Anyone busk with their mandolin?

[Dan in NH]

Does anyone busk with their mandolin?

If so, what city? What tunes? How big was your set list? How well do you do?

I saw a busker once, guitar not mandolin, who had two tip jars. One had a sign that said "You Sound Awesome." The other jar said "Take More Lessons."

[Mark Gunter]

That’s a cool angle on the tip jars

[Mainer73]

I haven't busked with a mandolin, only fiddle and mostly as a duet with someone playing something else. Portsmouth has plenty of foot traffic and the right demographic. I happened to run into a couple of others busking there I knew from playing in pubs here in Maine once and just happened to be packing an instrument. We had a good time, passersby seemed to enjoy it. But I can't remember if we made any money or not. That was a long time ago!

[Mainer73]

That’s a cool angle on the tip jars

I would definitely try it out if I still lived in a busking town!

[Dan in NH]

Portsmouth supports the street performer community. Part of the city's charm. But it's far to drive, and I'd have to pay for parking. That would make it tough to break even if the idea is to make pocket money.

I've been considering Manchester, Elm street down by the hotel/convention center/arena. But Manchester doesn't seem to have an active street performer community.

[John Rosett]

I've been busking on and off since I realized that people would give me money for playing on the street. A friend and I busked for a living in Boston, 1977-78. I live in Missoula, MT now, and I busk with my Gypsy swing band in the summer. I do it more for the fun of it than for financial gain. People react differently to street music than they do to musicians in bars, restaurants, etc. I usually bring my 1919 Gibson because it's loud and sturdy.

[Mainer73]

Portsmouth supports the street performer community. Part of the city's charm. But it's far to drive, and I'd have to pay for parking. That would make it tough to break even if the idea is to make pocket money.

I've been considering Manchester, Elm street down by the hotel/convention center/arena. But Manchester doesn't seem to have an active street performer community.

I lived in Manchester for about 6 months in the 90s. It was really tough. It's a lot different than good performance (ie- cultural) cities. Unfortunately, many times busking money is gone before you even get back to your car. Unless you have a small group and a really tight set list, you typically don't make much of anything more than lunch and a beer, with maybe some pocket change leftover. It's really more about performance practice opportunities most of the time, unless you're in a particular hot spot. For me, it was just an opportunity to have tunes with a cohort or two and get better at playing in public, and immediately accessible (I could walk there). Which can be worth something in and of itself.

[Dan in NH]

My thought is this is going to be on a street corner for passers by. Not a concert, not house music in a restaurant. So one one is likely to be listening for more than five minutes at a stretch.

A typical tune is three minutes in length. Or can be MADE to be three minutes in length - Most tunes have an A section and a B section. A section twice, then B section twice, and then the whole tune through one more time, both sections twice each. Then on the the next tune.

If you have ten tunes in your set, at three minutes each that's thirty minutes for your set. Then start over.

Also, you need to have one tune, your BEST tune, "in the pocket." If you manage to get a couple of people standing and listening, then you bust it out. Run through the sections, then bust out the solo.

One last chorus, stop, take a bow, thank them for listening, and say that if they liked what they heard then you would appreciate a small donation.

Then back to the set.

I'm making my set list. I figure I have until April to decide if this is something I'm actually going to do or not.

[Mark Gunter]

Just do it.

I do it on occasion when I’m traveling, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans, Louisville KY this year. A way to pass an evening or two and occasionally meet other street musicians. Past few years I bring only a mandolin, and only play guitar when I meet another street performer interested in loaning or switching for a couple tunes.

[Jill McAuley]

I used to busk regularly with my mandolin, mainly in Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco - farmer's markets, street fairs and BART (train) stations and occasionally events like gallery openings. At one point when I was between jobs I basically supported myself busking and then after getting a couple of part time jobs, still continued to busk to supplement my income. I didn't have a "set list" - I just played through tunes that I knew - at that stage I knew several hundred irish trad tunes so I was never at a loss for material. I had a tip jar and two laminated photos of my dog - one photo was of her wearing ear protection headphones with the caption "This is my dog when I play the mandolin at home.." and the other photo was her lying peacefully sleeping with the caption "This is my dog when I play the mandolin out here for you!". It grabbed peoples' attention, got a laugh and usually resulted in some money being tossed in the tip jar. I loved busking and it was a great way to get used to playing in the presence of distractions and learn to tune them out. On my worst day I made $3 and a peach, on my best day I made nearly $300 for about 3 hours busking. My average was $60-75 for about 2 hours busking.

[Mando Mafia]

Great thread! I’ve busked many many times over the years, and currently busk on the downtown mall in Charlottesville VA whenever the weather and time allow. Mostly nowadays I play my octave mandolin, but break out the mandolin every once in a while.
In recent years, I’ve busked for charity which brings in way more money than busking for myself. I’ve organized a loose knit group of musicians we call the Charlottesville Old Time Buskers Collective. I try to pick charities addressing needs associated with topical current events, and that seems to add to the money being raised. A long running cause this year has been Ukrainian humanitarian relief….we’ve had as many as 14 old time musicians, when we raised over $1000 in two hours…lots of $20 bills, and occasional $50, and one time a $100 bill. Our current total for all our Ukraine efforts is somewhere above $6000. Someone told me we needed a bigger sign(I was using an 8 1/2”x 11” piece of paper attached to cardboard), so I approached a local print shop who willingly contributed a 24” x 36” vinyl banner, which really helped. One tip is to have a Venmo account that people can donate to…a lot of people just don’t carry cash.

