As you can see from some of the blogs I have been posting one of the great things about performing on the street is that when you get out and start busking classic events seem to pop up out of nowhere. Here is another special event for me  I experienced that only came about as a result of busking. This story begins with a street performance in the Smith St Mall in Darwin’s city center. It was late in the evening when this event occurred and it could really have only happened in a place such as the Northern Territory in Tropical Australia. As I sang, a couple of indigenous folk came up to have a listen and asked if they could play a song or two. (See photo, Eric and Mary come to have a yarn, listen to my music and play a few songs)

Now I’ve had many buskers voice their opinion on the topic of should you or should u not encourage the passerby to have a bash on YOUR guitar. Some buskers are dead set against it as they don’t want just any TOM Cruise, DICK Smith or HARRY Potter playing THEIR instrument. I’ve never had a problem with it, and not a single difficulty even if people happen to be a bit drunk. In fact my experience is that I earn more money when they play than if I play as they usually have a heap of friends with them who egg them on. I’ve found that people respect your pitch and your instrument and after a few songs give it back and rejoin the crowd. I generally tell buskers that if they are worried about their instrument then they should use an old guitar or instrument that can handle a bit of rough stuff. This allows the performer to feel comfortable and at ease instead of nervous or concerned that the instrument is going to get damaged because everyone’s having a good time and people are fighting to play a song. If your relaxed about it then so too will be your audience and the end result is that everyone has a great time.

Busking with the local Larakia folk was no different on this occasion but it was special because Eric from the Darwin mob sang in his own language and told me his own story and that of his girl, Mary. There is something haunting about an acoustic guitar and the indigenous vocal put together on a barmy evening on a city bench in Darwin. It kind of fits in totally with the local vibe and makes great sense when you hear it. The pathos in the vocal, tinged with the sadness of their people is prevalent, so too is the simplicity of the song structure and message, yet together at that moment regardless of the quality of musicianship or performance it hits straight through to your heart and you suddenly connect with the story/struggle of indigenous Australia.

Yet in spite of this kind of “tragic” connection I also felt the awesome power of their ancient culture and a wisdom for the way they continue to practice it. We work our guts out 9-5, 5,6,7 days a week and watch them sitting around and shake our heads saying “ why don’t they do more”!! They watch us and think “ why don’t they stop for a bit”!!! Eric told me that he sings about what they do, ….sitting with family, cousins and relatives talking smoking and drinking, passing on stories about their culture. Eric was saying “ it ain’t no different now to what it’s always been. We are here, now, and we’re just enjoying our nature and environment by the river bed or near the sea as we have done for thousands of years. People say we ain’t got culture anymore but this is our culture, we collect the bush tucker and paint our stories as well and sing our songs, nowadays with a guitar.

It ain’t no different johnnie, it ain’t no different. We watch you fellas and think …don’t you guys ever learn, you movin around so fast doin your business u never see nothing, u so busy u never hear nothing and then u gotta die and what have you experienced……you can’t tell cause it was too fast, you forgot your story you fellas and now your runnin around like a mad emu tryin ta find it, where’s it gone? What is it…your story…..your identity….Im still waiting for one of you mad fellas to slow down long enough so I can bloody well see who you are , meet you, hear what it is you are doin and simply get to know and understand you……then maybe we can get along a bit better eh, then maybe we can understand each other. You singin a different tune to most white fellas Johnnie. I ain’t heard many fellas sing like what you do and do it out here, on the street, I think your doin a good thing. Now sing me that Nicotine Dreaming one again while I try and find a smoke to humour you ”.

Eric and Mary taught me more about myself and Australia in half an hour than I had learned in all my history subjects at school or university. I was blown away by this lesson, a lesson that has come to me from many indigenous people I’ve met over the years yet so few of us experience or understand it. The message is clear for me and if it wasn’t for busking I would have missed this treasured experience again. Each indigenous person I hear it from tells it slightly differently but with the same fundamental story line. It has often been the case that my songs that reflect my experience with indigenous Australia have been able to connect me to Australia’s indigenous people. They said “we don’t often come up to white fellas and do this but we heard you singing about Namatjira and felt you, johnnie, must be an OK bloke to talk with”.

Eric tells me his story

Throughout my travels I’ve found that music breaks down cultural barriers and helps heal the wounds of the past. On that barmy night in Darwin it was music again through busking that connected myself, wife and kids with this indigenous couple and helped us to see and hear their story.

If only other Aussies could stop for long enough to do this perhaps we could overcome some of the negatives that we are currently facing with indigenous Australia and its people at present and maybe….just maybe have a little bit more understanding for the present situation we are all facing in this country regarding these issues.

