR News.

Heres an email question from Meg(ph). Ive always wondered if you only
have large bills and only want to tip a buck, is it acceptable to
make change out of the money in a musicians case?

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I actually have a regular customer of mine who
twice a month usually shows up with a $20 bill and wants to give me
$5. And so shell just go through the case and take a bunch of ones
and leave me a $20. And its great because a lot of times when you end
up with 50, $60 in ones, it takes up a lot of room in your wallet.

CONAN: Though I suspect its important to show the 20 before you start
taking the singles.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I trust her to not steal.

CONAN: Okay. Lets see if we can go next to Damien(ph), Damien with us
from Waltham in Massachusetts.

DAMIEN (Caller): How are you doing?

CONAN: All right.

DAMIEN: Im good. I have found that engaging children - I used to play
a lot at Salem Hall. If you engage to the children, you're talking to
them and then playing, like, upbeat music, the parents will stop
because theyre thrilled that someone has entertained their child,
especially in a crowded marketplace. And they're the one carrying the wallet.

CONAN: I think you may have channeled Max Judelsons piece. You Max,
you wrote that the children are your best audience.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah, very consistently, stop and get their parents
attention and try and get their parents to stop and make a big deal
about it and get other people to stop. And theyre just easily
engaged, and thats really important to get other people engaged.

CONAN: Damien, thanks for the tip.

DAMIEN: Thank you. Bye.

CONAN: Heres an email from B.Z. in Sonora, California. How you busk
depends on where you busk. Your approach needs to somehow match the
venue. No sober, sad music in a family state park where everyones out
to have a good time. More eclectic on a busy city street where all
kinds of people are going by. Would you agree with that?

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I play mostly sort of top 40 classical arias,
cello pieces and things at Mass General. And I played for a while on
the blue line at Government Center with a guitar player whos spent
many years in Guatemala and knew a lot of popular tunes.

CONAN: Mm-hmm.

Mr. JUDELSON: And theres a lot of the blue line goes out to East
Boston where a lot of immigrant folks live. And we were able to play
traditional tunes, pop songs that people knew the words to. And if I
had gone down there and played solo cello, it really wouldn't have
worked out very well.

CONAN: Im not sure that there are a lot of pop tunes written for solo cello.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I you sort of have to just play them whether
theyre written for them or not.

CONAN: Lets go next to this is Andy(ph), Andy with us from Boston.

ANDY (Caller): Hello.

CONAN: Hi, Andy.

ANDY: I am an opera singer. I used to be a street opera singer. But
now I sing on the stage, not on the street. But I started my brief
street-singing career in Naples, while I was on exchange. I was
supposed to meet my friend and he was going to give me money for the
train ride home.

CONAN: And then came up a little short.

ANDY: Exactly. So I got a cardboard box, put it down the Galleria,
sang the three Neapolitan songs I knew. And the people went crazy to
see this obviously - I have red hair, Im Irish-looking.

CONAN: Mm-hmm.

ANDY: People see this young kid whos obviously not Italian singing
their songs. And I made enough for about three or four train fares in
three songs.

CONAN: Did you consider just staying in Naples?

ANDY: Yeah. I wouldve done well.

(Soundbite of laughter)

CONAN: I wonder, though, and youve since got on the stage, Andy, but
for a moment did you think I mean, youre obviously successful too,
but is this begging?

ANDY: I dont think so. Youre giving people something that they
obviously want and value and would pay for, so no.

CONAN: All right. All right, Andy, and congratulations on your
elevation to the stage.

ANDY: Thank you, Neal.

CONAN: Bye-bye. Lets see if we can go next to this is Nick(ph), and
Nick with us from New Haven.

NICK (Caller): How are you doing?

CONAN: Go ahead, please.

NICK: Yeah. Im a jazz trumpet player. And I play a little the first
time I ever played on the street was, I think, in San Antonio. I was
on the road with a band. And a blues band that was playing in the
club I was playing outside of actually invited me in to sit in with them.

CONAN: Wow.

NICK: But yeah, it was a great experience. But actually, contrary to
what your other callers have been saying, Id say its very hard to
make it as a street musician when youre not, you know, one of those
typical guitar players singing folksy tunes or maybe some classic
rock. They always seem to have the most money in their buckets.

CONAN: Do you make a living Max Judelson? Could you augment your
living significantly busking?

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. I manage to pay bills and groceries and things.
Its, you know, I dont do it full-time. Especially during the winter I
really cant play in the cold. But during the summer, Im out probably
six hours a week or so. And it really helps make things come around.

CONAN: Well, Nick, thanks very much for your offering. We appreciate it.

NICK: No problem. Thank you.

CONAN: And Max Judelson, thank you for your time today.

Mr. JUDELSON: Yeah. Thank you very much for having me.

CONAN: Max Judelson performs in the subways of Boston, also plays in
the band Our Illustrious Guests. Were hearing their song "Columbus
Night." And he joined us today from member station BUR in Boston.

Article "Harpist still barred from playing on Port Townsend ferry -- Port Angeles Port Townsend Sequim Forks Jefferson County Clallam County Olympic Peninsula Daily news"

2011-01-31T18:58:00.001-08:00

Harpist still barred from playing on Port Townsend ferry -- Port Angeles
Port Townsend Sequim Forks Jefferson County Clallam County Olympic
Peninsula Daily news

Harpist still barred from playing on Port Townsend ferry

David Michael.

Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND--The harpist who was evicted from his perch on the MV
Klickatat in 2007 will not be able to resume performing on its
replacement, the MV Chetzemoka, as decided by the ferry's chief officer.
Assistant Transportation Secretary David Moseley sent an e-mail to David
Michael denying the request to perform on the Chetzemoka for security
reasons, but did not address Michael's broader idea to allow ferry
buskers to sell CDs and other goods while on the ferries. Moseley wrote
that he consulted U.S. Coast Guard Chief of Inspections John Dwyer, who
said the ferry system would need to amend the Alternate Security Plan,
or ASP, to allow busking on state ferries, which would in turn require
review and approval by the Coast Guard Marine Safety Center in
Washington D.C. "I am not prepared to request a change to this critical
comprehensive security plan to accommodate busking," Moseley wrote.
Michael's response, which he supplied to the Peninsula Daily News along
with Moseley's letter, received Friday, said there was no need to amend
WSF's security plan and asked Moseley to "just officially drop the
restriction concerning buskers receiving donations for their CDs.""You
can do [this] with the least amount of effort; less work for you than
selling busking permits, the proceeds for which wouldn't amount to a
drop in the bucket of WSF's budget woes anyway [and] would be invaluable
for your public relations."Michael called playing music on the ferries
"a First Amendment right," but acknowledged that "professionals cannot
survive on tips alone."Moseley did not respond to a request for
clarification of his position Monday.
Last modified: January 24. 2011 11:32PM

--
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Article "Dublin=?UTF-8?B?4oCZcyBCdXNrZXJz?= speak | The University Times"

2011-01-31T18:56:00.001-08:00

Dublin’s Buskers speak | The University Times

By Gavin McDermott

Buskers, fire jugglers, puppeteers, artists, dancers, sandy dog guy and
even the scary ‘statue people’ all have something cultural to bring to
the streets of Dublin City. People love the curiosity that grips them
every time they set foot on those cobblestones. They may see a familiar
face singing or new act performing something altogether different. It
offers a five minute escape from the clutches of everyday banal
activities such as cramming in the library. It is always an experience.

I have been trained to do stupid things and not fail at them. It would
be wise of you to stay away from me because I’m crazy.” This wild
proclamation does not relieve but merely excites the audience on Grafton
Street. Bearing a striking resemblance to Ming the Merciless, Brian
entertains passers by with a range of fire juggling acts and stunts on a
7ft tall unicycle. Performance is Brian’s life; it is both his passion
and his job. He tries to put on four shows a day around the city however
the cold weather means there is less people about. He astounded his
audience with his trickery of flaming clubs and provided a few laughs as
well. At one stage Brian chased Grafton Street pedestrians on his
unicycle with a knife.

“I did my first street show about four years ago, but I’ve only been
doing it on a regular basis for a year and a half.” He has also been to
Europe with his show and although he did not make much money, it was
still a great experience for him. The Dubliner feels there is a severe
lack of circus arts in Ireland but explained about a new movement called
Dublin Circus Arts. “Its goals are to develop circus arts in Dublin. In
France a village of 90,000 or so will have a circus school with full
time performers whereas in Dublin, which has a population of a million,
you’ve got nothing.”

Contrary to the general perception that permission is needed to perform
on Dublin’s streets, Brian claims that there is no busking licence.
“That’s a myth, but Gardaí will push you on if they think you’re being
too dangerous. Security Guards will move you on if your crowds are
blocking shop doors and the flower ladies don’t like it much either.”

“Everyone’s got a story to tell,” sings an energetic busker as he
thrashes away on his trusty Fender Stratocaster. Paul, unlike Brian,
does not find solace in pyromania but more in the way of the guitar as
he gives a convincing rendition of ‘Seven Nation Army. “This is my first
time doing this in a long time, but I want to start doing it regularly,”
the native Dubliner explains. Paul is working at the moment but he
reveals that the money earned from busking can actually be quite decent.
“In the most extreme case I made, on a summer’s day in Grafton Street,
€70 in two hours. But the average would be more like fifteen euro an
hour!”

Further down the cobbles of Grafton there is the majestic sound of
Mutefish; a five piece ensemble with musicians from Dublin, Lithuania,
Poland and the Ukraine. The fusion of styles like punk and reggae with
Irish traditional music is enough to turn any head. Dáithí, Mutefish’s
flautist/ whistle player, stands by his belief that busking is the best
experience for any growing band. In fact, the whole band first met
whilst busking! They now plan to perform in some European countries this
summer.

It is mainly tourists that buy the band’s record. However, one curse of
the wintery weather at the moment is that the strings on certain
instruments contract and so become brittle and easy to break. The time
spent changing strings can cause a crowd to dissipate.

Busking has been really important for securing “bigger” gigs in the
likes of The Button Factory for the band. He also remarks that, “Temple
Bar busking is messier but more fun than Grafton Street, that’s where
you get all the mad people coming up to you-it’s more chillaxed here!”
The band prefers busking in Galway over Dublin. The Galway Arts Festival
provides an influx of hippies, couples and families who enjoy their
music. Dáithí believes it is the best place and time to busk in Ireland
all year round.

Street performance is quieter this winter. However, it will liven up in
the next few months when heavy crowds will once again be swarming around
the cultural phenomenon that is Dublin’s busking and street performing.
The shared characteristic between all these performers is the honesty
they take to the streets with them. It might be for love, it might be
for money but it will always be about the show.

Short URL: http://www.universitytimes.ie/?p=193

Posted by
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The University Times is the student newspaper of Trinity College Dublin.
Founded in 2009, it is Irish Student Newspaper of the Year 2010.

The newspaper is funded by Trinity College Students’ Union but enjoys
editorial independence.

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Article "Friends of busker mourn a true âfree spiritâ (From The Oxford Times)"

2011-01-31T18:54:00.001-08:00

Friends of busker mourn a true ‘free spirit’ (From The Oxford Times)

Friends of busker mourn a true ‘free spirit’

10:30am Thursday 27th January 2011

A STRAW-HATTED busker who entertained thousands of shoppers in Oxford
city centre has died.

Dyk Brooker was last night described as an Oxford icon, best-known for
his trademark melod-eon and flower-covered hat.

The 64-year-old, who busked for more than three decades, died at
Oxford’s Churchill Hospital on January 18 following a battle with
cancer.

To his family and friends he will be remembered for his unconventional
life and love of folk music.

Friend of 40 years Gilly Robinson, of Bullingdon Road, East Oxford, met
him when he set up the folk club at East Oxford Community Centre.

She said: “He was a free spirit. He didn’t live according to the rules.

“He was very generous with what he had, he was very obstinate, he would
never be wrong about anything. He liked a good argument and he was into
puns.

“He was a lovely man and he had so many friends.”

Tim Healey, director of Oxford Folk Festival, described Mr Brooker as
“warm-hearted and lovable” and “one of nature’s originals”.

Born in Bow, east London, Mr Brooker grew up in Harrow, Middlesex, where
he became involved in the Herga Folk Club and learned to be a morris
dancer.

He moved to Oxford in the 1970s and lodged with friends before moving
into a flat belonging to a local church.

