Following my trip to and from Ramsey by boat and the adventures that surrounded the journey I'm drawing close to revealing why I had so much reporting back to do. I am hoping I shall be able to remove the placeholder warning soon and let people know I'm up to date!
A few days after returning the boat to my home mooring the weather calmed down enough to go out busking again. Hooray!
5th November 2021
I ordered some guitar accessories from the excellent Music Street in Huntingdon earlier this week. While I was picking them up today it was only right to do a bit of busking. At a couple of points I had quite a semi-circle of listeners, some of whom hung around for several songs. Thank you Huntingdon people for listening, dancing and for your generous tips. I never thought I was writing songs for people to dance to. My dance compositions have always been written for the ceilidh projects, but it’s such a lot of fun to see people engage with the music however they choose to express themselves. I’m loving the busking experience. If the weather’s okay I’ll be looking for a spot in Diss soon.
I ordered some guitar accessories from the excellent Music Street in Huntingdon earlier this week. While I was picking them up today it was only right to do a bit of busking. At a couple of points I had quite a semi-circle of listeners, some of whom hung around for several songs. Thank you Huntingdon people for listening, dancing and for your generous tips. I never thought I was writing songs for people to dance to. My dance compositions have always been written for the ceilidh projects, but it’s such a lot of fun to see people engage with the music however they choose to express themselves. I’m loving the busking experience. If the weather’s okay I’ll be looking for a spot in Diss soon.
7th November 2021
Since I was going to a concert near Diss tonight I went early and found a good spot in the town centre to busk for a couple of hours. It was worth the effort. Before going to a place for the first time I try to find out if there are any rules. Typing the key words “busking in Diss” into the search engine brought up what appeared to be a bit of a saga in the local press. It appears buskers have been causing annoyance. “One man turns up every day. He always stands in the same place outside a particular shop. He always sings the same songs.” The local council website suggests that buskers work on learning a broad repertoire … As I wandered round the town looking for my spot I didn’t see any other buskers. That’s good because I forgot the measuring tape although I’ve never worked out how to measure to ensure I can’t be heard from 30 metres away ...
Since I was going to a concert near Diss tonight I went early and found a good spot in the town centre to busk for a couple of hours. It was worth the effort. Before going to a place for the first time I try to find out if there are any rules. Typing the key words “busking in Diss” into the search engine brought up what appeared to be a bit of a saga in the local press. It appears buskers have been causing annoyance. “One man turns up every day. He always stands in the same place outside a particular shop. He always sings the same songs.” The local council website suggests that buskers work on learning a broad repertoire … As I wandered round the town looking for my spot I didn’t see any other buskers. That’s good because I forgot the measuring tape although I’ve never worked out how to measure to ensure I can’t be heard from 30 metres away ...
15th November 2021
Setting up for busking in Ely this afternoon. I had to look for a different spot because there were street people near where I’ve busked previously and I didn’t want to interfere with their trade. I wondered if I were too close to shops and too tucked away to be seen. People still dropped money in the hat including the shopkeepers either side while many compliments about the music were forthcoming. One shopkeeper tipped after the first song and came out to tip again near the end. Thank you Ely!!
Setting up for busking in Ely this afternoon. I had to look for a different spot because there were street people near where I’ve busked previously and I didn’t want to interfere with their trade. I wondered if I were too close to shops and too tucked away to be seen. People still dropped money in the hat including the shopkeepers either side while many compliments about the music were forthcoming. One shopkeeper tipped after the first song and came out to tip again near the end. Thank you Ely!!
22nd November 2021
I knew Huntingdon was a good place. A return visit to Music Street for some new music gear meant more busking further along the road. A kind lady walking by thought my feet looked cold, bought me some socks and dropped them in the hat.
I knew Huntingdon was a good place. A return visit to Music Street for some new music gear meant more busking further along the road. A kind lady walking by thought my feet looked cold, bought me some socks and dropped them in the hat.
13th December 2021
I’ve been spending the evening drying out my guitar and drums after a wet afternoon busking in Wisbech. Slowly and gently does it!
I’ve been spending the evening drying out my guitar and drums after a wet afternoon busking in Wisbech. Slowly and gently does it!
15th December 2021
I only came to King's Lynn for a solo busking session once, many months ago. I ended up making a loss after paying for parking, so I thought I'd give Lynn another go and see if my prospects were any better nearer Christmas. As it happens, King's Lynn seems to be quite popular with buskers. I think the pedestrianised town centre and relaxed rules help. Lynn has its regulars, including Graham who sings popular songs from the pop music decades and Jane (I think ...?) who sits on a blanket on the ground to play her recorder. Sometimes there is a young man who rocks up with a keyboard and plays under the overpass near the betting shop. Today there were some musicians from out of town playing some rather listenable Western European and South American tunes. By the look of their guitar case the locals had been very generous indeed. I set up and the south end of the High Street, where covid has ravaged the independent traders, and where I didn't interfere with anyone else and played for about an hour. By that time I still hadn't earned back the car park fee that set me out of pocket from my previous visit. I reckoned anyway that, according to the rules for buskers, I'd reached my time limit and was obliged to move. I pack the gear away, strapped it on to the trolley and shuffled further along the High Street to set up outside an empty telephone shop. Many more people stopped to listen, to talk, to nod, to smile and I am no longer out of pocket.
 |
| South end of the High Street where it is VERY quiet. |
18th December 2021
Thank you to the good people of Downham. Today was my third busking town this week. I set up in the town square to start with, but although it’s one of my favourite spots it was a bit too quiet, even after more than an hour playing there.
When I spoke to the man from the council a couple of days ago he asked me to make sure I didn’t get in the way of people who would be queuing for vaccinations. I took that to mean there would be no objection to me playing on the market place side of the town hall, so I decided to move and set up alongside Groovy Sue’s ethnic clothes and artefacts stall, specially since she had already asked if I would.
I spent a couple of hours there in addition to the hour at the first spot. By that time I was feeling the cold, so I packed up alongside the market traders. Nice to see several friends who stopped for a brief chat at various times of the afternoon too.
 |
| About to head into town and outside the od fire station that will become our future venue for the reconvened Songwriters & Poets nights |
