The Buskers Blog

                                              

                                 Maybe next I could have it in rhinestones studded onto my accordion? 

Busking In Concord, NH (Or Not)

So sleepy state capital Concord, NH passed an ordinance this summer allowing unfettered busking. (Bravo!!!)  And my friend Mike Alberici is making the most of it- he's going to give busking a try himself, see how much he makes, then spend the money on dinner (whether it's a hot dog or a five-course meal depends on a few factors, I figure) and write it up in an article for the Concord Monitor.  

And I was invited to join him on Main Street next Wednesday, October 26, 3-5 pm., with my ever-ready perfect (i.e. loud) busking instrument: the accordion.  The irony is that I can't do it because of my day job... (and you call yourself a busker?!)  Maybe Mike will buy dinner at Hermanos, where I'll be playing with my jazz trio a little later in the evening (not busking, but close... if you knew what we make...).

Footnote:  A local busking ordinance advocate took video of The Buskers (with capitals, i.e. the band) playing our signature busking tune "Spank That Tambourine" at a show in Bow, NH with the expressed intention of using it to promote the new busker-friendly downtown.  We haven't heard back yet if she still intends to use it.  But the New England busking season will soon fly south..well, maybe fire breathers can stay, but where nimble digits are needed, we've only got a few more weeks, so let's all get out there and play some Free Bird while we still can!  

Footnote two: The GOP-led state legislature voted this year to allow weapons in the State House and concealed weapons on the House floor and in the visitors’ gallery (state rep. Al Baldasaro said he has been physically threatened multiple times and feels safer carrying a concealed weapon.  no comment). But the City of Concord passes an ordinance allowing musicians to walk the streets?  Chaos.  Anarchy. What were they thinking? 

 

Fallow Fields

We let The Buskers lie fallow since the last harvest of shows in August, while our teaching day jobs came back and devoured Paul and me. But after the the first few weeks of school have chewed us up and spit us out again, we stagger back into my studio for the first of what becomes those weekly sessions where new material gets a first run and over the winter adds another set of tunes to the big bad Buskers catalog. 

In the next couple weeks, though, we'll be pulling tunes from this Summer out of the root cellar (ew, nothing smells like a rotten Mother Hubbard), because we have a show at 51 Main in Middlebury, VT on Nov. 4. It came up fast and we weren't able to get another booking in the area for that weekend, but that turned out great for me, because I've just been invited to play with killer stankin' trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis again at New England College on the 5th. 

So I'm thinking...that's a long drive across the Green Mountains and back for one little gig, and I'm thinking... Middlebury is a nice town... and it's just a few days after my wedding anniversary; so my wife and I are going to make a night of it and stay at a b & b a few blocks away.

Yes, I can get antsy and restless and downhearted when we go too long without Busk(er)ing our own music --thank God for the freelance gigs--but then again, as the Old Farmer knows, every field needs time to lie fallow or it won't keep producing good crops.