Busk Break http://www.buskbreak.com Busk Break is an ongoing field recording series documenting live performances by busking musicians and other street performers. Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:00:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Busk Break is an ongoing field recording series documenting live performances by busking musicians and other street performers. Busk Break no Busk Break unknowncity@hotmail.com unknowncity@hotmail.com (Busk Break) Busk Break is an ongoing field recording series documenting live performances by busking musicians and other street performers. busking,busker,live music,street performance,Asheville,podcast,video,field recording Busk Break http://buskbreak.com/images/BuskBreak-iTunes.jpg http://www.buskbreak.com Asheville, North Carolina Daily Busk Break: The Asheville Waits Band covers “Jockey Full of Bourbon” http://www.buskbreak.com/2013/03/busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-jockey-full-of-bourbon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-jockey-full-of-bourbon http://www.buskbreak.com/2013/03/busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-jockey-full-of-bourbon/#comments Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:00:23 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=370 Vocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri — both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) — perform “Singapore” from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture.   This video was originally recorded on a very windy day in early January, 2012.     DOWNLOAD THE SONG!

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2013/03/busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-jockey-full-of-bourbon/feed/ 0 asheville,asheville waits band,busking,cover,guitar,iron sculpture,upright bass Vocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri — both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) — perform “Singapore” from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture. -   - Vocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri — both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) — perform “Singapore” from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture.   This video was originally recorded on a very windy day in early January, 2012.     http://youtu.be/yvKr_4hqKNQ DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Steve Shanafelt no 3:43 Busk Break: The Asheville Waits Band covers “Singapore” http://www.buskbreak.com/2013/01/busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-singapore/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-singapore http://www.buskbreak.com/2013/01/busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-singapore/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:23:29 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=360 Vocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri — both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) — perform “Singapore” from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture.   This video was originally recorded on a very windy day in early January, 2012.     DOWNLOAD THE SONG!

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2013/01/busk-break-the-asheville-waits-band-covers-singapore/feed/ 0 asheville waits band,busking,cover,guitar,iron sculpture,upright bass Vocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri -- both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) -- perform "Singapore" from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture. -   - Vocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri -- both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) -- perform "Singapore" from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture.   This video was originally recorded on a very windy day in early January, 2012.     http://youtu.be/tyx0B1R1seE DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Steve Shanafelt no 2:57 The Slaughter Brothers Band perform their untitled, bluegrass-inspired tune http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/the-slaughter-brothers-band-perform-their-untitled-bluegrass-inspired-tune/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-slaughter-brothers-band-perform-their-untitled-bluegrass-inspired-tune http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/the-slaughter-brothers-band-perform-their-untitled-bluegrass-inspired-tune/#comments Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:59:10 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=354 By their own admission, the Slaughter Brothers have been playing in Asheville for the last few months largely because they were “stranded” here after playing a birthday party. But they don’t seem too bummed about where fate has landed them, and now they’re in town “doing their thing.” Raised in Dayton, Ohio, and professionally based [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/the-slaughter-brothers-band-perform-their-untitled-bluegrass-inspired-tune/feed/ 0 daniel hensley,drums,jazz,pack square,saxophone,slaughter brothers band,trumpet By their own admission, the Slaughter Brothers have been playing in Asheville for the last few months largely because they were "stranded" here after playing a birthday party. But they don't seem too bummed about where fate has landed them, By their own admission, the Slaughter Brothers have been playing in Asheville for the last few months largely because they were "stranded" here after playing a birthday party. But they don't seem too bummed about where fate has landed them, and now they're in town "doing their thing." Raised in Dayton, Ohio, and professionally based in New Orleans for the last several years, the brothers are joined by local drummer Daniel Hensley on this unnamed tune inspired by "Asheville's bluegrass music." http://youtu.be/U6K8N69Vvvg DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Steve Shanafelt no 3:04 PJ Bond and Lauren Baker http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/pj-bond-and-lauren-baker/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pj-bond-and-lauren-baker