Photo Below shows Eric singing his emotive stories. Smith Street Mall, Darwin 2009

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• Busking in Darwin Capter 1
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• The Perks of Busking – Chapter One
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• First the Song!

I’ve always had great success playing my own original songs and obscure covers that I love when busking. As a result, I have great interest in a topic of hot debate at times amongst street performers relating to which songs you could/should play when busking.

I’ve found that there are a number of very strong opinions from street performers and in busking literature stating what you should play when busking. Some of these, I would argue, could easily mislead and/or even discourage people from busking and I’ll be adding more to this debate in the near future.

But for now there is an important tip here that has been passed onto me by many successful buskers, musicians and other music industry buffs that states ”First the song”. By this they mean that if you don’t have a good original song written then you can have all the talent in the world and still find it difficult to get your music heard, or even earn a buck as an original songwriting busker. The song is everything unless you’re happy to imitate or play in covers bands.

I have witnessed many extremely talented musicians struggle to get their act to a level of success that allows them to keep performing because they have been unable to pen a powerful song. Often these musicians give up on original music and unfortunately we lose yet another great performer to a concept/covers band. That great song for other artists I knew was just around the corner. As they persisted with their song writing skills they eventually achieved success.

Australian singer songwriter, Paul Kelly is a classic example. His success was by no-means overnight, he had played in bands for at least a decade before he had a hit and could easily have given up at any time before he found success. Paul has gone on to become one of Australia’s greatest song writers.

I recently heard one of the big wigs of Sire Records comment on his signing of Punk band the Ramones. This came at a time when no one took the Ramones seriously. In fact they received a lot of criticism for their style and ability or as their critics would say “lack of ability”. In spite of this they were signed by Sire because… “they wrote great songs”. I don’t care whether you like the Ramones or not, music… like a piece of art, is always bigger than an individual’s subjective opinion.

The Ramones wrote great songs in the style and genre they played in!! The dude from Sire recognised this and knew he could find the market that would agree. Anyone care to argue with the statistics over the 30 year history or so that followed. (Check out the Ramones Movie). The important tip here for all buskers (and indeed any musicians) who aspire to performing original music on the street is to work on your song writing skills and never underestimate the power of the original song.

I’ll be focusing on the issue of “first the song” a bit more in another blog over the next few weeks but for now here are a few ways you can test if your songs are any good. Busking has played a major part in selecting my original compositions for recording and playing live on stage.

Many buskerworld fans enter into song writing competitions. This can be a useful endeavour if you have a healthy fan base or big mailing list who will vote for you. However, please don’t be offended if your good original song is rejected from one of these competitions. It’s more about your marketing ability (i.e. how to use your list/fans) than the quality of your song. This may seem a bit cynical but it’s a harsh reality of the music industry. It doesn’t mean good songs don’t win but it often means that there are better songs that don’t get heard or have an even chance of winning.

I use to play my songs to my mum and she’d always say “Oh that’s lovely dear” (even for my uglier aggressive songs) but she loved anything I did so it wasn’t quite the right test. Playing your songs to friends who you know are critical or selective of the music they like is a far better indication of where your song stands. Hopefully they won’t be too hard on you but at least you will get some honest and constructive feedback.

For the sensitive and those of you who don’t respond well to criticism of your original songs then performing your songs on the street is a great way to ease your songs out into the public eye. Firstly in this day and age people won’t notice they’re your songs. If people don’t like your songs in this environment then you’ll just go home with a bit less cash. If you play your songs on the street, watch for public reaction. Busking is a brilliant way of testing the power of your songs. Often you’ll receive a good tip for a good song. The fact that people have never heard it before and respond well to it is a great benchmark for a new song.

I remember singing one of my songs (The Colours of her Mind) once in a train tunnel in Amsterdam. A guy came past and put 5 Euros in and walked away, suddenly he turned and came back and put another 10 in and said “that’s a beautiful song, I think you deserve more than what I first gave you”. This wasn’t the only time this happened with this song and other songs I’ve written. This song had to be on my next CD and it gave me the courage to sing it more often to friends who also commented positively about it.

Submitting your songs to various websites that review them (check out tracktesting.com) or have fans offer feedback on them is a great way to test your material. Also getting feedback from social network sites is really important. However this needs to be done in a way that you know you’re getting feedback from people who like your style of music.

There’s not much point sending your country flavoured songs out to a heavy metal fan base expecting to get good reviews. This may seem obvious but it is the ad-hoc way many artists currently operate.

I see a lot of musicians targeting the wrong market with their music. Many musicians just send songs out blindly in the hope that the right people/market will find them. The “message to market match” is an old yet powerful adage that all musicians and buskers should adhere to.

Recently, we have been showing musicians how to find their market and then start to manage their songs and social networking sites with a great deal more success. I’ll be including more on this subject next week and the information I will reveal will greatly assist original independent artists and buskers with an online presence.

