(WWW) It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnival around the world. Try not to get hit in the head with a coconut when yelling "Throw me something, mister!".

'Songs in the streets of life: Celebrating the long history of buskers in New Orleans' is an lengthy article showcasing New Orlean's busking & street performing. New Orleans, LouisianA (NOLA) has been around for over 300 years in the "new world". It's history is both enlightening and pitch dark so we'll focus on performance.

The famous French Quarter makes New Orleans second to none when it comes to busking and street performing.

Jackson Square and Royal street are the two main areas of performing. One street north is Bourbon which is out of the question for most buskers. It has an open-container policy...the first in the US....

[ Continued ]

(ANTARCTICA) Busking in Antarctica, four British Antarctic Survey's employees took part in Musequality's charity busk and world record. The coolest buskers in the world, the strings on Danny’s guitar cable froze, Paul’s saxophone froze, Tony’s fingers froze and Riet froze. The Antarctic Minkes busked as the temperature dropped from -8°C to -15°C in Antarctica. Musequality funds communal projects for disadvantaged children in developing countries giving them the skills and qualities they need to turn their lives around.

YouTube Video

Gatecrashers: The World Buskers Festival is being gatecrashed by street performers eager to cash in on the crowds attracted by the popular Christchurch event.

Heymoonshaker, a guitar and beatboxing act, set themselves up on a street corner yesterday afternoon to take advantage of the crowds.

"If the festival is a boat, then we are on skis behind it trying to get as much out of it as we can," gatecrashing British beatboxer Crowe said.

British travellers Crowe and guitarist Andrew Balcon met in Nelson and decided to perform in Christchurch to raise money for their world travels.

"We thought we would be able to perform in between sets in the Square, but they wouldn't let us," Balcon said.

Festival director Jodi Wright has taken a liberal approach to the busker pilot fish cruising in the wake of the festival shark.

"It is too hard to try to police them. Unless...

[ Continued ]

(WWW) We all start out playing songs we like (covers) from other established artists. It's when we reach a certain plateau that we realize that in order to go further, we're going to have to write songs that the public enjoys. When busking, however, familiarity is king when your cover is recognized as tip-worthy. So, how do we handle our creativity yearning to be heard? Busking can be a very useful tool when first starting out writing songs. It is here that you can get instant feedback if the public is relating to your new song. If people are enjoying themselves, dancing or even singing along, you've really got something worthy of developing.

Try writing a song with a beat or speed up a slow song you've already written. People are out to have a good time and, generally speaking, really don't...

[ Continued ]

(VENICE BEACH) Disguised head-to-toe in metallic gold, a famous performer has surprised onlookers in Venice Beach by posing as a busker.Going incognito, the "She Came to Give It to You" singer, 36, was busting moves best described as “the robot” borrowed from the mime Robert Shields. While wearing a gold hat, sunnies, and chains with his face covered in a gold mask to a crowd on the street, fans were shocked when the Grammy-winning artist revealed himself from under the costume.

As it turns out, the former judge on the US version of The Voice was shooting a skit for a MasterCard campaign. He surprised a fan - who had earlier been told she was appearing in a documentary about the OMG singer - with a personal performance, the Daily Mail reports.

The R&B star was rec...

[ Continued ]