Who Said There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Want to hear a cool busking story?

Today I tried out a new busking spot – right downtown on Rice Howard Way by the hot-dog stand.  At lunchtime all the office workers, lawyers and executives come out to enjoy the sunshine and many stopped to hear me.  I took along my new busker’s amplifier (a cute little battery-powered thing with surprising guts) and plugged in to play some of my favourite songs.

An hour and a half later, here’s what happened…

1.      My case filled up with $143.
2.      The manager of the Sherlock Holmes pub came out to offer me some gigs.
3.      A city TV cameraman came down to interview me.
4.      The director of Edmonton Fashion week booked me to play at next week’s opening gala.
5.      A professional drummer offered me his services.
6.      A homeless guy gave me his Tim Horton’s gift card.
7.      Another chap offered to pay me in Marijuana…I declined!
8.      The hot-dog stand owner gave me free food…mmm!
9.      Lots of people stood around saying ‘That’s the guy from Canadian Idol’.
10.    Lots of other folks who didn’t recognize me said “You’re gonna go places young man’.

That was the most productive lunchtime I’ve ever had and I’m inspired to go there much more often now!

Spurred on by that success I began going out every lunchtime, as well as busking at the local farmers markets on evenings and weekends, and even outside the clubs late on Friday and Saturday nights, where party-goers on their way home want the evening to last a little longer and stand out on the street corner with me, dancing and singing along to their favourite songs.

Several accessories have really increased my enjoyment and income:

1. My battery powered busking amp. This lets me play more intimate songs, like Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, which I find always gets a big crowd here in Canada.

2. My CD seller stand – I am amazed how many passers-by purchase a CD!  My sign says ‘pay what you like, they’re $20 in stores.

3.  A request list of all the songs I know.  I print this out in large type, laminate it and tape it to a sturdy music stand. People then know what songs they can request without being disappointed, and it saves me the embarrassment of not knowing people’s requests. I find I get lots more requests and consequently, bigger crowds and contributions.

4.  A sign in my guitar case saying, “Martin Kerr – available for events, weddings, schools, places of worship, house concerts, recording sessions and more…”  There are lots of business cards for people to take, and this has led to lots more calls for gigs. Busking is the very best advertising for my private services, and this month while I’ve been busking every day, I’ve had more booking inquiries than I received all last year.

Just singing for 60-90 minutes at lunchtime, I’ve been making $75 – $250, depending on the weather, and about the same late on Friday and Saturday nights. At the farmers markets I make $300-$500 in 2-3 hours. There aren’t too many jobs out there that pay that well. I just have to get creative about finding some indoor busking spots, now that it’s going to be too cold to busk outdoors for the next 6 months in Canada!

Thanks Johnnie Mac and good luck to all the buskers out there.
Martin Kerr