Friends said he lived his life ‘hand to mouth’, busking to make a living
in the city centre and in towns and cities around the UK.

He was a founder member of the Wheatley Morris Men and organised and
took part in hundreds of folk festivals, including the Wallingford
Bunkfest.

He was a well-known character on the local folk scene, especially at the
Fir Tree pub in East Oxford.

About 10 years ago he bought a van and travelled around Britain to
promote folk music and learn about its traditions.

He stood as a Liberal candidatefor the city council in 1977, boosting
the Liberal vote, and also helped raise money for Helen House children’s
hospice.

His sister, Helen Newton Prince, of Peterborough, said: “He never quite
caught up with the second half of the 20th century, loved his radio, The
Archers, cricket, and political debates but modern living and technology
were not for him.”

Folk singer Mick Henry, of Marston, said: “He was a very flamboyant
character, very colourful. He was part of the furniture in Oxfordshire
and iconic in Oxford. He will be sorely missed.”

Mr Brooker’s funeral will take place at Oxford Crematorium on Friday,
February 4, at 11.15am.

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Article "Strict laws keep downtown street performers at bay - Orlando Sentinel"

2011-01-30T23:42:00.001-08:00

Strict laws keep downtown street performers at bay

Lord Edward sets up his steel drum outside the Amway Center before every
Magic home game.

About an hour before tipoff, as fans clad in blue and white crowd Church
Street, Edward, 42, starts jamming on his island instrument, adding a
Caribbean flavor to the pregame festivities.

Some passers-by smile and say, ''You play beautiful." Others leave
Edward money — change or crumpled dollars — in the drum case sitting at
his feet.

"I'm always playing," he said in his thick Trinidadian accent — for
practice and extra income.

But Edward is breaking the law because of the drum case meant for tips.
The city considers that soliciting, and that's against city rules.

Edward is among a small group of dedicated street performers —
guitarists, drummers, magicians and artists — who ignore city codes and
display their talents for money in downtown Orlando, usually at night
along Orange Avenue and Church Street.

Critics call them panhandlers with talent. Others argue they add
vibrancy to downtown. Some club operators say the performers bother
customers and can get too noisy, but others call them harmless.

"If they were in front of my building, I'd call the police," said one
Orange Avenue club owner who didn't want to be named. "This is not New
Orleans."

First Amendment right or solicitation?

Street performing is legal in Orlando and protected by the First
Amendment, according to Deputy City Attorney Jodi Litchford.

"Street performers are allowed to express their art," Litchford said.
"The offense is to solicit."

Litchford said a street performer who asks for money could be charged
with a second-degree misdemeanor possibly resulting in a maximum $500
fine or 60 days in jail.

According to Sgt. Barb Jones of the Orlando Police Department, if a
police officer receives a complaint or witnesses a street performer
asking for money, that officer can "take the appropriate action related
to that issue."

"A warning is an option, but so is arrest," Jones said, although she
never had heard of a street performer being arrested.

In 2002, former Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood killed a proposal to allow
street performers in downtown Orlando, saying that would be
"inconsistent" with the city's ordinances that ban panhandling.

In the past decade, Orlando has passed several ordinances that limit
begging, from sunrise to sunset, to 27 "panhandling zones," blue boxes
painted on the sidewalk. (Street performing, including the solicitation
of donations, is allowed inside those boxes during the daytime.)

Winter Park's rules don't allow any kind of solicitation. But on most
weekend nights, there's at least one saxophone player performing on Park
Avenue, usually near Pannullo's Italian Restaurant.

"It's not a big deal," said restaurant owner Richard Pannullo. "It seems
like the people on the street like it. … He doesn't bother us."

Stephen Baird, director of a Massachusetts nonprofit called the
Community Arts Advocates, called Orlando's street-performing laws
"blatantly unconstitutional and illegal" and a "pure abuse of power."

"Receiving donations does not dilute your First Amendment rights," said
Baird, who has fought for street performers' rights through his website
and in federal court for more than 30 years.

"They're trying to make a public street like a private mall," he said.

On most weekend nights, Ryan David, who goes by the name One, bangs on
pots and pans outside Dan's Sandwich Shoppe and Midnite Pizza on Orange
Avenue. Using the kitchenware, he creates hip-hop, salsa and reggae
beats.

"I add a unique flavor to downtown," David, 33, said.

Street performing is David's main source of income, and he makes an
average of $60 to $80 a night, depending on foot traffic. He doesn't
aggressively ask for money, but there is a bucket out for tips.

"If you don't like it, you don't have to be here," David said.

Good or bad for business?

Downtown Orlando club and restaurant operators have differing opinions
on street performers.

Independent Bar general manager Mickey Gannett said some street
performers, such as magician Richard "The Adequate" Waddington, are
"acceptable."

Waddington is a well-known fixture. For four years, he has been amazing
bar patrons with card tricks. Tips are his main source of income, and he
earns $5 to $175 a night.

But other performers, Gannett said, can be annoying. He singled out a
drummer who played outside his Orange Avenue bar on New Year's Eve. At
times, the drummer played louder than the music blaring from the club's
speaker system.

Justin Sullivan, a native New Yorker who operates the Vintage Lounge and
the Vixen Bar on Orange Avenue, said he would like more musicians and
artists roaming downtown. They haven't affected his business, he said.

"I just love the energy," Sullivan said. "To me, it's just part of
downtown life."

Years ago, Sullivan encountered a street artist working on a corner near
the bars.

"I stopped to watch him because I was taken by how fast he was drawing,"
Sullivan said. "When he [the artist] was done, he asked if I liked it. I
gave him a $5, and that was it."

That drawing of an African queen hangs in Sullivan's office.

Frank Sinatra, Irving Berlin, the Violent Femmes, "Blind" Lemon
Jefferson and Tracy Chapman were at one time street performers. Jazz,
blues and hip-hop trace their roots to the streets.

"Whatever you see in the street will be popular in our culture in 10
years," advocate Baird said.

Unlike Orlando, some U.S. cities consider street performers an asset to
the community, embracing them, or, at the least, allowing them to work
for tips.

San Francisco issues permits for the city's most coveted spots. New York
doesn't regulate street performers unless an amplification device is
involved. Toronto holds tryouts each year for musicians who want to play
in the city's subway system.

In New Orleans' French Quarter, known for its buskers and roving brass
bands, laws regulate street performing, including an 8 p.m. curfew, but
they're "rarely enforced," said Gene Meneray of the Arts Council of New
Orleans.

"It [street performing] is part of the culture of the city," Meneray
said.

Orlando: Change on horizon?

In Florida, street-performing laws vary depending on the locale.

Miami City Attorney Marcia Chiaro said performers can accept tips but
can't block sidewalks, play excessively loud or aggressively panhandle.
Tampa and St. Petersburg have similar laws. In St. Augustine, artists
are banned from performing for money on St. George Street, popular with
tourists.

Key West is known for its street performers. Each night at the Sunset
Celebration at Mallory Square Dock, musicians, jugglers, magicians and
tightrope walkers entertain tourists. Those performers, according to Key
West's Public Information Officer Alyson Crean, are vetted by an arts
association called the Key West Cultural Preservation Society. But for
$100, anyone can obtain a yearly permit to perform on the city's
most-trafficked streets, Crean said.

Why are Orlando laws so strict?

"Different cities do it differently based on their needs," Litchford
said.

Thomas Chatmon, president of Orlando's Downtown Development Board, an
organization responsible for downtown's cultural growth, said that
creating an environment for street performers is "not the highest
priority," but he wouldn't rule out anything.

"Unlike anyplace else on Earth, we have this reservoir of
street-performing talent."

Jon Busdeker can be reached at 407-420-6226 or
jbusdeker@orlandosentinel.com.

--
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Article "Watch Sonoma County - Your Sonoma County Politics Site"

2011-01-30T23:41:00.001-08:00

Watch Sonoma County - Your Sonoma County Politics Site

Posted by Ted Appel in
Cities
on January 27th, 2011
tags:downtown
,
police
,
Santa Rosa
,
street performers
Ras Daniel Jante plays his flute in front of Barnes and Noble on 4th St.
in Santa Rosa. He is one of 21 street performers to obtain a permit
under new City Hall procedures. (John Burgess / PD)

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Daniel Jante loved the story and photographs in Saturday’s Press
Democrat describing him playing music downtown under the city’s new
street performer’s ordinance.

Less enjoyable was the visit police officers paid him three days later
resulting in a $25 citation for allegedly playing his trumpet too
loudly.

“I think that they wanted to make an example of me,” said Jante, a
Rastafarian who recently moved to Santa Rosa from Portland.

It was the first ticket police have issued under the ordinance that went
into effect late last year and requires street performers to get a free
city-issued permit if they’re going to perform on public property for
tips.

The run-in illustrates the challenge the city faces in striking a
balance between encouraging street performers downtown and keeping them
in check.

“This was totally expected, if you ask me,” said Tara Matheny-Schuster,
the city arts coordinator. “It’s a bummer for the people disturbed and
it’s a bummer for the musicians, but I understand both sides.”

Police approached Jante on Tuesday afternoon as he and accordion player
JD Limelight performed on the sidewalk outside Barnes & Noble. Officers
had received a complaint relayed by Matheny-Schuster from insurance
agent Clarke Lancina, whose office is across the intersection from the
bookstore.

Lancina had read in the paper that the ordinance requires performers’
music to be inaudible at 50 feet, and that they must move every two
hours. But Lancina said Jante routinely violates both.

“He parks himself there for just hours on end,” Lancina said. “It just
goes on and on and on.”

Sgt. Rich Celli investigated Tuesday and as he approached along Fourth
Street, he heard Jante’s playing from at least 150 feet away, he said.

When Jante saw officers coming, he reached down and inserted a mute into
the end of his trumpet. When asked, Jante confirmed he was aware of and
had a copy of the rules outlined in the ordinance, Celli said.

That told Celli that Jante knew the rules and broke them anyway. And, if
the complaint was accurate, Jante had been violating the rules for a
while, he said.

So Celli opted to give Jante a ticket instead of a verbal warning.

“Our objective is compliance through education and, if necessary,
enforcement,” Celli said.

Jante, who describes himself as a “tranquil” and reasonable person, said
enforcement was unnecessary. He merely “slipped” and removed the mute in
a moment of artistic spontaneity, he said.

“All they had to say was ‘Mr. Jante, could you put in your mute?’ And I
would have easily complied,” Jante said.

But the officers immediately said they were going to give him a
citation, he said, and didn’t waver despite several passers-by who
stopped to encourage the officers to let the musicians be.

“They already had their minds made up. It was a foregone conclusion,”
Jante said.

Fifty feet is about the distance to the opposite side of the
intersection, and when traffic was calm, even JD Limelight’s modest,
mournful accordion tunes were easily audible at that distance.

The 50-foot requirement was one of the issues the City Council said it
would review after six months, Matheny-Schuster said.

“That’s definitely something I’d be very interested in looking at and
adjusting if we can find some reasonable compromise,” she said.

Celli said he and fellow police officers need to use some judgment when
enforcing the rules, especially since background noise can change
suddenly based on environmental factors like traffic.

But officers also have to be responsive to residents who ask for laws to
be enforced. “He needs to be a good neighbor, as well,” Celli said.

--
http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2011/01/cities/santa-rosa-issues-first-street-performer-citation/
Via InstaFetch

Article "Watch Sonoma County - Your Sonoma County Politics Site"

2011-01-30T23:40:00.001-08:00

Watch Sonoma County - Your Sonoma County Politics Site

Posted by PD staff in
Cities
on January 22nd, 2011
tags:downtown
,
Santa Rosa
By KEVIN MCCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Daniel Janté stood in front of the Barnes & Noble bookstore in downtown
Santa Rosa on a brisk morning and filled the busy intersection with the
jaunty, jazzy sounds of his trumpet.

Ras Daniel Jante plays his flute in front of Barnes and Noble on 4th St.
in Santa Rosa. He is one of 21 street performers to obtain a permit
under new City Hall procedures. (John Burgess / PD)

Passers-by drifted past, occasionally throwing change or a few dollar
bills into his open instrument case, appreciative of his presence and
efforts.

“People have been very generous with their gratuities,” said Janté,
noting that on several occasions he’s received $5 bills and even $20
bills twice in the month he’s been performing in his recently adopted
home.

Janté is one of the 21 street performers participating in a new city
ordinance intended to encourage and regulate those who perform for tips
in public.

