Don’t Break Any Guitar Strings

At 11:30am, as I was setting up my gear at the Music Under New York spot at the 59th street subway station, a lady sitting on the bench near by said to me “How are you?” She recognized me and was happy to see me. What a nice start of the day.

59th st platform

A guy told me “I have a slogan for you: ‘The Music that’s Always Sharp'”.
I agreed with him that there is a nice word game in there and we both agreed it wasn’t perfect and needed some more thought. Anybody have a suggestion for a musical saw slogan for me?

train arriving at 59th & Lex

There’s a guy wearing glasses who whenever he sees me always says “don’t break any guitar strings”. He noticed that I was away for a long time and said “did you run away and get married or something?”
He told me that he plays guitar, keyboard, and he sings. He knows hundreds of songs and he wants to play in the subway but doesn’t have the guts. He lives in Staten Island, and wants to try playing by the ferry there on weekends in the summer, but he is afraid the police might give him a hard time.

59th station

I played for more than 4 hours streight today – that felt good!

6 Comments

  1. Howlin' Hobbit on February 18, 2008 at 2:54 am

    I went out and did my first busking set of the year today. And my second.

    This is at Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA which means I played for two hours total. I realize you do longer stints there in the underground.

    I made less than half of my first set’s money in my second set but enjoyed both anyways. And I don’t know how much a person in New York expects to make on a busking day but I was happy with what I brought home so I suppose that’s what it’s all about.

    It’s good to be back.

    As far as a slogan goes… how about… “Music with teeth!”?

    I’m just sayin’…



  2. Howlin' Hobbit on February 18, 2008 at 2:55 am

    P.S. I didn’t break any guitar strings either. But then again, I play ukulele. 🙂



  3. Saw Lady on February 18, 2008 at 6:43 pm

    Hi Howlin’ Hobbit,

    I hear a lot about the Pike Place Market – it seems it’s one of the great busking centers.

    “Music with teeth!” is great. I used it years ago, until I got a ticket for the teeth (the police said the teeth are a weapon)… Thank you for the thought, thou – it’s right on!



  4. Elphyon on February 23, 2008 at 2:33 am

    Dear Saw Lady,
    thanks for visiting my blog!
    Yes, I’d be happy to see my poem on your blog.
    Have a happy singin’ day!



  5. Pacian on February 24, 2008 at 4:20 pm

    How about:

    “At the cutting edge of music!”
    “Not just for carpentry any more!”
    “As seen in Delicatessen!”
    “Music for saw ears!”
    “I also do amputations!”

    And so forth.



  6. guitar picks on January 4, 2012 at 2:25 am

    Breaking a guitar string may be one of the greatest mishap that can happen to a player. Your post is very inspiring for other players, thanks for posting.