So what gives me the right to rave about the power of the song. Well I’ve had 2 of my songs in the spotlight again after my recent chart topping success, this time getting scores of rave reviews for my hard hitting songs The Chant Of Namatjira and Nicotine Dream (see a few examples below). Not only is this inspiring news for buskers but indeed provides great hope for all musicians who want to do things independently and write original music. It is also setting an example of how an independent original songwriter/musician can make a living in a day and age when everyone seems to be getting music for cheap or even free.

I’m putting these reviews in just to highlight what’s achievable for all of you out there. These reviews came via Djs and identities from Triple j radio station which is the leading youth and independent music station in Australia with a national distribution.

Triple j has the ability to reach all corners of the country and indeed some other parts of the globe. The great thing about getting a few good reviews is that it gives you confidence in your song writing and builds your credibility as an artist. If prominent leading Djs review your songs well other reviewers are going to want to hear them and add their opinion. We’ve recently had an offer from Billboard (USA) to review my album The World Seems Happy.

This is a rare thing for the USA to OFFER to review an AUSSIE artist. Most local artists here struggle to get recognition of any kind overseas so getting a few good local reviews can be a great step to gaining worldwide recognition and taking your art/music to the next level.

Cheers from Johnnie Mac

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At the end of 2008, I sent out an email to BuskerWorld members containing 2 exclusive gifts.

The first one was an invite to audition for America’s Got Talent after the casting director called me from the USA offering private auditions for our BuskerWorld members.

The second gift was a fun, money-spinning busking tip to help street performers steer clear of sidewalk competition, bring more enjoyment into their performance during the holiday season and help fill up that hole that suddenly appears in wallets during that time of year.
I must admit I was surprised with the response, to say the least!

I’m happy to say that everyone was thankful for the gifts, but I was shocked by the emails that followed telling me about why that tip wouldn’t work for them or that they weren’t good enough to audition for America’s Got Talent.

I had to ask… did anyone actually get out there and give it a go before finding hundreds of reasons why it wouldn’t work??? Thankfully there were a few who tried which restored my faith and commitment to BuskerWorld, but mostly there were excuses galore and then I even received a newspaper article from a member about how buskers were destined to crash due to the economic situation.

Doom and gloom prevailed!!

Whoa!… I found myself shaking my head in disbelief many times and questioning my outlook. Why were the majority of buskers presuming the worst? Are buskers getting pissed off with my success stories because they experience a different reality? Should I be counselling buskers to believe in themselves instead of offering positive tips and advice? Should I be empathizing with buskers instead of setting a positive example? Should I be buying into the doom and gloom instead of encouraging others to create their own reality as I, and many others buskers have done?

These questions held BuskerWorld back. To be honest I couldn’t relate to the negativity and I didn’t know how to address these issues because my attitude differed to what many buskers were thinking. I believe that you make your own success no matter how difficult the situation appears to be. If something is not working then try something new, move locations, copy other success stories, join forces with friends or fellow musicians to get the creative ideas flowing. After all, sharing the profits is better than no profits at all. I get focussed and put my thinking cap on and try ANYTHING that will change a situation I don’t like, no matter how scary it may feel. But it seemed that many people weren’t thinking this way and I didn’t know what to say that most could relate to. I wasn’t sure if my busking success, tips and advice were creating despair rather than inspiration.

For the early part of 2009, BuskerWorld was experiencing website technical difficulties and I had an upsurge in my own music career which kept me busy and gave me time to gather my thoughts about what information I should share with BuskerWorld members. I then received the following busking story and realised that it related to the common negativity I was witnessing and that it would make a perfect subject for this blog.

This is a story that all buskers could relate to as it demonstrates rejection at its best  – a common dilemma which can quickly eat away at a performers self confidence and lead to a gloomy outlook. In my own experience, a determination to keep trying time and time again resulted in a great deal of success on the street, but rejection was – and STILL IS – a dominant factor. Persistence is the key and hearing stories such as the one below helps strengthen my confidence in what I do, as well as solidify my understanding of how unpredictable street performance can be. Perseverance resulted in years of busking experience that gave me all the clues I needed to conquer times of recession and I reveal these invaluable tips in my ebook. I hope this story inspires you to keep trying… to persist.

A busker sat at the Metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin. It was a cold January morning and it appeared to most that this performer had braved the harsh weather to earn his keep. His street performance lasted 45 minutes and included six Bach pieces. As it was rush hour thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

3 minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then, as if suddenly realizing he had been momentarily distracted from his usual morning routine he hurried off to meet his schedule.  A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip from a woman who threw the money in the violin case without stopping. A few minutes later another by passer leaned against the wall to listen to him before looking at his watch and rushing off again, clearly he was due somewhere.