The new law, which went into effect last year, was meant to override
what was seen as an overly restrictive and selectively enforced noise
ordinance that made it against the law to play a drum “or other
instrument or device of any kind for the purpose of attracting attention
by the creation of noise within the city.”

Now, anyone performing for tips must get a free permit from the city and
abide by a strict set of rules. Performance times are restricted to 9
a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, two hours later on Friday and
Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays. After two hours performers
must move at least 150 feet away.

Sidewalks cannot be blocked and musicians cannot perform within five
feet of a door to an open business. Sounds from performances must be
inaudible at a distance of 50 feet.

Tara Matheny-Schuster, the city arts coordinator, said the program is
running smoothly and she hasn’t heard of any complaints from business
owners or performers.

Janté, whose green, yellow and red sweatshirt and a stringy beard signal
his devotion to certain herbs sacred to Rastafaris, moved to Santa Rosa
recently from Portland. He said he came to escape the claustrophobic
feel of the big city and to find a place with better marijuana, which he
referred to as “sensimilla” and his “spiritual food.”

Police officers who initially contacted him last year were polite and
directed him to Finley Community Center to pick up a permit, he said.

He usually plays three instruments, a trumpet with a mute (to abide by
the law’s 50-foot limit), an alto saxophone and a flute.

He also puts down his instruments at times and sings, closing his eyes
and holding a metal Coptic cross to his ear as he bobs his head crooning
Reggae-infused tunes.

Bernie Schwartz of California Luggage said the city has done a good job
of creating protections for business operators who might object should a
musician or other performer wear out their welcome in front their
storefront.

There is a long-established connection between lively arts communities
and economic vitality in downtowns, and it’s about time Santa Rosa
caught on, he said.

“This isn’t anything new, we’re just slow coming to the game,” Schwartz
said.

--
http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2011/01/cities/new-santa-rosa-rules-attract-street-performers/
Via InstaFetch

Calls to make buskers sign up or shut up

2011-01-17T16:22:00.001-08:00

Calls to make buskers sign up or shut up

http://www.scotsman.com/news/Calls-to-make-buskers-sign.6686422.jp

11 January 2011
By SUE GYFORD

AN official register of approved buskers has been proposed to crack
down on musicians keeping residents awake.

The Edinburgh Old Town Association says many residents have "horror
stories" of late-night performers and believes it is time for formal action.

It could echo the London Underground Busking Scheme, where licences
are issued for approved performers to play at marked spots on the
Tube network at specific times.

The idea is floated in the association's latest newsletter.

It said: "The activities of buskers can become really intrusive if
they are too loud, stay too long or are performing at late hours.

"Many horror stories can be told - people playing bongo drums, a loud
persistent and monotonous sound, night after night at the same spot,
a saxophone player performing at one o'clock in the morning, or a
loud 'singer' performing a limited repertoire over and over again for
up to three hours."

It says the "introduction of a formal busker registration process"
might be a way forward.

The idea has won the support of City Centre councillor Charles
Dundas, who said: "I'd be open to exploring something like that,
because I know particularly during the festival period, when things
like the High Street and bottom of The Mound are regulated and
organised by the Fringe Society, it means that other areas that are
not regulated, like the Grassmarket, which has a big residential
population, become more informal and more raucous versions of what's
going on in the High Street.

"Something like this would address that and help look at the problem
elsewhere."

However, community safety leader Councillor Paul Edie said he thought
existing provisions were enough to deal with the problem.

He said: "On those very rare occasions where there may be a problem,
the police have powers to deal with that and we see no reason to
change the system or introduce new regulations."

A police spokesman said officers also felt informal warnings were sufficient.

"It is acknowledged that as a capital and festival city we attract
many street performers. The majority give consideration when
performing. However, experience shows there are some who have a
disregard for others.

"Police have a responsibility to deal with noise nuisance as and when
it is reported and it is proper that a complaint receives an
appropriate level of policing response.

"Only in extreme cases should enforcement become necessary."

THE RULES

• The Civic Government Scotland Act (1982) says street buskers do not
need a licence.

• Buskers do need a licence, however, if they are selling merchandise
such as CDs.

• Street entertainers need a licence to perform, and are defined as
those performing street theatre.

• The power to move buskers on if they are causing a nuisance lies
with the police.

'I would not be concerned'

City musician Rob Young is a regular at busking hotspots around the
Capital, including the Royal Mile.

Asked about a possible busking register, he said: "I don't think a
register would take away from the spirit of it but neither do I
reckon it will help.

"I wouldn't be concerned at all if it was introduced because I'm not
sure what difference it would make.

"It seems to run smoothly on the Royal Mile at the moment anyway."

World Buskers Festival Christchurch Wait Almost Over

2011-01-17T16:20:00.001-08:00

World Buskers Festival Christchurch Wait Almost Over

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1101/S00109/world-buskers-festival-christchurch-wait-almost-over.htm

Monday, 17 January 2011, 1:16 pm
Press Release: Mode Partners

17 January, 2011

The wait is almost over

The hearty dose of laughter prescribed to quake-rattled Christchurch
residents is about to be delivered, with the opening of the World
Buskers Festival.

Final preparations for the festival, which begins on Thursday, are
being made this week and directors Jodi Wright and Jo Blair are
excited by the opportunity to bring some laughter and life back into
Christchurch's city centre.

"It has been a rocky few months for everyone so it's time the city
had a good laugh. This year's World Buskers Festival is going to be a
great chance for people to get out and about in the city centre and
forget their worries for a while. They can just sit back and enjoy
being entertained by some of the world's best street performers,'' Ms
Wright says.

"We've got 500 shows lined up over 10 days so there is no excuse not
to get out there and enjoy a laugh or two,'' adds Ms Blair.

Today (subs: January 17) the large dome which will serve as the
Pacific Blue Buskers Club is being erected in Cathedral Square. The
club will be the night-time venue for Nothing But Stand Up, a new
event hosted by Michele A'Court and featuring Jeremy Elwood, Simon
McKinney and Vaughn King. This quartet of funny will take to the
stage every night of the festival at 8pm.

"We're going to use that same venue for our new Buskers Burlesque,
which will kick off at 10.30pm from Friday 21 to Saturday 29 January.
It's going to be a little little bit naughty, but lots of fun for the
grown-ups,'' says Ms Wright.

As well, Christchurch's icon Arts Centre will again be hosting comedy
every night throughout the festival, from 7pm, at the Stoneleigh Arts
Centre Comedy Club in the North Quad.

"There's also a venue especially for the kids and a music pitch where
some of our most talented musicians will be performing daily so there
really is something for everyone,'' says Ms Wright.

This year's festival sees the welcome return to Christchurch of the
ever-popular Blackstreet Boyz and the Daredevil Chicken Club, while
new acts selected for the festival include:

•The Half-Naked Chef, a spoof Australian TV cook whose culinary
demonstrations will change your view of TV cooking shows forever.
•Jack Dagger, the self-proclaimed American King of Fling who has
found fame and fortune from throwing knives and tomahawks and cracking whips.
•Jessica Arpin, a Brazilian-born clown who has entertained audiences
around the world.
•Canadian fire tamers Les Walkyries, whose artistry with fire leaves
audiences gasping.
•Sammy J & Randy, winners of the Australia's premier comedy award.
•Australian circus performer and comedian Asher Treleaven whose comic
genius has earned him rave reviews around the world.
•American contortionist Jonathan Burns who has been entertaining
people with his special blend of magic and sideshow stunts since the age of 12.

"It's going to be a great 10 days and we really encourage people to
get out and enjoy themselves. There's nothing better for the soul
than a healthy dose of laughter and we guarantee there will be plenty
of that on offer,'' Ms Blair says.

The World Buskers' Festival's official website
www.worldbuskersfestival.com. features profiles of all the acts
performing and a full list of scheduled performances. Go online to
win a trip with Pacific Blue to the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Entry to most shows at the World Buskers' Festival is free although
people are asked to donate to the performers.

Attorney Calls for Public Dialog on Street Musicians

2011-01-17T16:19:00.001-08:00

Attorney Calls for Public Dialog on Street Musicians

http://news.santacruz.com/2011/01/12/attorney_calls_for_public_dialog_on_street_musicians

By Alastair Bland
Jan 12, 2011

The latest incident between Santa Cruz police and the long-displaced
band of drummers that once gathered weekly at Wednesday's downtown
farmers market has prompted a local attorney to suggest a new
approach to resolving the old and tiresome conflict: talking it out.

The day after police broke up a Jan. 5 drumming event on the San
Lorenzo River levee, Jonathan Gettleman, a Santa Cruz attorney in
poverty law, sent an email to members of local government, business
owners, media and several of the drummers asking them to convene,
talk through their disagreements about where and when the drummers
can play and ultimately find resolution without calling upon police
intervention. In his email Gettleman suggested a city council meeting
"with a professional facilitator and with abundant opportunity for
participation."

In an interview with Santa Cruz Weekly, Gettleman questioned the
fairness of a single irate citizen's power to give the drummers the
boot. "We have all these interesting street artists downtown, and the
difference between them being there and them not being there is just
a phone call to the police away. Is it fair that one person can make
the choice to remove these people from town? I'm not sure it is."

Last Wednesday's incident occurred when several police officers,
responding to a complaint, moved into a group of roughly 50
peoplemany beating drumsclustered along the levee bike path and
ordered all to disperse. One person, a Berkeley man named James
Mattson, resisted and was removed from the scene, given a citation
and released, according to police department spokesman Zach Friend.

Jozseph Schultz, who owns India Joze restaurant on Front Street and
has supported the drumming circle for about a decade, believes the
continual crackdowns on the performers, coupled with the
ever-stiffening ordinances against loitering and panhandling, amounts
to "war on the poor."

Gettleman, too, sees Wednesday's conflict as another sign of
intolerance and changing times. He worries that Santa Cruz could lose
"that creative, funky element that we see downtown" and become
"another Palo Alto or Los Gatos, just another gentrified,
white-washed community."

Friend says the city of Santa Cruz is facilitating no concerted
effort to push performers and panhandlers from the city.

"We'd much rather be dealing with gang violence and violent crime,"
he says, "and I assure you that if we never received complaints we
wouldn't even bother with this drum circle."

Gettleman hopes frustrated business owners will take up his
invitation to start a conversation with the drummers and other street
performers. Four days after his call for dialog, though, Gettleman is
still waiting for any takers to step up. He can be reached at
j_gettleman@hotmail.com.

Award Winning Line Up for Auckland Buskers Festival

2011-01-17T16:18:00.001-08:00

Award Winning Line Up for Auckland Buskers Festival

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1101/S00077/award-winning-line-up-for-auckland-buskers-festival.htm

Friday, 14 January 2011
Press Release: Crackerjack Promotions

Award Winning Line Up for this Year's Auckland International Buskers Festival

The Auckland International Buskers Festival is one event that really
needs no introduction! Expect to be stopped in your tracks when
walking the streets of central Auckland this Anniversary Weekend,
because you will more than likely come across an array of performers
entertaining the crowds in the eleventh annual International Buskers
Festival in Auckland's BIG little city.

The Festival features the USA Break Dancers, winners of the 2009
Street Performers World Championships and feature acts at the US Open
and NFL Super Bowl; Space Cowboy, current holder of four Guinness
World Records and Duke Dreamer from Australia's Got Talent.

For the 11th year running, the Auckland International Buskers
Festival will immerse the BIG little city in an awe-inspiring range
of entertainment over Auckland Anniversary Weekend from the 28th to
31st of January 2011 – acrobats, break dancers, jugglers, tight rope
walkers, mime, comedy, sword swallowing and more.

The Festival is comprised of 6 sites spread throughout Auckland City
the BIG little City. Sites include Viaduct Harbour, Vulcan Lane,
Downtown/Britomart, and Princes Wharf.

The night shows have been part of the Festival since 2003 and are a
great way to socialise with friends whilst enjoying good outdoor
dining in a fun and comical environment.

"This year's Festival features a top international line up that will
appeal to all senses!" says Pam Glaser, the Festival's Director.

Acts for the 2011 Festival include:

oSharon Mahoney (Canada)
oBenny B (Australia)
oThe Space Cowboy (Australia)
oUSA Break Dancers (USA)
oHemlock (Australia)
oMr Fungus (New Zealand)
oFranktastico (Italy/UK)
oDamien Ryan (Australia)
oDuke Dreamer (Australia)

So, zip on your best clapping hands, firm up your stamping boots and
dive down the back of the couch for a handful of loose change and
we'll see you at the live street performances in Auckland City over
Anniversary Weekend.

