Wednesday 10:40pm – 1am

Results:
-5 cents

-Made some new friends- Mitch, Josh, Leroy…
And I forgot the other people’s names.

-Jammed with Leroy who plays guitar and sings and
has been busking (playing on the street for tips) for 5 years
while traveling.
-A Lady and her husband bought me and Leroy
chips, cheese sticks, soda and a water.
She said it’s not out of pity but to support fellow human beings.

Then they Jammed on my bucket and Leroy’s guitar.

-Some guy came up to me and said “you’re new. What’s your name?”
I didn’t say anything but kept playing and he said,
“I’ve been here for five years and I’ve never seen you before.
You’ve got some nice beats for a white guy.”

Tuesday
10:40 – 11:40pm

Results:

– $1.75 (from two people)

– A couple of “thank you’s.”

-Numb hands because it’s cold

-Hello’s from my new security guard friends.

I got a new bucket with the $5 from last night.
I even splurged and got some duck tape ($7 total).
It didn’t help the amount of money I got tonight though.

I better start thinking of this bucket drumming more as
Practice time than pay. Because that’s what this is turning out to be.

Ya, I’ve only played on a Monday and Tuesday night so far.
But hey, $1.75 is not even minimum wage.

This is  accomplishing some things though:

-I’m getting better at long solos/beats.
Sometimes when I practice it’s just a random mess and nothing
is connected. But I can’t do that if I’m performing.

-I’m playing to a metronome so my sense of playing to it is getting better.

-Getting better at improvisation. I’m making this up as I go.
I noticed I’m repeating things though.

-Practicing my “showy-ness”
I noticed people treat me differently depending on how I look
at them or if I smile or not.

-I’m learning how to learn something new while I perform.
If I mess up I’m not going to stop but repeat the mess up
to make it look like I did that on purpose.

-I’m learning what captures attention.
-getting softer
-going slower
-stopping/pausing
(opposite of what I think sometimes- louder, faster)
I guess getting louder and going faster holds attention
but first you have to capture it (maybe).

And I’m going to start counting phrases and do this
more structured.

haha.

This time I’m driving down to 6th St. and I roll my window down.
“Man, it’s too cold” I think. “ I should go back home to get a pull-over.”

Then I thought, “I can’t whimp out two times in a row, especially since
this is gonna go on a blog.”

So, I stuck it out and when I parked I saw a fellow bucket drummer
on 5th street.

I asked him how often he does this…his response- “Every time I’m starving.”
I asked “How often is that?” He replied “Every other day.”
He said he got arrested the last week because he was blocking the street
and because he didn’t have a permit.

Great, this is what I’m about to do too. I’m excited now.

It actually wasn’t that bad.

I played two sets that lasted from 11pm -11:40pm.

My first set was interrupted by two security guards
who told me I need to get off the property.
I didn’t mind bc they were nice but they could have at least
waited until I finished my set.

RESULTS:

-I learned there’s a couple spots not blocking the sidewalk and
not private property.

-I learned it’s not as scary as I thought. I actually got some good
practice time in too. “Practice in Public” -My new favorite thing to do.

-Recognized one person (bass player I saw play with Scott Laningham
at the Elephant Room last night).

-A few pretty girls smiled at me. (Building ego works too if I don’t get paid)

-Saw two other bucket drummers.
(Both definitely needed the money more than me. Or at least a shower)

-Got FIVE Bucks!

Yay! This will go to pay for the bucket I was braking and a new box!

Mission Accomplished. Kind of.

Buckets and Pots…Check.

Sticks….Check.

I thought I was ready, I had everything I needed.

As I was unloading my buckets from the car I was talking down about
“Club” drummers (Anyone who doesn’t play on the street).
Since I’ve only played on the street once I was including my past self.

As I was doing this I was calling them Whimps and Snobs.

Then it started to get cold and I thought “maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
I pull my buckets apart and suddenly it cut my hands…

OWWW!

“Now it’s definitely not a good idea to play tonight” I thought.

So, I went home.