Very Soothing

Riding the subway train to my Music Under New York busking spot at Union Square, I realized that my watch’s battery was dead, so I looked up at the time announcement strip in the train. It said: 11:51. A few minutes later, as I was setting up to play, the time announcement on the station’s…

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I Think of You When You’re Not Here

As I was playing ‘Over the Rainbow’ while busking at the 14th street subway station, Joe Lucas, the homeless guy with the hook arm, showed up. I haven’t seen him in months. He went to Montana to visit a friend and then to Rhode Island to visit his sister. It was wild that he showed…

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R.I.P Rue McClanahan

As I was dragging my busking gear up the stairs to the subway station, a guy left his shopping cart by the bottom of the stairs and offered to help me carry my stuff up the stairs. He wasn’t even heading to the subway – he volunteered to go out of his way just to…

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Nobody Gets Out of this Alive

As I got off the train at the Union Square subway station two guys who were getting on the train said: “Saw Lady! How are you?” Just as I started to play, Chill, who sings on the trains with his acapella group, came to say ‘hi’. He told me that he was just released from…

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He Needed It More

At the subway station MTA personnel were working on the station, clearing the walls and hanging up new subway maps. They recognized me as I passed by. “Hey, it’s ‘Saw Lady’”, one of them said. They told me that they will be at the Times Square subway station on Wednesday and asked me if they’ll…

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Do the Cartoon Sound

While waiting for the train at the subway station, I noticed seven big white panels on the floor, laying against the wall of the opposite platform. It looks like maybe the MTA is preparing to have ads on the walls of the station. It’s about time. At the City Hall subway station four guys were…

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One Good Deed Deserves Another

A young guy helped me bring my busking gear up the subway stairs. When we reached the platform there was an unusually large number of people there, because the train wasn’t working. I forged my way through the thick crowd and the guy who helped me before followed behind me. When we got to the…

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Pass the Hat

Every now and then I come across poems about busking. I really like this one: Photographer: © Nicholas Loomis Pass The Hat/DubbleX You stand in hot uncomfortable noisy subways Underneath the city Musical notes intermingled with your passing jingle Dollar bills and spare change find their way into your hat You play and play until…

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The Last Dollar

Karen, the blind, blond lady who always passes by when I play at the Union Square subway station, told me that she is anxiously waiting a call from the Museum of Natural History, regarding a job. She’s had a two and a half hour long interview at the Whitney Museum, but didn’t get the job…

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