FACT SHEET

Auckland International Buskers Festival
Friday 28 – Monday 31 January 2011

Background

The Auckland International Buskers Festival has been running since
2001 causing 40,000 annual fits of laughter, gasps, squeals, chuckles
and last but not least, fabulous entertainment. Since its inception,
the Auckland International Buskers Festival brings an outstanding
array of international street performers to Auckland for a 4 day
festival this Auckland Anniversary Weekend.

For the 11th year running, the Auckland International Buskers
Festival will immerse the city in an awe-inspiring range of
entertainment from 28 to 31 January 2011. With acts involving comedy
to acrobatics, magic to contortion, break dancers and death defying
stunts, Auckland's CBD will be the place to be.

The Festival is comprised of 6 sites spread throughout Auckland City.
Sites include Viaduct Harbour, Vulcan Lane, Downtown/Britomart, and
Princes Wharf.

The night shows have been part of the Festival since 2003 and are an
ideal night out for socialising with friends whilst enjoying good
outdoor dining in a fun and comical environment.

Festival Details

When: 28th – 31st January 2011
Where:In the BIG little city
Vulcan Lane (oldest Busking site in Auckland)
Downtown/Britomart
Princes Wharf
Viaduct Harbour (Maritime Museum)
Eastern Viaduct
Seafood Festival/Viaduct Harbour

Night Shows:

Friday 28th January 7.30pm – 10.00pmMarket Square, Viaduct Harbour
Saturday 29th January 7.00pm – 9.00pmEastern Viaduct, Viaduct Harbour
Sunday 30th January 7.00pm – 9.00pmEastern Viaduct, Viaduct Harbour

Thursday 27th January 8.00pmGlobal Comedy Circus at The Classic

Cost: There is no entry cost for the duration of the Festival, but
rather a donation is made directly to the performer after their show,
based on the enjoyment level of the show.

Parking and Transport: Auckland City Parking has over 4000 parking
spots available within the Fanshawe Street and Customs Street parking
buildings. In addition to this there is another 4000 Pay and Display
street parks available for a maximum of three hours at a time.

Acts for the 2011 Festival include:

USA Break Dancers (USA)
The USA Break Dancers are winners of the 2009 Street Performers World
Championships held annually in Dublin, Ireland. This troupe of
dancers are based out of The Bronx, New York City.
The group performs their high-energy interactive show for millions of
people around the world at festivals, half-time shows for the NBA and
are a feature act from the US Open and the NFL Super Bowl.
Collectively members of the group have been featured on television,
in major motion pictures and have appeared in numerous music videos.
The USA Break dancers perform a spectacular show packed with
acrobatic stunts, hilarious antics, and the hottest dance moves.

Hemlock (Australia)
Hemlock Mejarne has been delighting passers-by for 11 years with his
street show 'The Camel of Death!' Combining big acrobatic stunts with
the silliest of Aussie humour, Hemlock will leave his audience in stitches.
Hemlock began acrobatic training in 1985 joining the national
training squad in Sports Acrobatics and competed at an international
level in the Pan-Pacific Games in Tumbling and Double mini-tramp.
Hemlock's performance skills include acrobatics, fire performance,
balancing, human statues, juggling & other circus arts. One of
Hemlock's clients was the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games!

Sharon Mahoney (Canada)
Sharon has performed at some of the biggest festivals in the world
including Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury and the Tasmanian Circus
Festival. As the only female street performer on pitch in Vancouver,
Sharon was determined to create a more theatrical show than the stock
juggling-hype-show. She created 'Sharon from Canada' who is your
typical Canadian; friendly, patriotic, apologetic and slightly repressed.
After time and under pressure of being Miss Canada, she begins to
break. With a little help from the audience, she revamps into her
more uninhibited counterpart; the one, the only, the very voracious
Miss Tallulah!

Mr Fungus (New Zealand)
New Zealand's Loudest Mime Mr Fungus has entertained kids of all ages
with his off-beat visual and verbal humour. He not only performs in
New Zealand but all over the world in such Festivals as the
Birmingham Summer and British Juggling Festival. His award-winning
shows include mime, juggling and cat-swinging, peppered with
hilarious audience participation.

Franktastico (Italy/UK)
Franktastico will capture your imagination with his amazing lasso
tricks, scintillate your ears with his virtuosic banjo playing and
impress you with his circus abilities.
20 years of experience in music, comedy and circus tricks, culminate
in Franktastico's banjo-circus solo show.

Benny B (Australia)
The Benny B Show is family friendly, high energy, hilarious and
features amazing circus stunts!
Come on a journey of discovery with Benny B as he explores the comic
possibilities of the world, people and objects around him. Add to his
sense of adventure a Degree in Circus Arts followed by intensive
circus training in China and you have the perfect combination of
improvisation, clowning and incredible circus skills.

The Space Cowboy (Australia)
The Space Cowboy is a truly unique and exciting performer. He has
amazed audiences of up to 20,000 people in over 30 countries. He has
shown his diversity and skill by performing at the Edinburgh Festival
15 years in a row and won 'The Street Performance World Championship'
award in 2006 and 2007. He has exhibited four different sell out
shows in the Sydney Opera House, has toured with famous rock bands,
freaked out motorcycle dare-devils in massive arena stunt shows, and
displayed his extravagant abilities in front of the royal throne of
Italy. The Space Cowboy currently holds six Guinness World Records
for his unusual skills and all of his acts are guaranteed to leave a
lasting impression on all who witness this incredible phenomenon.
www.thespacecowboy.com

Duke Dreamer (Australia)
Experience one-of-a-kind comic inventions like the 'Mini-me on a
Cloud' illusion and electric aircraft balance stunt, as Daniel Nimmo
a.k.a. Duke Dreamer brings you an extraordinary show filled with
humour, magic and dare-devil stunts. The astonishing Duke has over 12
years experience performing worldwide on television, at international
festivals and Vaudeville cabaret shows. He even received a standing
ovation on the TV show Australia's Got Talent!

Damien Ryan (Australia)
Not many people can ride a 9 foot unicycle, even less can do it while
juggling. Damien Ryan is one such performer, and his unique live
theatre type show is a sure-fire crowd pleaser. Damien is a master of
variety, his show includes a comedy routine juggling up to 5 balls or
slack rope routine juggling knives, but always ending with an
impressive finale atop a 9 foot unicycle. An inimitable blend of
circus, performance, music, art and comedy, Damien is a one-off
entertainer and audiences love him.

The People's Choice Award

Festival audiences can vote for their favourite performer by visiting
the Festival website www.aucklandbuskerfestival.co.nz. Voting closes
at 4pm on Sunday 30th January. The People's Choice Award will be
presented at the night show on Sunday 30th January 2011.

Buskers Funky Facts

What's a Busker?
A street performer who entertains and delights others for voluntary donations.

What do they do?
What don't they do? Juggle, dance, sing, magic tricks….the list is
way too long to print here!!

How much?
It is up to you how much you pay. Buskers earn their living by
"passing the hat" so when you enjoy their performance, let them know
when the hat is passed.

For more information on the Auckland International Buskers Festival

www.aucklandbuskersfestival.co.nz

The Auckland International Buskers Festival is proudly brought to you
by: The BIG little city, Auckland City, ZM, Classic Hits, Newstalk
ZB, Radio Sport, Coast, Easy Mix, Flava, and Hauraki.

Street performers to be allowed at Tulip Time festivities

2011-01-17T16:16:00.001-08:00

Street performers to be allowed at Tulip Time festivities

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1966200135/Street-performers-to-be-allowed-at-Tulip-Time-festivities

By ANDREA GOODELL
Posted Jan 10, 2011

Friday night at Tulip Time could have a different flavor this year.

The Holland City Council on Wednesday cleared the way for street
performers mingling amongst the downtown crowds.

"It does seem like a good fit. The two of them go together," Mayor
Kurt Dykstra said.

Several years ago, when the city decided to allow street performers
downtown, they were specifically banned during Tulip Time.

Now the festival has asked that the ordinance be changed. The idea
came from public input sessions the festival implemented after the
ouster of longtime Executive Director Tamra Bouman last year.

"We're definitely taking a lot of what the community has to say into
consideration," Marketing Manager Carla Flanders said. "We have made
good strides this year."

The Downtown Development Authority will work with Tulip Time to
organize street performers during the festival.

"I just think it's a great idea and about time street performers made
it to Tulip Time and to show the variety we have to offer,"
Councilwoman Nancy De Boer said.

Although the details are far from finalized, organizers are hoping
about 10 buskers could perform
5 to 7 p.m. Friday, May 13, in between Dutch dancing and Tulipalooza.

Listening to locals brought about the poster competition, Art in
Bloom, a Dutch lunch at Freedom Village and other changes.

The DDA will have the right to regulate the time, place and manner of
the performances and will work with Tulip Time on that, DDA Director
Patty Fitzpatrick said.

"With the streets closed as much as they are during Tulip Time,
trying to have some entertainment and some things to do during that
time make it more fun for everybody," she said.

Tulip Time in winter

It might be cold and snowy outside, but Dutch dance already is gearing up.

On Jan. 18, the Dutch Dance Style Show will be at 7:30 p.m. at Christ
Memorial Church, 595 Graafschap Road.

The style show is the first opportunity for Dutch dancers to consider
their costumes for the 2011 Tulip Time Festival. Historical aspects
of each of the 18 costumes and details about the Dutch dance program
will be featured.

Where performers take to the streets

2011-01-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

Where performers take to the streets

http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2010/dec/231210-tourists-head-conventional-Christchurch-busker.htm

2010-12-23

Every January, locals and tourists head to conventional and
non-conventional performance spaces in Christchurch, New Zealand, to
catch the best 'busker' talent in the business as part of the World
Buskers Festival.

The festival, scheduled to run from January 20 to January 30, 2011
will feature 50 international artistes in over 500 performances.

What started off as a gathering of buskers -- another word for street
performers -- back in 1994 by Jodi Wright, has expanded as a term to
include the likes of stand-up comics, burlesque dancers, jugglers,
and fire tamers from around the world, including the US, UK and Canada.

The acts are hand-picked by festival organisers, who travel the globe
in search of talent. Popular acts include The BlackStreet Boyz: a
duo, who incorporate comedy into their synchronised dance routine,
and The Daredevil Chicken Club, comprising a daring husband-wife duo
known for their entertaining and bizarre performances.

New acts include Steve 'Woko' Jackson (aka The Half Naked Chef), who
spoofs televisions cooks through live cooking demos, and the Buskers
Burlesque that will mark the festival's foray in to the art of the
tease. With the exception of a few acts, which specify a minimum
'donation', the performances are free. Other popular Buskers
festivals are hosted in Italy and Canada.
--

The World Buskers Festival 2011 is scheduled to run from 20 January
to 30 January.
Log on to : http://www.worldbuskersfestival.com/

Superheroes Allowed Back On Hollywood Boulevard

2010-11-18T12:23:00.001-08:00

[See URL for embedded links.]

Superheroes Allowed Back On Hollywood Boulevard Thanks To Federal
Judge's Ruling

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2010/11/hollywood_superheroes_back_1.php

By Dennis Romero
Nov. 17 2010

We lamented the loss of the Hollywood Boulevard superheroes. After
they were kicked off the street by the LAPD they inspired protests
and even a web-based show.

Now the masked men and women are back. A federal judge on Wednesday
issued an injunction that essentially tells the city of L.A. to back
off -- these characters have freedom-of-speech rights and can be on
the boulevard if they want to.

The move is temporary but should allow the guys in tights to hang out
at their favorite spot -- Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue -- again.

The superheroes, known for sometimes aggressive panhandling and a few
fistfights over customers, were swept from the area in June.

The judge said that's not right.

U.S. District Judge Dean D. Dean Pregerson said enforcement of anti
solicitation, loitering
and sidewalk blocking laws conflicted with the superheroes rights
free speech. They could indeed ask for tips and perform on the
sidewalk, the judge ruled.

"This is a victory for the First Amendment,'' the character's lawyer,
Carol Sobel said. "The
characters are Hollywood.''

(By the way, the city if 0 for 2 in recent free-speech-related
battles. Does anyone see a pattern here?).

