It’s taken me two weeks to pluck up the courage to actually go busking. To actually go.. into a busy town centre.. set up my mic, amp, guitar.. and stand singing as all kinds of people pass by. The thought of it terrified me, even having played numerous gigs in all kinds of venues.. this was something completely different. (What if people are mean?!)
In hindsight, it seems absurd to have been so worried. I had a fantastic time. To be fair though, I did choose a pretty strong starting point – Newbury town centre on a sunny Saturday afternoon is bustling with different kinds of lovely and interesting people.. all of whom were very welcoming, and extremely generous (even the woman who asked her friend why I looked like a farmer. I’m afraid I can’t answer that. Must be the beard..) Anyway, I’m totally blown away by the response I received, so thank you very much Newbury. I made more of a living with three hours of singing than I did from a full days work at the office. And I got to wear my flat cap, and have a pasty break. Score!
I took my notebook with me and throughout the day my list of songs mutated and multiplied. Some songs went down incredibly well, others sort of fizzled out, getting no more than a smile and a nod. But.. even this feels pretty amazing when it comes from a stranger. The more compliments I received, either in the form of a smile, someone stopping to listen, take a business card, leave a donation.. the more I seemed to put into it. The nerves just sort of fell away.
It’s really nice when people come and stand or sit right by you to listen. A lot of children seemed quite mesmerized by what I was doing – one boy came over and held out a pound coin while I was half way through a song (rather than dropping it in the case) I smiled and stopped singing, took it, said – ‘Thank you very much.. I’ll just pop it in here’, then carried on singing. It was a smooth transition. I’ve put it in the blog as a – ‘woop, go me’, because.. to be honest.. most, if not all, other transitions.. did not go so smoothly. Trying to thank somebody usually meant I missed a chord, missed a word, fluffed up a note, made up a melody, knocked the mic stand, knocked my hat off. I think I even said ‘finku’ one time. It’s not a word? My inability to act normal astonishes me sometimes.
Anyway.. a good day, all in all. The boat is in great working order. We have left the confines of the marina and are feeling pretty free.. Making music, jamming, drinking tea and /or not-tea-more-of-an-alcohol-based-beverage.. and munching on pot noodles. (We do eat quite healthily outside of the foods to which you ‘just add water’, but.. they’re so gosh darn fitting sometimes.)
Tomorrow I hope to check out the Open Mic night round at the Canal Bar. I’m hoping we can pull the boat up right outside. That’d be sweeeet. Looking forward to hearing live music and meeting some local musos.
Thanks again, so much, for following us on this journey. As always – any ideas, comments, clean clothes.. all welcome!
See you soon.
Big Love xx
Yay another feat conquered – go you! Glad it went so well 🙂 xxx
Fantastic – that is so great – it is great to hear how you are doing…. xxx
Hi, Life of the road mmm wonderful …..Hope you have read Jack Kerouac xxx Should you feel the need to achieve some form of domestication …Hand turned washing machines .. works like a butter churn..Stores in you cockpit locker…
X Zed