[Harp-L] Re:Re: why I love busking

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Icebrain wrote:

<Wasn't the King of the Buskers, Rory McLeod, part of this unit back   
then?

If you wanna see the state of the art Busker style musician, catch  
Rory do  a
solo show - great harmonica, singer and trombone player.

Steve, remember when the power went off at the Trossingen Concert Hall
during your set and Rory entertained and kept things going 'till the  
power came  on?>

All the above are true Larry, your memory does not fail you. Rory was  
a member of Have Mercy in the mid 70s and we all learned street music  
together on the Portobello Road in London. He went on to do his very  
individual thing and is doing it to this day, though he left the  
reunited Have Mercy very shortly after the show you mention.

Keeping the show going when the power goes off is one of the things  
we picked up from busking and I've performed in some challenging  
situations like that, as well as using it as a great ending to a  
rocking show by leaving through the audience, playing as you go, or  
just playing a solo off the mike.  One of the things I've learned  
from busking is, you don't necessarily have to play loudly in order  
to project your sound. I guess that's what classical singers also  
learn to do. Chris Jones and I once played Bonnie Raitt's beautiful  
ballad "Can't Make You Love Me" completely acoustic in front of 400  
people after a fuse blew. You could have heard a pin drop and at the  
end they went nuts,

Steve