Busk a move: Making a living with music on the street

2010-11-17T17:31:00.001-08:00

Busk a move:
Making a living with music on the street

http://kalwnews.org/audio/2010/11/09/busk-move-making-living-music-street_682321.html

By Deia De Brito
November 9, 2010

If you spend any time on Bay Area streets, you know that you'll
likely find live musicians on many corners, bus stops and train
stations–Mariachi bands, wandering delta bluesmen, Roma musicians and
hippies playing by an open instrument case. They're all said to be
"busking," which just means they perform their music in public places
for money.

People say the verb "to busk" comes from the Spanish verb "buscar,"
which means "to seek." Legend goes that the Roma people brought the
busking tradition to England and spread the word to the rest of the
world. In medieval times, merchants invited artists to perform in
front of their stores and even paid them for helping boost business.
In other periods of history, buskers have been banned by governments.

Today, buskers are an integral part of public transportation's
lobbies and walkways. Reporter Deia de Brito talked to a few street
musicians who make a living playing their music for strangers. She
began with Dawud Jones who plays the soprano sax at the Civic Center
BART station.
* * *

DAWUD JONES: I feel like I never do it enough. I wish it could be 9
to 5 because this is like my life. I'm married, I'm married to this.
I fully believe that the creator, Muhammad, put me here to play music.

I was the victim of a violent crime. I was shot. Music has really
saved me and kept me with my sanity.

I feel like I'm making people happy when I play. I see people with
their kids and I'll play ... [plays the Sesame Street song].

I could see that a lot of people that give me money ... I can tell
they really don't have it sometimes.

Here's this guy, and I could tell he he had money, he was wealthy.
He's in a Brooks Brothers suit and stuff, and he goes in his pocket
and he gets this little coin purse out and he drops some pennies in
there. That's like an insult. You could have kept that. And so what I
did, I just went like ... [sarcastically honks sax].

MARVIN SANDERS: I'm standing in downtown Berkeley. In a way, I could
prefer this over Carnegie Hall.

My story is, I used to play on the street years ago, back in the 80s.
I didn't play on the streets for years, and I just started again
about a month to two months ago.

It was one night. It was right around the corner there. I was playing
and, the weird thing is, I had just hit my stride. I felt really good
at that moment, I can distinctly remember that. All the sudden these
four young guys come by, they looked pretty much high school age. We
went at it. I threw him down, and I was on top of him but by that
time the other three had gotten involved. They were kicking me in the
head. And then after that I said, "I'm not out here to fight." And
that among other things kinda led me to stop playing on the streets.

If you get even a smile from someone walking by, it does something.
Maybe it's just acknowledging we're all human here. At least, I feel
a lot of that when I'm out here. I feel–all of a sudden–I feel a lot
of compassion towards everybody that's walking by.

ROBERT VINCENT DOERR, JR.: I play at the Civic Center Bart station
every morning Monday through Friday down by the Burger King tunnel.

I like to spread a lot of joy. My whole thing is if I come out in the
morning and make a million people smile, I can't have a bad day.

You know the guy on Fox news will sit there and tell you that it's a
recession, "Oh, everybody's hurting, oh, times are so tough, oh,
tighten up your belt because oh, we're in some tough times." Maybe
him and his messed up life is in the dumps, but if you got up and
tried to make a million people smile before you went out thinking
about your money, maybe all your money would just fall into your lap
like it does to me.

I have enough that I can give some away, put some in savings, have
enough to eat with. And on the way home, I see poor people and I like
to give them my change and stuff, because, you know, I'm so grateful
about all the money and how good everybody was to me.

This reminds me of sitting next to a river, on a dock, have my
fishing pole next to me and a bucket, and instead of even having to
cast my line out I'm just sitting here and the fish are jumping out
of the river and into my bucket. Anybody would love to have a life so good!

Strumming at the station

2010-11-17T15:43:00.003-08:00

Strumming at the station

http://media.www.depauliaonline.com/media/storage/paper1414/news/2010/11/08/News/Strumming.At.The.Station-3955377.shtml

The DePaulia explores Chicago's real underground music scene

Dominic Zinn
Issue date: 11/8/10

"The dance floor is open," chuckles Joseph Ellison, while strumming
his acoustic guitar and inviting his audience to sing along to "Stand
By Me" by Ben E. King.

Given the size of the venue, the crowd is relatively large. A few
people do begin to join in with the lyrics, and some others tap their
feet or snap their fingers.

Most, however, remain silent, staring at the ground or reading a
book. Many are even listening to iPods, trying to drown out their
surroundings. Typical performers might take this as an insult to
their talent, but for Ellison, and other musicians like him, this
kind of crowd response is all part of the job description.

You see, Ellison's audience is made up almost entirely of hurried
urbanites rushing to get home from a long day of work, or students
trying to return from an afternoon of classes. As for the "dance
floor", it is actually a crowded subway platform in downtown Chicago
during rush hour.

Ellison is just one of many street musicians, or "buskers," who
perform regularly in the underground train tunnels of the city. In
fact, the community of local performers is so large that an
organization was founded in the summer of 2009 to celebrate and
promote appreciation for these individuals: Chicago Street Musicians, or CSM.

DePaul students who have class in the Loop are probably familiar with
the sound of subway performers. The Jackson Red Line stop, where many
students exit the train downtown, is a popular location among Chicago
buskers. But, with so many performers vying for the same territory,
who decides the scheduling of the different musicians?

"Playing the Red Line is a barter system," says James Patrick
Gallagher, a young busker who plays acoustic guitar and sings. "There
are no sign-up sheets or time cards, but its not a total free for all
and chaos, either. There is a general level of respect maintained
between most of those who perform regularly."

Gallagher is a former student of Columbia College and has been
performing in Chicago for about one year. He says that fellow buskers
are often cooperative when it comes to sharing the platform, but
problems can sometimes arise.

"I remember fighting verbally with a kid who had no license when he
set up and started playing on the same train platform," he says.

Apart from sharing subway time, buskers must also decide what music
they will perform during their set. Joseph Ellison says that he
sticks to oldies, gospel, and reggae:

"Sam Cook and Marvin Gaye, they're the greats, man!"

Ellison encourages his listeners to take part in the music by singing
along or dancing. Gallagher, on the other hand, says that he does not
try to perform "crowd pleasers."

"All songs are pieces that I enjoy personally," says Gallagher,
"however, the mutual favorites get heavier attention in the set."

Gallagher says that, apart from classic rock and oldies, he performs
original songs as well, to test them out on a live audience. There
are some buskers, in fact, who will solely perform their original
works, rather than sticking to cover versions of songs.

"The main thing is that I do my own music," says a local rapper, who
refers to himself only as Kendall. "I used to do other people's
music, but now I make my beats at home before I come down here [to
the subway]."

Like Ellison and Gallagher, Kendall often performs at stops along the
CTA Red Line; however, instead of playing an instrument while
singing, he uses his own prerecorded music as background while
rapping through a microphone.

"I can make a beat in like five minutes," Kendall says. "Then I bring
it down here and hope everyone likes it."

If the audience does enjoy a performance, the hope is that they will
reward the musician with spare change or even a few dollars.
Gallagher says, though, that performers expect some fluctuation in
the amount of money they will make during a performance.

"Weekends and non-peak hours are notably slower but still can be
worthwhile and profitable," he says. "If I can manage to get a spot
and play for two to four hours I expect to bring home twenty to
seventy dollars."

Gallagher says that he can usually expect money at a rate of ten to
twenty dollars an hour, but he does not know if this is the same for
all buskers. He also says that this does not include cost of train
fare and time of travel.

Even though this rate is higher than the pay of a minimum-wage job,
most street musicians do not busk a full-time shift. Ellison often
performs for four hours, and Gallagher usually performs for up to
three hours, sometimes twice a day.

Both musicians, as well as Kendall, find gigs outside of the subway
as part of their job as musicians.

Ellison has entertained at private parties and concert halls,
Gallagher has played at Potbelly Sandwich Shop, and Kendall has
performed at coffee shops, clubs and parties.

Though making extra cash is an incentive for all who busk, some have
their own personal reasons for wanting to stand up in front of
strangers and perform.

"I'm all about healing the world," says Kendall of his rap music. "I
feel like so many rappers talk about nothing, and they're not doing
anything. I want to be the first guy to do something positive for the
world with rap. I will be what I want to be."

With Ellison, the reason for playing to a subway crowd is simple. He
performs as a busker because he believes it makes his job as a
musician more fun.

James Patrick Gallagher has his own website at Etitep.com, where his
original music and photography can be accessed. Joseph Ellison is a
member of CSM and has a profile at Chicagostreetmusicians.org along
with many other local performers.

As for Kendall, while he is not a part of CSM, anyone who rides the
Red Line has the chance of seeing him in the subway, and will
probably be greeted with the reminder: "Please feed the box if you
like what you hear."

Busker Bruce told he needs a permit

2010-11-17T15:43:00.001-08:00

Busker Bruce told he needs a permit

http://www.colliemail.com.au/news/local/news/general/busker-bruce-told-he-needs-a-permit/1993913.aspx

10 Nov, 2010

LOCAL Bruce Vernon has been told he can no longer busk in Collie
without a permit.

Collie shire rangers told Mr Vernon, more than a week ago, that in
order for him to continue to busk in the area, he would need a
permit. To be able to get a permit in Collie, Mr Vernon who has
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has to fill out an
application form.

"I have to put it into writing and I can't do that," Mr Vernon said.
"It makes it rather difficult because all I want to do is bring happiness."

Collie Shire senior community ranger Caz Wilson-Fisher said that
rangers did speak to Mr Vernon. "We received complaints from shop
owners in the area."

Collie Shire chief executive officer Jason White-aker said Mr Vernon
needed to apply for a traders permit at a cost of $66. "Given we have
received complaints we would get comments from shop owners and look
to provide an approval with some conditions," he said.

As part of the application process, Mr Vernon can still be turned down.

Mr Vernon said he busks for therapeutic reasons.

San Francisco passes sit/lie

2010-11-11T11:39:00.001-08:00

[4 articles]

San Francisco voters OK ban on people sitting down or lying on sidewalks

http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_16514824

By Terry Collins
11/03/2010

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco voters have approved a controversial
ordinance that will soon restrict when to sit or lie on city sidewalks.

Voters on Tuesday supported Measure L, known as the "sit/lie"
ordinance, that would ban sitting or lying on sidewalks between 7
a.m. and 11 p.m.

The new ordinance requires police to issue a warning before citing or
fining anyone, but repeat offenders could face jail time.

Supporters of "sit/lie" say residents are often harassed by people
who sit all day on sidewalks. Opponents say the measure unfairly
targets the homeless and day laborers.

The initiative took shape after Police Chief George Gascon proposed a
citywide "sit-lie" ordinance, giving officers the authority to move
and cite those who block sidewalks or otherwise intimidate pedestrians.

"The chief advocated very actively on his own time and the public
vote has decided the matter," Lt. Lyn Tomioka, a police spokeswoman,
said Wednesday.

After the city's Board of Supervisors voted down Gascon's proposal in
June, Mayor Gavin Newsom to take the issue straight to voters.

Newsom became motivated after seeing a guy smoking crack cocaine
while taking his infant daughter on a stroll shortly after moving to
the iconic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood earlier this year.

That episode came after Haight residents and storekeepers had long
complained to city officials about overbearing transients blocking
pedestrians and aggressive panhandling.

Even two neighborhood group leaders held opposing views.

"This is something that people in San Francisco tried to do for the
better part of 25 years," Ted Loewenberg, president of the Haight
Ashbury Improvement Association, said Wednesday. "We got it done!"

But Bruce Wolfe, vice president of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood
Council, believes that voters were not properly educated on the
ramifications of a sit-lie law.

"I think people really don't understand what this means," Wolfe said
Wednesday. "There's plenty of laws already on the books similar to Measure L."

The police department will soon issue guidelines on how officers will
enforce the ordinance, Tomioka said.

Voters also rejected a competing ordinance, Measure M, which would
have adopted mandatory police foot-patrol programs and invalidated
Measure L if both passed.

--------

What Do Haight Street Kids Think about Passage of Sit/Lie?

http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/pulse-of-the-bay/street-kids-react-sit-lie-passage/

By Trey Bundy
November 3, 2010

After months of controversy, enough voters said yes to Measure L
Tuesday to make it a crime to sit or lie down on sidewalks in San
Francisco during daytime and evening hours.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, a group of 10 homeless or transient young
people strolling down Haight Street toward Market Street to check out
the Giants' victory parade had not yet heard the news.