Here are a couple of videos of some of us playing, firstly on the downtown mall in Charlottesville, the other a concert some of us played for a station fundraiser on WTJU Charlottesville , where I have a show:




Busking is fun..gets you out in front of people, it’s really low pressure, and you get to meet all kinds of people…go for it!

Pete

[Sue Rieter]

Does anyone ever run into the need to have some kind of city permit?

[BoxCarJoe]

I have with a mandola and then with a baritone uke tuned in 5ths.
The Uke got much more attention. It had a very sweet sound and people like ukes.
The was in NYC during the pandemic. Lots of really nice interactions.

There is a no amplify rule in NYC that is routinely ignored. No other permits required.

[Mando Mafia]

Does anyone ever run into the need to have some kind of city permit?

I believe Seattle area musician Jim Page established a First Amendment right to busk in the USA, though I’m not sure if his court case was a Federal case or not. Some localities aren’t particularly friendly… I was once arrested and charged with obstruction in the UK, and another time was threatened by the police with confiscation and destruction of my instrument(again in the UK). Pick your busking spot with care!

Pete

[pops1]

Does anyone ever run into the need to have some kind of city permit?

Yes, there are some places that require buskers to have a permit. If you busk without it they will let you know, the police will ask you to leave.

[DaveNils]

Although I havent been up there in a few years, Burlington VT used to be a fantastic scene for street performances. So many amazing musicians setup right on Church Street. Most of them did pretty well from what I could gather. Just a quick day trip from New Hampshire Dan!

[Mando Mafia]

Consent decree about the First Amendment right to busk in the USA:

https://www.aclumich.org/en/publicat...mendment-right

Pete

[Mando Mafia]

[QUOTE=Mando Mafia;1882898]I believe Seattle area musician Jim Page established a First Amendment right to busk in the USA, though I’m not sure if his court case was a Federal case or not. Some localities aren’t particularly friendly… I was once arrested and charged with obstruction in the UK, and another time was threatened by the police with confiscation and destruction of my instrument(again in the UK). Pick your busking spot with care!

Jim Page’s efforts were local to Seattle:

https://www.knkx.org/arts/2014-09-08...l-40-years-ago

Pete

[Dan in NH]

Depends on the city.

Portsmouth NH, no permit unless you want to set up a table. Separate permit if you want to sell CDs.

In Boston no permit unless you want to play in a subway station. Then you need a permit that’s good for a year.

Manchester I’m still unclear.

Lots of cities no permit if your acoustic but you need a permit if you plug into an amp. Many cities ban amps all together.

That’s one of the nice things about mandolin. A decent mandolin can be heard all the way across the street even without an amp.

[Dan in NH]

What’s crazy is this all got started by me reading a thread on a different forum about a plague of people going to supermarket parking lots with violins & tip jars, and while the violins SEEMED to be plugged into an amplifier, it was actually a recording and the people were just pretending to play.

Pretending to play, but aggressively asking for tips. Or claiming to be homeless and having their young kids aggressively ask for tips.

[Nashville]

Nashville in the 90's, that's when I came here. Busked down on 2nd Ave when there was a great street scene for locals visiting all the second hand stores and there were crafts people, artisans, and musicians in front of all the empty store fronts. Also Broadway was good for buskers on the safe side of the street with just a few honky tonks. Good way to meet other musicians. Formed a band and busked together. Eventually we got invited to be the house band at a new honky tonk next to Roberts. Ended up playing 8 hours straight 4 nights a week for 6 years.

For busking we were averaging about $40 each per evening busking. Usually waited for the sun to go down. There was free parking everywhere. There was a locally famous guy named Mandolin Mike that was busking on Lower Broadway about every night. He made about the same playing mostly fiddle tunes and old time.

So one day this guy shows up painted gold. All his clothes were gold, skin was gold, hat was gold. He carried a beat up old guitar painted gold and he stood on a washtub painted gold. He stood still as a statue and didn't move or play or sing. But he raked in the cash. Night after night we watched his tip jar fill to the brim with cash. He told me he averaged $300 each evening. Obviously the public valued his statue act more than the live music.

Anyway it was a fun scene and attracted thousands of people. Well, the business community decided they wanted a piece of the action so the empty stores all filled up and the store owner didn't want the buskers standing in front of their storefront. And they didn't want to street artisans competing with their store sales. So Nashville instituted a permit policy for all the street people, which meant that all the street vendors went away and the buskers kept getting hassled. I was even told by the police that I was disturbing the peace. The free parking starting disappearing. And in the space of a couple years the scene was dead.

Today, just one big tourist trap. Lots of clubs and stores. The parking costs about $25-$35. Locals stopped going downtown about 20 years ago. There are still some buskers, but I have no idea how well they do, maybe it got better. Maybe I'll go take a look one of these nights just for fun. But so far when I have that thought I just stop myself.

[Mainer73]

Does anyone ever run into the need to have some kind of city permit?

Not usually a thing here in the NE but some places it happens.

[20MartinA]

Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, CA almost every Saturday. A bluegrass/oldtime quartet with me on mandolin.

[Dan Adams]

I travel with a mandolin (Flatiron 2M) and busk whenever I have some extra time in almost any City and/or town we visit. Mostly for my own pleasure and to say I’ve busked on the streets, in the square, of… wherever. Europe, the Caribbean, recently Canada, throughout the States. Sometimes for a short time and other times for an extended time up to an hour.

[Bob Buckingham]

Does anyone ever run into the need to have some kind of city permit?

In Greenville SC you have to pay $50 to get the permit and $10 for a police background check. I never busk there, but prefer a local farmers market away from the city where we play tunes as kind of a Saturday coffee clatch thing and spend the money at the vendors booths. A win-win I'd say.