Just Do The Music

dave d. was playing the streets of Shrewsbury last September during the town's weekend of street entertainment. He started playing five years ago after being made redundant. "I was a property supervisor in a stately home and before that worked as a stage manager at a theatre."

I was still trying to find the courage to make a start on the street and told him so. 

"It's all right," he said. "First time it's a bit scary and hard, but you've got to just do the music. Never mind the money - just enjoy the music."

Sound advice.

Sunday collection

I used to receive sixpence to put in the silver salver, passed from pew to pew amongst the congregation of Llansteffan church, as a boy. My donor’s role mystified me. Was I giving on my parent’s behalf? Was I meant to pretend to be generous with my pocket money?

The blues in Ludlow courtesy of Reverend Ferriday

This Sunday, tho’, I’m happy to pop 50p (is that a 200% hike on the old sixpence?) in the plate of Reverend Ferriday, busking with his steel guitar in Ludlow Market Square.  (myspace.com/revferriday)

I’ve been playing round the corner from the Reverend. While an endearing 18 month-old performs a slow dance to Ain’t Misbehaving, and I’m photographed five times, my playing is weak and woolly. That darned reed needs replacing.

Buskers are friendly towards each other. (Nice guy with a violin, dog and roll-up in Leominster last week told me: “Give us half an hour mate, then you can have this pitch.”) The Reverend and I agree: today’s a lovely Ludlow day. Plenty of people and the sun’s shining.

Bloody Buskers

Buskers are annoying us, reports local newspaper, the Hereford Times.
The musicians who "normally come in pairs or threes," says complainant Andrew Meek, director of a Ross-on-Wye, England software company, just play the same tune all day.
"They do get quite a lot of money from shoppers, who probably like what they are playing, but for people trying to work it can be annoying."

I was a bit annoyed yesterday when I found the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI: www.rnli.org.uk) - our gallant lifeboat service - occupying my favourite spot in Monmouth, with orange inflatable and collecting tin.

The RNLI in action; give generously!

So it was off to Church Street to try my luck there. Despite the poor accoustics of an empty shop doorway there were plenty of nice comments, including one from a RNLI volunteer:
"I've been standing over there for forty minutes: made my job easier listening to you," she said, slipping a coin in the pot.

Made my own donation to the lifeboats later: never know when you're going to need one, do you?

Gypsy musicians at the Derby, Epsom

Musicians at the Derby (Surrey History Centre www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre)

Gypsy street musicians at the Derby, Epsom at the turn of the century are a far cry from the Travellers Got Talent event at this year's Derby.
As our newly-wed Royals (including the former Kate Middleton) swan around and the jockeys' helicopters swarm in and out of Epsom like flies, around 100 Travellers and Gypsies gather to perform and judge one another's performance in the first round of this event.
Travellers Got Talent came out of the Gypsy Roma Traveller History month and has become a startling celebration of the culture. Maybe it also serves as a timely reminder to my mates in the media that most of our reporting of Gypsy issues is racist. 

Whatever. Here on Derby Day, in between the races (a flash of silks, thundering hooves and an arc of turfs sods flying through the air) professional Gypsy musicians including Kerieva (left) are followed by amateurs like Claudia (above) and Tracy (who wins this round) belting out their own music to an appreciative crowd.
Reminds me of another Traveller musician, Alex Stewart, who died last year a few months after sharing his final interview with me. I'll come back to him.