Damn Mandi, if I could sing like you, I would be signing all day everyday!
Best I could is some playing around…
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If I could play guitar like you I’d play all day! 
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Your voice sounds amazing, glad I could inspire you, keep on making music!
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Felt kinda christmas-y today sooo…
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Love this!
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My new favorite song!
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Hello my name is Trevor. I am a street musician and have been living off of that for a good year. It’s exhausting but it’s absolutely amazing. I have a system down. I usually rotate shopping centers and downtown locations. I don’t have any social media because of anxiety. I have done open mics and shows, but busking is way more fun … I have a bunch of videos on my phone and some audio but I’m not really sure how to upload it. Regardless I figured I would share this. If anybody needs advice on how to do this I can help. I have lived off busking in four states and Also it would be nice to talk to other people that do this. Fortunately there’s not much competition in Tucson. Saint Augustine Florida where I came from required permits and there was a lot more issues
I have an opportunity to go play in Pennsylvania but that would be starting Over and finding new spots and having to go to court houses and all of that. I think staying in Tucson for another six months to a year might help this guitar mission I’m on. Obviously my recovery comes first because I will not be able to play guitar five hours a day if I was drinking. Eventually the right person is going to walk up to me and their tip is going to be a lot more important than five dollars!
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First off I’d love to pick your brain about busking, I been thinking about doing it as well.
But depending on where your at in Pa I might be able to help, I grew up there, and I feel you about the anxiety I suffer from terrible stage fright
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There’s so much to it. If you want to make occasional money it doesn’t really matter but if you’re trying to survive off of it it’s a whole different ball game. It’s mostly about just learning the laws wherever you’re at and being able to stand your ground. It’s also about being extremely organized, extremely prepared, knowing how to get around extremely easy throughout whatever city you’re in, Also learning the times. You’re not going to make any money at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Do you want to go for lunch rush or dinner rush just like a restaurant. Most places the law is you cannot play directly in front of the building. The gray area is that certain places will have no soliciting signs. That’s why it’s better just to go into a establishment dress nice and have photos… Some shopping centers really like it and don’t care about the laws. I’m currently playing at a shopping center that I’ve been planning out for four months of course I play other places but that shopping center is filled with no soliciting signs everywhere. Sometimes just asking helps. But certain states will have Historical districts which basically means they don’t want you taking money from them. So you pay to get a piece of paper that says you can make money. Being organized once again is extremely vital. You don’t want to get out to a spot set up, damn you don’t have your tuner, you don’t have extra strings, maybe you didn’t eat. It has almost become an endurance sport. And also don’t let people tell you that you have to play covers to make money. It’s more about putting the practice and work in before you even go out there. People can tell when you’re having fun and it’s your life
Message me directly if you ever decide to start doing it if you run into any issues or need help. There’s just so many things you’re going to run into it’s almost comical. I’ve dealt with fake violin people stealing my spots, Willie Nelson impersonators I could go on and on
That’s cool I grew up in York Pennsylvania but I left when I was 16 … 33 now mostly been in Florida. As far as the stage fright dude literally just go do it it’s gonna be the best experience. And don’t give up if you fail those early days there’s going to be days where you don’t make anything, or you get kicked out, but if you keep at it you will develop your system
@Fury
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Funny small world I lived in York for 3 years until I came down to the DC area.
A lot of places here require a busking license which is easy to obtain, It’s really a government money generator cause all you have to do is apply, no limits or restrictions just pay the fee you can busk. But I see alot if it being common in the subways stations, and outside of them. So the spots are there,
My thing with stagefright was that I used to get wasted to resolve, it worked until I would get too wasted to finish a set, I was put on the spot when I was in rehab to play for the crowd which I did a few times, and I suffered through it, I just got to get on the zone of hey y’all just hanging out at my house and I’m here doing my thing,
As far as rig though, what are you using looks like a mini boss katana, I have the 2x12 and the katana head, but I didn’t know they had a battery operated one. I was thinking a Roland street cube, a battery powered PA, or something like an iLoud speaker that I can sync to my iPad, and play through an interface,
As far as oh shit I forgot, I have all that in my guitar case, extra tuner, strings guitar multi tool, capos, straps, and an extra cable, I learned along time ago always prepare for what can go wrong will go wrong
I also have a handful of stomp tuners, and I keep one on my pedalboard,
I am curious cause it looks like you just need play instrumental style, so you just creating a loop and playing over it? Or do you use instrumentals that are already established like Vai and Satch?
I’m not looking to make a full time job of busking, I just want it to be another platform I do touring and studio stuff but reestablishing myself in the current climate has been a challenge, figured I could use busking and put business cards oit or something to get my name out
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There’s a few different amps That are battery powered. I would also look into a vox Mini rhythm amp. It has a bunch of built-in drums that are on loop, you can change the tempo and there’s tons of affects. Vox Has a few different versions of the mini rhythm, it’s about 200 bucks, the boss amps are good also, I usually stick to those two brands as far as being portable.
I’m able to play rhythm and lead together so I just pretty much will play like a 15 or 20 minute jam that is fairly calculated and I just rotate them throughout the day. Sometimes I bring a loop pedal. I really only use delay I just usually will play some jazz or blues rock, or just combined all kind of things. I rarely use a drum backing track, but when I do I just get them off YouTube and play drums in the background but I prefer To only play guitar.
The vox can get about 20 hours on six AA batteries
The boss maybe 10 hours …
I used to go overboard with the equipment bringing so many things but now I try to keep it really simple. Those two amps Are amazing for Busking… They get loud, no distortion or sounding like crap problems,
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Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah I heard some good things about newer Vox gadgets,
FWIW if you have an iPad or tablet even a smart phone you can get a cheaper one on new egg or something, you can use an iRig, which is a audio interface that plugs into your audio Jack they are like 50 bucks, not a bad gig, and you can use amplitude or another amp modeling software and viola
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I’m starting to pay more attention to these guys now. Funny how we ignore the things we love
just to get a buzz!
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this old guy still trying even with carpal syndrome.
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Hey all! I am a drummer from the St. Louis area! I love to play! Here are a few vids of some drum covers!
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I got mad respect for dummers!
Years ago, a bunch of us folks from work got together to jam and everyone brought their guitars. Ain’t no one wanna jam with 5 guitarists, so I bought a drum kit and rode the struggle bus to Rockville, as I learned the basics. It was good, innocent fun.
We ended up starting a band and writing our own material. Started gigging and got pretty serious.
I ended up quitting because I am not a good drummer and felt I was holding them back. They ended up getting a phenomenal drummer and went on to have moderate success. Unfortunately, like many great drummers before him, he passed away at a young age and the band dissolved, the dream was over.
I still have that old kit set up in my room and I’m just as shitty now as I was back then, but at the end of the day, it’s not how.good you are, it’s how much joy you get out if it. Of course, I’d be freaking overjoyed if I could have 1/10th skill to have… 
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Guitar is hard to play, lol I bought a guitar a few years ago. And just could not get it. I was having problems remembering all the damn chords lol. You got A through G, then all the flats and minors, just crazy lol. I don’t know how you guys do it, so mad props to you and all the guitar players out there. Do you still play guitar? That is cool you still have that drum kit. That is cool story you told, I dug it. Good for you guys. I am sorry that guy passed away, my condolences. What you said towards the end is right on the money. It doesn’t matter how good you are, as long as you are having a blast. Having some skill helps a little, lol.
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