In this 45 minute busking session, only 6 people stopped and watched for a short time. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The busker collected $32. His music was mostly unnoticed and when he finished playing, no one applauded, only 1 person acknowledged his talent.

No one knew this, but the violinist at this particularly ‘lonely’ performance happened to be Joshua Bell, one of the most renowned musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth over 3 million dollars. Two days before this solo busk in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston where the seats average $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The summary was – in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

And the conclusions from this experiment could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

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Busking is a great art. It’s enjoyable, entertaining and a lot of fun—both for the people who busk and those who watch. While most people busk simply for the fun of it, some wish to earn a living while they busk. That’s understandable, and is totally achievable.

To become a successful artist, it takes hard work, strategy and talent. No one can achieve success without having these three elements. Busking is no different. To become a successful busker, you must be willing to hone your talent, work hard and have a strategy. While we can’t teach you how to become better at busking, nor can we do the hard work for you, we can teach you a thing or two about strategy.

Strategy Counts
Even if you’re extremely talented at busking, you won’t make a living if you aren’t employing the necessary strategy to make money. That’s a fact that. Every successful busker has a strategy they follow to ensure profit. By following the tips below, you can develop a strategy that leads to success in your busking career.

Develop Your Talent
People won’t pay to watch someone who really isn’t that good. That’s why it is extremely important to practice your art to the point of perfection. Whether you’re a comedian, musician, juggler, actor or a combination of those, it’s important to get your act down pat. Then, those who see you busking will be impressed and will be more likely to give you money for your efforts.

Placement
Buskers in certain areas do better than those who busk in other areas. Placement is a very important part of successful busking. You want to “set up shop” in an area where people will actually get to see you perform. Try to observe a few different potential “spots” and pick the one that the most people go by. Make sure that there aren’t too many other buskers nearby, as they can reduce your profit.

Plan Your Act
A lot of unsuccessful buskers neglect to do one essential thing—they neglect to plan their act. Instead of taking just a few minutes to plot out their act, they go and perform unrehearsed. The result is a poorly timed act that results in little to no money earned. Don’t make this same mistake. Take some time to plan your act so that it comes across well to the people you are entertaining.

Have Your Hat In Reach
It shouldn’t be difficult for the passersby to toss some money into the hat for your effort. They should be able to just walk by and drop the money in the hat. You should put the hat right in front of where you’ll be performing. If possible, you may want to create a stand for the hat so that people can more easily reach the hat.

Thank People
Everyone loves a sincere busker. Whenever someone gives you any money, even if it’s just a little bit, you should thank them for their contribution. This does two things. The first is that it lets people know that their contribution is appreciated. The second is that it helps to increase your profit. This is because people who see you thanking someone else are more likely to give money to you because they see that you are appreciative.

Start applying the above tips to your busking, and you’ll become a profitable busker.

About The Author

Johnnie Mac is a  world class, professional and leading street performer, turned celebrated musician and 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 who enjoys a remarkably exciting lifestyle… To discover 101 Essential Tips to Earn More Money Busking visit http://www.BuskerWorld.com/freereport

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The Unwritten Rules Amongst Street Performers…

Performing on the street quite often requires courage and confidence to exhibit your art form in a public arena – without an official request to do so.

Confidence obviously comes from believing in your artistic ability enough to entertain the wider public and seek remuneration.

Knowing the basic legalities, both written and unwritten, about the location in which you are playing will boost your confidence ten fold as you become an informed performer who can confidently answer any questions from those who may challenge your right to perform on the street.

Once you understand and follow street performance rules, any fears of "making mistakes" will dramatically reduce, if not disappear, and instead, the performer will feel professional, self-assured, prepared and confident about handling any situation.

Aside from obtaining busking permission or licenses from the relevant local authorities, there are certain unwritten laws that many new street performers are not aware of. These unwritten rules and legalities fall into the category of busker etiquette that has been developed amongst street performers to ensure everyone has a fair and equal opportunity to perform successfully.

Busker etiquette is common in prime busking Hot Spots, locations, where there is a high demand to perform.

It is completely up to the amateur street performer to abide by any rules that have been set up by experienced buskers that have successfully established an enjoyable busking atmosphere in a particular location. Many novice buskers have learnt the hard way that busker etiquette must be followed and respected.

The most common consequences from not following busker etiquette are public confrontations, being blacklisted amongst street performers, heckled during performance or continually harrassed to buzz off when in or near the "etiquette zone".

About The Author

Johnnie Mac is a  world class, professional and leading street performer, turned celebrated musician and 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 who enjoys a remarkably exciting lifestyle… To discover 101 Essential Tips to Earn More Money Busking visit http://www.BuskerWorld.com/freereport

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