"It passed?" said 26-year-old Troy, shaking his head and sounding
dispirited. "I sleep on the sidewalk sometimes."

His friends stopped and gathered around, most carrying big, dirty
backpacks, a few with guitars, two with dogs in tow.

"It passed?" they murmured.

"I don't think anyone's going to listen to it," said one young man,
who declined to give his name. "You can't fuck up Haight Street. It's
legendary. The hippies made it legendary."

Jake, 24, who has dreadlocks and smiles a lot, said, "What are they
going to do, run around arresting everyone? Let us be free. I can
understand if you're lying there covered in litter, but we pick up
our trash at least most of us pick up our trash."

Measure L, also known as the sit/lie law, began largely in reaction
to the Haight's street-kid culture homeless youth decked out like
hippies or punks who panhandle spare change ("spange"), strum guitars
and sleep in neighborhood parks. Some local merchants and residents,
however, started complaining loudly this year that businesses were
suffering and that the streets had become dangerous because of the
violence, drug abuse and aggressive panhandling sometimes associated
with the street-kid scene.

Homeless youth in the Haight have argued that they're part of San
Francisco's cultural legacy, that most street kids don't bother
anybody and that Measure L will just punish a lot of innocent people
for the actions of a few.

Jake and Troy said they don't understand why people are so quick to
pigeonhole street kids.

"People think that bums are always going to be bums," Jake said.
"We're young, and we're just having fun right now. If someone offered
me a $125,000-a-year job, I'd jump at it, but right now, I love my life."

Troy said he has plans for the future, too: "You know, I want to meet
a girl someday, have a baby."

Asked whether the new law is going to impact their lifestyle, the
group answered in unison, fists in the air: "Hell no!"

"They're going to make a whole culture of people extinct," said Todd,
a 26-year-old massage therapist who came to San Francisco from
Arkansas via Chicago. "I've been on a spiritual walk and I've learned
a lot about myself. I never wanted to travel; it's just where my life took me."

Does he think the transient lifestyle in San Francisco is in jeopardy?

"This place is amazing," he said. "But yeah, I think so."

Another young man who declined to give his name said the city already
has adequate loitering laws and that sit/lie is just a way for
moneyed interests to clean the kids off the streets.

"I say we all get arrested and clog the system," he said. "What are
they going to do, arrest 3,000 people in San Fran? I'll go to jail
with everybody. I'll just take some mushrooms and eat them."

Speaking of which, the group was eager to learn whether Proposition
19, the measure to legalize marijuana in California, had passed.
Contrary to what one might expect, the news that Prop. 19 had failed
was greeted with an eruption of cheers and more fists raised skyward.
The young people said the measure would have put the pot trade into
corporate hands, driving up the price of weed and killing off small,
family businesses and grow operations.

As the group stopped in front of a liquor store at Haight and Webster
streets to pick up beverages for the parade, a separate foursome
wearing spanking-new Giants World Series regalia approached and
awkwardly tried to navigate the crowded sidewalk. Jake noticed the
confusion and said to his crew:

"Look out, you guys. They're trying to get by."

They all stepped aside, hollering, "Go Giants!"

The foursome cheered right back.

"The world needs a reason to celebrate," said Chris, 21, homeless and
smiling. "We celebrate every day."

--------

A last sit on Haight Street

http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2010/11/03/election-2010-last-sit-haight-street

11.02.10
Caitlin Donohue

I guess sit-lie supporters don't party that late. I arrived at
Hobson's Choice, the Haight Street election party central for Civil
Sidewalks at 11:30 p.m. only to find the triumphant contingent long
gone. "Oh yeah, the last couple guys just left," the bartender tells
me. "There was a ton of people here."

Not heading home any time soon, however, was Scott Free, who was
sitting on a chair strumming a guitar down the block from Hobson's
contemplating the downfall of Prop. 19. Free's been living "outdoors"
for the past two years and has lived in the Haight for eight. He's
pretty sure the passage of Prop L is just a sign of a change that's
been long coming in the neighborhood. "Yeah, sit-lie will change
things -- but then, I didn't think they'd be giving smoking tickets
in Golden Gate Park. I came to San Francisco from Santa Clara County
for the music and the tolerance."

Hard to believe that voters in SF just passed a measure that will
effectively ban Free and friends' joyful noise.

Their buddy is prone on the sidewalk besides him -- drinking away the
night that made homelessness illegal and made sure pot remained the
same? "He's real upset about it all," Free tells me "he's a big time
sitter and liar."

--------

Sit-lie law takes to streets

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Sit-lie-law-takes-to-streets-106593773.html

By: Brent Begin
November 2, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO Voters approved a law intended to sweep the sidewalks
clean of vagrants, and an attempt to sabotage the sit-lie ordinance
failed along with a measure to politicize police officer foot patrols.

Proposition L makes it illegal to sit or lie on sidewalks citywide
from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The law is tailored to allow officers to move
people loitering or blocking sidewalks and businesses. They must
issue a warning before they give a citation, and for those who refuse
to move along, police can make an arrest.

Proposition M, which would have required the Police Department to
deploy foot patrols, did not pass, which means the so-called "poison
pill" that would have killed Prop. L will not take effect.

A provision of the foot-beat proposition said that if voters had
adopted both propositions, and if Prop. M had received more votes,
the law against people sitting or lying on sidewalks would have been nixed.

The issue of the sit-lie ordinance originally spawned from complaints
about overly aggressive homeless people on Haight Street. Mayor Gavin
Newsom, who originally did not take a strong stand on the sit-lie
effort, started supporting the idea after reportedly taking a walk
with his daughter on the street and seeing people using drugs.

Civil rights advocates and the progressive majority on the Board of
Supervisors fought the sit-lie ordinance, saying there are already
enough laws on the books that officers can use to make sidewalks
safer. Those same critics were supportive of the required foot
patrols, and the "poison pill" was inserted by Board of Supervisors
President David Chiu.

Supporters of the sit-lie law, such as Newsom and police Chief George
Gascón, said current laws require a citizen to make a complaint
before police can take any action. Because people are often wary of
testifying in court, the sit-lie law would serve as a tool to make
the streets safer, according to backers.

Gascón and Newsom came out in force against the mandatory foot-patrol
measure, Prop. L killer notwithstanding. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi
has been fighting to assert more political power over the deployment
of officers, with police resisting the effort, for the past four years.

With the passage of Prop. L, police will now undergo training to
learn to apply the law. Gascón has said officers could use selective
enforcement much as police do with other laws, such as jaywalking.
--

bbegin@sfexaminer.com

Civil Sidewalks or Civil Rights?

2010-11-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

Civil Sidewalks or Civil Rights?

http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=8637

by Carol Harvey‚
Nov. 01‚ 2010

HAIGHT BUSINESS OWNERS TAKE A STAND ON SIT-LIE

I stood among passersby in the graying dusk on the sidewalk in front
of Booksmith at 1644 Haight waiting to photograph for a Prop L story
two Haight Ashbury Improvement Association members, Praveen Madan,
bookstore owner, and Ted Loewenberg, Haight Ashbury Improvement
Association President. As Praveen emerged from the store, I was
blindsided by an ruddy-faced buzz-cut with arms outspread. "Hello,
Mama. Can I have a hug? Got a few cents?" Protected by his desperate
eyes and Praveen's presence, I was swallowed in a bear-hug. "I don't
have money," I said in his ear. He smiled. "God bless you." He
crossed through traffic to a seated group. "He was unusually
aggressive," Praveen remarked. "You don't see that much." Later, I
found out he was new to San Francisco, naïve and scared.

Ted perched amicably next to Praveen for the pictures. A collegial
thumbs-up, thumbs-down was their idea. Praveen nodded across Haight
toward the traveler cluster. "Photograph them." I did. The hugger and
his buddy thumbed from Ohio seeking work. Lost in the City, they
asked where they could shower. They felt miserably dirty.

I walked east to Distractions, Jimmy Siegel's store, then to Masonic
to interview Jim Preston, co-owner of Positively Haight Street who
told me he has a respectful relationship with travelers and homeless
people outside his store. They work with him to keep the place clean.

I was gathering opinions about the politics behind Prop L from four
business owners in the eye of the sit-lie Civil Sidewalks storm.

TED LOEWENBERG – HAIA PRESIDENT

Ted Loewenberg, Haight Ashbury Improvement Association President and
his wife, a teacher, run Harper House, a Victorian Bed and Breakfast
catering short-term to UCSF medical students, professors, and
researchers from around the world.

In spring 2009, Ted heard stories of escalating violence. A
twenty-something guy panhandled a mother pushing a stroller near
Haight Street Market. "Not today," she responded. He spat on her son.

The former Daljeet store security camera captured two ugly fights. "A
dirty street kid," hanging with friends, angered at being hosed away
nightly by a 40-ish man living with his girlfriend in an upstairs
apartment, dove at the man's legs and, "tried to take him down." The
girlfriend's e-mail stated, he attempted to "claw my boyfriend's eyes
out and bite him." Police were called, but the released attacker and
friends returned, apparently threatening the man with a knife. The
couple moved.

For an 'expert's' description of homeless people and policy, Ted
directed me to Heather Mac Donald's October 2010 'City Journal'
story, "The Sidewalks of San Francisco," "a 7,000-word "really good
read...somebody doing the leg work of identifying who's there."

From the right-wing conservative think tank, Manhattan Institute For
Policy Research, Mac Donald writes, "The sidewalks of the
Haight-Ashbury district have been colonized by aggressive, migratory
youths who travel up and down the West Coast panhandling for drug and
booze money."

Ted augments this identification with his own 'Mad Max Thunderdome' persona.

The core group of troublemakers hang with pit bulls at Cole and Haight.

Covered with piercings and matted, wild-looking hair, they wear army
fatigues, jackets or camouflage, well-worn blue jeans and boots,
leather and piercings.

Four to eight at once block sidewalks. "Ask them to move, and you get
nasty lip --- obscenities --- not like the normal panhandlers (who
say), 'I didn't mean to get in your way. Have a good day.'"

Ted insists Civil Sidewalks, Prop L is about behavior, not particular
people, whether they're homeless or not. His precise description,
however, pictures this specific 'Thunderdome' group, not the
criminalized act of simply sitting down.

Writes Mac Donald, "Homeless, Inc. is trying to portray these
voluntary vagabonds as the latest victims of inadequate government
housing programs, hoping to defeat an ordinance against sitting and
lying on public sidewalks that the Haight community has generated."

For fairness and balance, I phoned the Coalition on Homelessness to
reference 'Homeless, Inc," "Best I can tell, she means me," Bob
Offer-Westort said -- her only interview "on our side." "By inventing
this fictitious 'Homeless, Inc,' she could attack that rather than
having to deal with actual things I said which weren't very useful to her."

According to Offer-Westort, at a meeting with the Coalition at 850
Bryant, Police Chief George Gascon confided he knew a sit-lie law was
unnecessary, but he was duty-bound to promote it in response to
Haight Ashbury business owner pressure."

THE GOAL: DETERRENCE

Ted asserts, "I'm confident if people get the message our community
cares about the way people conduct themselves in public places --- be
it the sidewalk, the park – that will help demagnetize San Francisco
being such an attraction to people who think this is somehow a place
where anything goes and maybe there are no consequences to any
actions they do."

"Are you hoping that this will keep those people from coming to San Francisco?"

"I think they will get the message, yes."

JIMMY SIEGEL

I stood in Distractions craning my neck at Jimmy Siegel stretching up
on his ladder peeling a poster from the ceiling. On every shelf,
display case and shiny surface of his jam-packed store are neatly
displayed posters, banners, silk shirts, Rumi albums and buttons
saying, "Practice Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty," or
"I used to be an artist, but I couldn't handle the starving part," or
"Keep it Simple. I'm kinda stoned."

Once he lowered his thin frame from the dizzying heights at the top
of his store, Jimmy was as direct and honest on San Francisco's
Sit-Lie Prop L as he was energetic.

THE PLAN: HAIGHT STREET GENTRIFICATION

Jimmy Siegel grew up poor in the Haight. As a young man, he was
briefly homeless and slept in Golden Gate Park. He has operated
Distractions for 34 years. Now a multi-millionaire, he owns seven
buildings and his Alamo Square home.

