kreuzberg

A new article at the Evening Times lists the "top ten" buskers who became celebrities. Blues great BB King went town to town in Mississippi playing his guitar for loose change. The stand-up comic Eddie Izzard first took his talents to the streets of Sheffield then on to fame in Europe.Can you guess which future star was kicked out of Spain for vagrancy? How about guessing which star performed fire tricks on the streets of London? Of course, we can't forget the star who performed a mime act on the streets of New York while an acting student.

The top ten is quite entertaining and revealing while the "X" list (ex-busker) contains an incredible list of lists featuring all buskers who became *Stars*. There is a new master compilation currently being built that is due out sometime next year.

Read about...

[ Continued ]

With bits and pieces from Bob Dylan, the Old Crow Medicine Show has gathered a following in the contemporary musical landscape. A repertoire of songs ended up in a street-corner string band with frontman Ketch Secor leading the way. From a Dylan snippet, the song "Wagon Wheel" attracted the attention of Coldplay and an album was to follow.

Bob Dylan was to lend another lyrical scrap to their next noticable song "Sweet Amarillo" which enabled "the Crows" to officially join the Nashville scene in the hallowed Grand Ole Opry. They also received accolades from the Americana Music Awards as "Trailblazers".

The album "Remedy" topped the iTunes Country Albums chart with an old-time string band template. With "Remedy", the Old Crow Medicine Show has established...

[ Continued ]

(FISHERMANS WHARF) It looks like the Amazing Johnathan is returning to his roots and taking a break from his Las Vegas show. Years ago, the former street performer had his show at the Golden Nugget...or was it Fitzgeralds? Circus Circus? Anyway, I forget where John Szeles's show was but he's heading where it all began.

The insult comic, the Amazing Johnathan, has built his show over the years into a solid, if not down right weird, Las Vegas show that probably has more jokes per minute than any current show running. It also drops more F-bombs than Pesci in "Casino". With a 3-act structure, the former busker has shown others the way to create and perform Vegas-style.

I believe Carrot Top, like Sinbad, first started performing on the streets of Westwood in L.A. It's seems like a while...

[ Continued ]

(WWW) If we visit college professor Stephen Baird's Facebook page, we find lots of pictures, links, and related pages towards the pandemic-suppressed art of busking and public performing. An ex-busker, Stephen has been researching this for decades.Of course, not all news is good news. Because of the global pandemic, buskers have been banned in several places including the New York subway where it's been a tradition for years. But in the meantime, we view Pogo Fred, the Red Trowser show, Gazzo, Woody Guthrie, Waldo and Woodhead, Will Soto, Hurdy Gurdy guys, and several others making the professor's current page.

"For as long as there has been a subway system in New York, there have been musicians decorating it with sound. However, they haven’t always been welcome. Performance Today host Fred Child t...

[ Continued ]