BuskerWorld In The New York Times!

It’s happened again!  Another victory for buskers and the image of street performance thanks to Busker World and its rapidly growing network.

This success came from a most unlikely source – mainstream media being the ally this time. And not just your average daily newspaper, I might add.   A couple of weeks ago Matt Gross from the New York Times contacted me and asked if I would do an interview.  I almost fell off my chair!   Since then everyone has been saying… “how the heck did you manage that”.  My answer… “I didn’t do anything… he contacted me!” After hearing that excited and enthusiastic question so many times over the last couple of weeks, it got me thinking.  Why did the New York Times contact ME??? And my conclusion is very exciting for you and me both.

Busking is fast becoming a respected, appreciated and even a (who would’ve thought) desired career choice. Career being the key word! From the emails and comments I receive (just take a look at the comments at the end of the NY Times article to see what I mean), people are actually starting to value the gift that a busker offers.  More and more people are appreciating the creative and artistic side of busking. Some people are even understanding just how much courage it takes for a busker to put himself/herself out there in front of a crowd who haven’t specifically come out to watch them.  Until now, (a time when a widespread change of attitude is developing – and about time to I reckon), a busker had to face judgement from the masses who were presuming that this person is begging or most certainly, down and out.  The artistic skills were overlooked 99% of the time.  What a relief it is that the mindset is changing so positively… and so rapidly.  Bring it on I say!  Street performers… get excited and gear yourself up for a surge of opportunities.

About the interview… it includes some great info on busking and a part of my story that you haven’t heard before. I also talk about how I found success playing mostly my own original music. This is a debatable subject for buskers who think the only way to become successful on the street is to play cover songs.  Matt also covered how busking tied in with my on-stage music career.  He even added a few of my songs to the article. How cool is that!  So when someone tells you that you’re crazy to get out there and busk – that it will dampen your image, you can smile and let that comment slide like water off a ducks back!

Here’s the link to the New York Times Busking Story

So what next? To put this into perspective – for an unknown, independent Aussie musician, let alone a busker (for goodness sake!!!), to get their name and music into a major US newspaper is practically unheard of. So now I have to capitalise on this moment… put my promoters cap on and do the job that the record company would do… that is send a press release out (highlighting the NY Times interview of course) to every newspaper, radio and TV station I can think of. Stay tuned to see what evolves next.

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Johnnie Mac is a world class, professional, leading street performer, turned celebrated musician. He is the only Aussie Professional Busker who provides a fast, reliable and sure-fire Busking System that can transform any busker into a well paid and highly acclaimed entertainer enjoying a remarkably exciting lifestyle. To discover 101 Essential Tips to Have More Fun and Earn More Money Busking visit http://www.BuskerWorld.com/theBuskersBible