"It was a bad slum when I grew up here and started this store. In the
'70s, before I opened, everything was boarded up except for liquor
stores. There was a lot of crime. I paved the way. I was one of the
first stores open. There wasn't much here."

He reports that, with the help of the banks, police, and the
Chronicle, real estate and big business interests have for years
encouraged Haight gentrification to raise property values and make
more money. These are the forces behind the sit-lie proposal. "They
want the poor people, low income people, hippies out.' Instead of
million-and-a-half, they want three million dollar houses."

"There is big money -- two hundred thousand dollars behind this
sit-lie L campaign. I think realtor groups gave to it. I own my own
home. I'm a member of Small Property Owners. They send out a monthly
newsletter, and they have big on there, 'Yes on L and No on M.'
Landlord groups, property owners' groups -- gentrification!

"I worked with Matt Gonzalez to make the anti-chain store law so you
can't put chain stores up here on Haight Street. I want to keep
Haight Street funky and low rent so artists, families and people can
afford to be here. They want to gentrify it so it's chain stores
serving the upper class. Very few stores are independently owned on
Haight Street anymore. Most of it is corporate these days."

To keep San Francisco the open and accepting society he loves and to
draw tourists who travel far to see this unique place, he encourages
street musicians on Haight. Though he feels San Francisco is still
wonderful, encroaching gentrification robs the City of its former sparkle.

PRAVEEN MADAN – BOOKSMITH BOOKSTORE

Two years ago, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisors
signed a certificate designating Praveen Madan, Christin Evans and
their Booksmith Bookstore the "Treasure of the Neighborhood." Ted
Loewenberg, HAIA President, presented the award recognizing the
community service Booksmith provides. In three years, they have
strengthened the link between the book store and The Haight, building
"a politically neutral place where people of all beliefs" "come
together for dialogue, conversation, discussion."

Praveen is proud that through their event program, Booksmith has
created "a community-serving institution that people are proud of and
patronize irrespective of their political beliefs."

They organized four community panel discussions on causes of
homelessness, a divisive, poorly-understood issue:
http://hopeinhaight.tumblr.com/

I asked, "What about you and Christin motivates you to stand back,
see homelessness objectively, and convene people in public discourse?

Trained as an engineer with a Masters in Business, Praveen worked for
years as a consultant to large companies. "The profession trains you
to be rigorous, analytical, and objective," he said. You can't come
in emotionally charged about your beliefs. You must study issues and
gather data, employing a balanced approach. "Your credibility is tied
to how fact-based you are."

For example, "The claim has been that the police need another tool.
The existing tools they have are not enough.

"There are two dozen quality of life laws on the books. Just about
anything these people can do is already illegal. They can't drink or
pee in public. They can't be seen camping (or) aggressively block a
sidewalk, harassing a pedestrian, panhandling within so many feet of
an ATM machine, and on and on.

"Then, there's real criminal laws about actual assault, or theft, or burglary.

"There are (an estimated) 6,000 homeless people in San Francisco,
most harmless. The consistent troublemakers, repeat offenders, who
engage in threatening, aggressive behaviors is about 150 people."

For 150 people, the SFPD has over 2,300 police officers, 850 patrol
cars; The District Attorneys Office has 200 trained attorneys.

"We have an army. Insisting we need one more fighter jet to win the
Afghan war is so ludicrous any rational person looking at the claim
must laugh."

Praveen's consulting reputation as a consultant was also based on how
he brought people together to help them create change in their
organizations. "People in companies have different ideas on what
needs to be done and how. They argue and fight. Decisions get made.
It's not perfect. But, the process of getting people together to make
decisions does work."

The October 9 Civil Sidewalks rally was a case in point. They
wouldn't allow Praveen in.

It was behind FTC skateboard shop in the backyard. The entrance to
the alleyway was blocked. They let people in selectively. A man from
the PR firm standing there probably knew from Praveen's own article
where he stood on the sit-lie issue. 'Praveen, you're not invited,'
he stated.
http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/citizen/whats-wrong-sit-lie-campaigns-story/

Praveen protested, 'I'm a member of the Haight Ashbury Improvement
Association. Ted Loewenberg has been sending e-mails for two weeks
about this rally inviting everybody to come.

'The Mayor is speaking; the police chief is speaking. This is a public event.'

He walked around for ten minutes trying to calm down and figure out
how to get in. He returned and said, "I'm a neighbor. I have a
business here. I live here. I just want to hear what these people
have to say. I promise I won't make trouble.'

They let him in. A man came and hovered around, making sure he didn't
heckle anybody or ask questions.

The rally was beautifully orchestrated, stage managed right down to
every last detail to create that illusion that all normal,
reasonable, respectable people are behind this, he reported.

The people running the other side, the No on Sit Lie, Prop L had a
table on the sidewalk with two people sitting there passing out
literature. There was no discussion between these two completely
separate groups.

DEMOCRACY AND CONSENSUS: THE PROCESS IS THE SOLUTION

Since his article came out, people ask Praveen, "What do you think
the solution is?'

"It's actually counterproductive for any one party to come up and
push with an idea or a solution." The process is more important than
the solution.

"If all stakeholders in the community are not at the table, you're
not following the right process, and you will not come up with the
right solution. That's one thing that's wrong with Civil Sidewalks campaign."

Federal judge blocks some Venice boardwalk restrictions on performers

2010-10-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Federal judge blocks some Venice boardwalk restrictions on
performers, vendors [Updated]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/federal-judge-blocks-portions-of-venice-boardwalk-ordinance.html

October 26, 2010
Andrew Blankstein

A federal judge has issued a ruling that blocks portions of a Los
Angeles ordinance designed to regulate performers and vendors along
the Venice Beach boardwalk.

U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson issued the preliminary
injunction last week, effectively stating that the city's permitting
and lottery system for Venice boardwalk performers and sellers
violates the 1st Amendment.

The ruling involved a 2008 ordinance that required performers and
vendors to seek permits through a lottery system between Memorial Day
and Nov. 1 to sing, dance and sell items along the boardwalk.

In blocking the ordinance, Pregerson noted the U.S. 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals held that a similar permitting system in Seattle was
unconstitutionally broad and only marginally regulated vendors, which
the appeals court said could be achieved through "less intrusive means."

"There is no explanation as to why this system manages conflicting
claims to limited space any more effectively than a simple
first-come-first-served rule," Pregerson wrote in his 27-page ruling.
The judge also struck down a City Council rule barring the use of
musical instruments or amplified sound between 9 a.m. and sunset in
designated areas.

The ordinance grew out of complaints by residents and business owners
that unregulated vending affected the character, safety and economic
vitality of the Venice Beach boardwalk.

The ruling pertained to 2008 and 2009 revisions of sections of the
municipal code governing the boardwalk. Those policies were
challenged by 13 street performers who earned money on the beach by
dancing, singing, painting, unicycling and playing music, as well as
accepting donations for items related to their performances and causes.

Food Not Bombs Wins $15,000 From City

2010-10-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Food Not Bombs Wins $15,000 From City

http://wesleyanargus.com/2010/10/05/food-not-bombs-wins-15000-from-city/

By Jeremy Keim-Shenk
Oct. 5th, 2010

Last month, the City of Middletown reached a settlement with
Middletown Food Not Bombs, agreeing to pay $15,000 to Livingston,
Adler, Pulda, Meiklejohn & Kelly, the law firm representing Food Not
Bombs. The firm has decided to donate half of this sum to the St.
Vincent DePaul Place soup kitchen.

"A recent commitment by the city to compensate Food Not Bombs for
$15,000 in legal costs…represents a long overdue acknowledgment that
Food Not Bombs was selectively and inappropriately targeted," read a
statement released by Food Not Bombs.

In March 2009, Middletown Food Not Bombs, a group which prepares and
shares vegetarian food on the corner of Liberty and Main Streets
every Sunday afternoon, was issued a cease and desist order from the
Middletown Health Department on the grounds that the food was not
prepared in a licensed kitchen. The group, which includes several
Wesleyan Students, moved to appeal the order, which ended in the
settlement from the City after months of litigation.

"It has been almost two years since the City of Middletown issued a
cease and desist order to Middletown Food Not Bombs and subsequently
employed it to disrupt our weekly food sharing, cite and arrest
participants and seize and destroy countless pounds of food destined
for hungry bellies," the Food Not Bombs statement read. "Despite the
threat of punitive consequences we never missed a meal, insisting
throughout this period that both the morality and legality of this
harassment was invalid."

Acting City Attorney Timothy Lynch did not respond to a phone message
left by The Argus regarding the issue.

In response to the group's appeal of the Health Department's
decision, as well as to objections from various charitable
organizations which were subsequently investigated under similar
health concerns, the Connecticut state legislature passed changes to
food distribution laws in October 2009, which stated that nonprofit
groups involved with food-sharing are not required to meet the same
health code requirements as for-profit organizations.

"Once that change went into effect, that made it possible for the
parties to get together about the resolution, because really the
legislative change made clear what was and was not permissible," said
Peter Goselin, the attorney who represented Food Not Bombs. "Clearly
at that point the activities of Food Not Bombs in Middletown were
going to be deemed lawful and permissible."

Goselin claimed that Food Not Bombs played a central role in
prompting the legislative reform.

"I don't think it would have ever come about without the folks from
Food Not Bombs being willing to take up this fight and raise the
issue," he said. "Given the amount of work that we've put into the
case, [the $15,000 settlement] is a significant compromise, but we
didn't start this case because we were expecting to make a lot of
money and obviously the folks at Food Not Bombs didn't start the case
because they were expecting to make money on it either. It was really
about changing the law."

Food Not Bombs, however, said their focus was not on instigating legal changes.

"Despite our indirect role in its passage, our goal was never the
statewide legislative reform which ultimately protected our
activities and those of other grassroots anti-hunger activists from
state intervention," reads the group's statement. "Rather, our
commitment has always been to the elimination of structural
inequality of which hunger is but a symptom, to the abandonment of
militarism and to the emergence of voluntary mutual aid as the
essential characteristic of our social interactions."

Goselin said that it is difficult to determine at this point whether
there were underlying political motivations behind the City's
attempts to shut down Food Not Bombs beyond the cited health
concerns. He described how the economic downturn over the past couple
of years has forced city governments to adapt and modify their
responses to new forms of community organizing and mutual support.

"I think a lot of municipalities are being challenged by the new
approaches which focus on the idea of neighbors helping neighbors
instead of focusing on charities helping poor people," he said.

When Cameras Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Cameras!

2010-09-16T14:27:00.001-07:00

When Cameras Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Cameras!

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/nestmann4.1.1.html

by Mark Nestmann
September 15, 2010

If you witness police misconduct and record it as a video on your
phone or camera, you won't be welcomed as a hero. In several U.S.
states, you could be subject to a long prison sentence.

In recent years, dozens of videos documenting police misconduct have
been posted on YouTube. But prosecutors haven't generally punished
the offending cops. Increasingly, they're arresting the individuals
who posted the videos.

The charge? Illegal wiretapping. Yes, wiretapping – what the NSA does
with impunity and without a warrant is illegal for us to do when we
witness police abuse.

At least two states – Massachusetts and Illinois – make it illegal to
record any on-duty police officer in any situation. It doesn't matter
if the officer is in the process of beating someone to death. It
doesn't matter if the recording is in your own home, and the police
have just busted down your door in an illegal search. If you record
the interaction, you can go to prison.

In ten other states, "all parties" must consent in order for a
private person to make a recording of a conversation or personal
encounter. Since a police officer acting abusively isn't likely to
give you permission to record the event, if you do so, you could be
violating the wiretap statute – and be subject to a long prison sentence.

In Illinois, for instance, a street artist recorded his own arrest
for selling artwork without a peddler's license. He now faces up to
15 years in prison.

Arresting police whistleblowers is a nationwide trend. And the courts
approve. For instance, the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld the
conviction of a man arrested for recording a police encounter.
Defendant Michael Hyde used the recording to file a harassment
complaint against police. Instead, he was convicted of illegal
wiretapping. While he was sentenced to only six months of probation,
he could have faced a much longer prison term.

Cameras, in effect, are like guns. Point a gun at a police officer
and you'll be arrested. Point a camera at a police officer and you'll
be charged – and likely convicted – of illegal wiretapping.

The fact that wiretapping laws are being used against private
citizens is richly ironic, because they were enacted to protect
citizens against government oppression. These cases turn that notion
on its head because those trying to protect themselves or others from
official misconduct ends up being prosecuted.

Since we're living in a surveillance society where the government
continuously monitors our finances, our communications, and our
movements, shouldn't we have the right to turn the tables and, in
effect, "watch the watchers?" Yes, but police and the courts disagree.

Local buskers turn their hustle into performance art

2010-09-09T14:12:00.001-07:00

They Make Mad Noise

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/they-make-mad-noise/Content?oid=2043959

Local buskers turn their hustle into performance art and a dissertation.

By Rachel Swan
September 08, 2010

If you're a musician who makes his living strumming a guitar on a
corner, Saturdays can be grueling. And last Saturday was typical for
Khalil Sullivan. He left his Oakland Chinatown apartment at around 11
a.m. to hit the Eat Real Festival in Jack London Square, guitar in
hand. There, the 28-year-old met up with the other three members of
his new jug band, Mad Noise. They were a motley crew: Chris Weir on
electric and upright bass; Anthony "Mogli" Maureal on drums, buckets,
tambourines, and miscellany; and Jarel "Pharoah" Stone on harmonica,
etc. They were off to a slow start. They'd planned to busk from 11
a.m. to 5 p.m. at Eat Real, break for lunch, then head over to the
Mission district around 9 or 10 p.m. Another fifteen-hour day on the grind.

Sullivan relishes it all: the long days, the noise complaints, the
people throwing money, the run-ins with cops, the hanging out in
alleyways with drunks and potheads, the hours spent reading up on
what counts as "public" performance space. An English graduate
student at UC Berkeley, he's preparing to write a dissertation on
race, minstrelsy, music performance, and the American recording
industry. He's fascinated by the way that he says musicians in
general and black artists in particular achieve success only
after participating in their own exploitation. He's tried
circumventing the market economy in various ways, first by playing
house gigs, then by doing shock theater with street performer Philip
Huang. Once, he took to the stage of El Rio in blackface.

Busking ties into Sullivan's process of questioning the entertainment
industry. Like other guerrilla-style performers, he's foisting his
art upon the public. "What is my place here, as an artist right now?"
Sullivan asked during a recent interview. "I'm still trying to figure
it out." More importantly, he continued, "Whose neighborhood can I go
into and make a bunch of noise?"

The name "Mad Noise" came from a North Beach wino who hung out with
the buskers last July while they played in an alleyway between City
Lights Books and Vesuvio Cafe. It stuck. The band does, indeed, make
good on its name, especially now that it has a regular Saturday-night
entourage.

Last Saturday was no exception. At around 11:30 p.m., Mad Noise
stationed itself in front of the bar Kilowatt on 16th and Valencia
streets. By then, it had morphed into eleven people playing three
plastic recycling buckets, harmonica, tambourines, rain sticks, two
guitars, cowbell, jingle bells, and milk crates. Two guys were
banging drumsticks on the sidewalk. Mogli was pounding buckets while
Pharaoh slapped a tambourine impatiently against his leg. The
musicians put a hat out for money, and a cardboard sign with their
band logo. "Love, peace, chicken grease," it read.
<a href="http://ads.eastbayexpress.com/ads/adclick.php?n=us0d6fu21"
target="_blank"><img
src="http://ads.eastbayexpress.com/ads/adview.php?what=zone%3A68&n=us0d6fu21"
width="300" height="250" border="0" alt="" /></a>

Sullivan launched into a three-chord rendition of Red Hot Chili
Peppers' "Under the Bridge," singing in his thick, growly tenor.
Drunk women walked by. Some looked askance; others smiled teasingly
at the band members. A man picked up his date and swung her around. A
woman squealed. "Take it off!" she cried, as her friends burst into
giggles. "You motherfuckers yeah!" shouted a middle-age man in red
pants and a backwards cap, grinning and pumping his fist.

The musicians welcome such behavior. Sullivan let red pants call out
requests. For a moment, he became the de facto bandleader. "You do F
sharp into D, F sharp into D," he instructed, as Sullivan fumbled
with the chord changes. Red pants began to sing in a voice that was
slurry, angry, and metallic, all at the same time: I don't care
anymore/I don't care anymore/I don't CARE anymore!

"This is awesome," said one tambourine banger, turning to the guy
beside him who looked bored or weary. Mogli howled. Sullivan gave
his last chord the heft of an exclamation point, and launched into a
new song. "Hey, you guys, why don't we play 'Voodoo Child?'" the
red-pants guy entreated.

Just then, a man approached the band, arms outstretched. "Hey, I live
across the street, and it's after midnight," he said, pointing toward
the upper story of a high-rise apartment building. "Look, I'm ready
to go to sleep," the man said, rather sheepishly. "I don't want to
call the cops."

Sullivan has grown accustomed to such exchanges. He's used to talking
to cops and security guards, being told he can't play at full volume,
put his hat out for money, or strum his guitar without a permit. One
night, he said, Mad Noise got shut down by five different
"mercenaries of the urban environment."

"Hey what time is it?" Sullivan asked. Twelve-o-five a.m., and time
to move to a new spot. The band members packed up and migrated to
22nd and Bartlett streets, near the Make-Out Room. Before they left,
Mogli drew a blue bird on the sidewalk in chalk. "Mad Noise was
here," he said triumphantly.

It had been a trying night. The extra personnel hadn't helped much
many didn't appear to know their instruments or the songs well enough
to stay on beat. "If their rhythm is off, it throws me off," Sullivan
said. His frustrations were understandable. As the band's frontman,
he also makes all the important decisions like where and when to
busk, and what to play (Mad Noise's repertoire is about 75 percent
covers, 25 percent Sullivan originals).

At 1 a.m., he called a huddle. His voice had given out, his muscles
weren't working anymore, and he wasn't exactly pleased that the
busking had devolved into a drum circle. The bandmembers made a new
rule: They could invite friends along, but once the hat goes out for
money, the entourage steps off. For Sullivan and Pharaoh, that's no
joke. There was a point this summer when they were busking for rent
and grocery money Sullivan's teaching stipend had dried up, and
Pharaoh had a wife and kid to feed. Three hundred dollars a night
isn't a killing when you have to work twelve hours and divide the
money among four people. But it bought the BART trip home and food
for the next two weeks, Sullivan said.

This week, things are looking up. Weir became a sophomore at UC
Berkeley. Mogli and Pharaoh are learning about the recording industry
at Ex'pression College for Digital Arts. Sullivan is teaching and in
full dissertation mode. And he's back to seeing Mad Noise as a piece
of performance art, rather than a hustle. But if you ask him where
all this is going, his answer is surprisingly cliché: "All the way,"
he said. "I'm doing this to be a rock star."

3 Asheville Buskers

2010-08-17T18:23:00.001-07:00

Busk Break: Mary Sparks

http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/busk_break_mary_sparks

by Steve Shanafelt
08/15/2010

Mary Sparks may not have a name for this new work, but she's adamant
that it was inspired by the creative atmosphere of Asheville. The
hammered-dulcimer player relocated here a few years ago, in large
part because of the active local busking community. Here she is
performing outside of Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe earlier this week.

[See URL for video.]

--------

Busk Break: Daniel Rassum, Revisited

http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/busk_break_daniel_rassum_revisited

by Steve Shanafelt
08/10/2010

Last week, we featured Winston-Salem-based bluesman Daniel Rassum on
one of his regular busking visits through Asheville. Rassum's
performance was so entertaining that it's worth a revisit, and in
this video he performs his original tune "Lord, You Been So Good To Me."

[See URL for video.]

--------

Busk Break: Kevin Jerome, Revisited

http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/busk_break_kevin_jerome_revisited

by Steve Shanafelt
8/16/2010

Last week, we presented a snippet of a recent busking performance by
Asheville-based singer/songwriter Kevin Jerome. Today, we're going to
take a look at another tune from that set. Here's his original song
"To The Mountain Top."

[See URL for video.]

Teen buskers bring melodies to uptown to help homeless

2010-08-17T18:20:00.001-07:00

Teen buskers bring melodies to uptown to help homeless

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/08/13/1619043/teen-buskers-bring-melodies-to.html

By Mark Price
msprice@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Friday, Aug. 13, 2010

There's a strange symmetry at work when high school students raising
money for a homeless charity get their first donation from a recently
laid-off teacher.

That's exactly what happened Thursday, when Julie Vaughan dropped the
first dollar into a ukulele case at the feet of singers April Hausle
and Larkin Dodgen, two 17-year-olds who will be seniors this year at
Myers Park High.

"I was laid off May 12 from the Renaissance School at Olympic," said
Vaughan. "I read what they were doing here in uptown and, when kids
do good things, I like to support them."

What the kids are doing is raising money for charity through a
first-of-its kind initiative called Busk Till Dusk. Two dozen Myers
Park students (and a few recent grads) have committed to
street-performing - known as busking - on uptown corners through
Saturday, to benefit Urban Ministry Center's programs for the homeless.

"People come to us all the time with unusual fundraising ideas,
including a farm stand and a choral competition at a church. But this
is the first time something like this has been pitched," said Liz
Peralta of the Urban Ministry Center. "I'm completely impressed when
young people decide they can do something to help out, and take the
initiative."

Myers Park student Miller Murrow, 17, came up with the idea about a
month ago, and he's the one who recruited fellow students to help
out, either as musicians or roadies.

"You see a lot of homeless people uptown, and giving them money
doesn't help them much," Miller said. "But the Urban Ministry has
great programs that go farther, beyond just traditional needs."

Busk Till Dusk suffered its share of opening-day glitches Thursday.
The delivery van got a parking ticket and was almost towed. The
electrical outlets wouldn't work. And the audience wasn't helped by
temperatures in the upper 90s.

And, of course, a firetruck had to be called to help someone on a
bench across the street.

None of that stopped the music, though, as teens plucked at guitars
and ukuleles while sweating bullets.

"I think it's a chance to show everybody ... what we can do to help
out," said Sam Jackson, 18, who will be a senior at Myers Park this
year. "We are the future, and we're showing we can be great."

Street Performers

City Cracking Down on Performers in Washington Square Park

City Cracking Down on Performers in Washington Square Park

Central Park ban angers NYC buskers

BART Musician Adam Young Shares Tips on Busking for a Living

Council draws up code of conduct for buskers

Buskers asked to keep the volume down

Buskers Bounced from North Division Street

Vendors, performers flout law, crowd Strip walkways

Central Park's Strawberry Fields Designated A Quiet Zone

Victoria may reform busking bylaw

Life as a living statue

Still lives: why it's not much fun being a living statue

Do My Job: Steph and Shawn are street performers

Sword-swallowing busker ends up on the sharp end of the law

How much does it cost to enforce busking law=?UTF-8?B?Pw==?=

Opera busker 'too loud' for mall

Last man standing - life as a living statue

Well-known busker hit with fine after using wrong spot

Busking bylaw necessary and important

Green light for buskers

Famous clown - Mr. Twister - punched, ticketed after fight in downtown Santa Cruz

Suits & Sentences

Reporter wins subpoena battle in street performer's suit

Busk a=?UTF-8?B?wqBNb3Zl?=

Creative busker turns to pavement art

City buskers okay, but Melbourne less charitable towards street fundraisers

Q&A with The Great Morgani

Music of The Revolution: How Songs of Protest Have Rallied Demonstrators

The musicians are taking incredible risks

In Search Of Protest Singers & Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute Reviewed Jim Keoghan, March 1st, 2011 07:33

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Article "Watch Sonoma County - Your Sonoma County Politics Site"

Article "Watch Sonoma County - Your Sonoma County Politics Site"

Calls to make buskers sign up or shut up

World Buskers Festival Christchurch Wait Almost Over

Attorney Calls for Public Dialog on Street Musicians

Award Winning Line Up for Auckland Buskers Festival

Street performers to be allowed at Tulip Time festivities

Where performers take to the streets

Superheroes Allowed Back On Hollywood Boulevard

Busk a move: Making a living with music on the street

Strumming at the station

Busker Bruce told he needs a permit

San Francisco passes sit/lie

Civil Sidewalks or Civil Rights?

Federal judge blocks some Venice boardwalk restrictions on performers

Food Not Bombs Wins $15,000 From City

When Cameras Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Cameras!

Local buskers turn their hustle into performance art

3 Asheville Buskers

Teen buskers bring melodies to uptown to help homeless

Article "Friends of busker mourn a true âfree spiritâ (From The Oxford Times)"