http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/pj-bond-and-lauren-baker/#comments Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:09:53 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=349 Last week, we featured a song by then-local singer-songwriter PJ Bond from the pre-video days of Busk Break. This week, we’re adding the second tune from that recording in July of 2010, as Bond was joined in front of Kim’s Wigs by his friend Lauren Baker. Baker is probably best known as the musical saw [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/pj-bond-and-lauren-baker/feed/ 0 guitar,kim's wigs,lauren baker,musical saw,pj bond,saw,singer-songwriter,sirius.b Last week, we featured a song by then-local singer-songwriter PJ Bond from the pre-video days of Busk Break. This week, we're adding the second tune from that recording in July of 2010, as Bond was joined in front of Kim's Wigs by his friend Lauren Bak... Last week, we featured a song by then-local singer-songwriter PJ Bond from the pre-video days of Busk Break. This week, we're adding the second tune from that recording in July of 2010, as Bond was joined in front of Kim's Wigs by his friend Lauren Baker. Baker is probably best known as the musical saw player from local “absurdist, gypsy, folk, funk, punk” band Sirius.B. (To be fair, like most members of that band, she's a multi-instrumentalist, but the musical saw thing tends to stick out.) http://youtu.be/7sGA4F2U69U DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Because this recording comes from the pre-video days of the project, the accompanying video is taken from "One Upon a Honeymoon," a creative-commons film from the Prelinger Archives. Steve Shanafelt no 3:20 Natchez On Fire play “The Crawdad Song” http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/natchez-on-fire-play-the-crawdad-song/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=natchez-on-fire-play-the-crawdad-song http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/natchez-on-fire-play-the-crawdad-song/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:53:38 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=340 A great band can turn even the most cliche of tunes into a memorable moment of music. Here, New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire play their version of the extremely familiar traditional folk tune “The Crawdad” song, and manage to keep things interesting. This is one of a pair of recordings we made of the [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/natchez-on-fire-play-the-crawdad-song/feed/ 0 banjo,dobro,fiddle,folk,iron sculpture,natchez on fire,reson,violin A great band can turn even the most cliche of tunes into a memorable moment of music. Here, New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire play their version of the extremely familiar traditional folk tune "The Crawdad" song, A great band can turn even the most cliche of tunes into a memorable moment of music. Here, New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire play their version of the extremely familiar traditional folk tune "The Crawdad" song, and manage to keep things interesting. This is one of a pair of recordings we made of the group during their visit to town in May of 2012. The band broke up the following year, making this is one of the few recordings of their sound. Members from the band, however, appear in several other Busk Break videos with other projects. http://youtu.be/qmLGzqOHQ0Q DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Originally recorded 05/13/2011. Steve Shanafelt no 3:26 PJ Bond performs “You Know The Drill” http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/pj-bond-performs-you-know-the-drill/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pj-bond-performs-you-know-the-drill http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/pj-bond-performs-you-know-the-drill/#comments Tue, 20 Nov 2012 00:46:35 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=344 On a warm July night in 2010, singer-songwriter PJ Bond stood in front of a wig store and played his heart out. This was in the early days of the Busk Break project, and it set the tone for the rest the performances that summer. Bond had only been living in town for a year [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/pj-bond-performs-you-know-the-drill/feed/ 0 asheville,guitar,kim's wigs,pj bond,pre-video,prelinger archives,singer-songwriter,sirius.b On a warm July night in 2010, singer-songwriter PJ Bond stood in front of a wig store and played his heart out. This was in the early days of the Busk Break project, and it set the tone for the rest the performances that summer. - On a warm July night in 2010, singer-songwriter PJ Bond stood in front of a wig store and played his heart out. This was in the early days of the Busk Break project, and it set the tone for the rest the performances that summer. Bond had only been living in town for a year or so, but his brother, Pancho Romero Bond, was already established as the frontman of local "absurdist, gypsy, folk, funk, punk" band Sirius.B. Although not nearly the same level of showman as his brother, I'd argue that PJ Bond is clearly the better songwriter. But PJ never really found his niche in novelty-act living Asheville, and his time as a busker didn't last long. http://youtu.be/F8Xs-mQAujU DOWNLOAD THE SONG! The summer of 2010 was one of the most fun eras of the Busk Break project thus far. It was the first year the city was truly inundated with street musicians, and the novelty had yet to wear of for most of the downtown set. Many of the buskers from that time weren't local musicians looking for a place to play and earn a few bucks, rather than the turf-guarding professional buskers that now reign in the city. PJ Bond wasn't one of those professional buskers. He playing for tips, but he didn't need to. He was already a touring musician at this point, and had a studio album under his belt. There's a lot to like in his work, and I highly suggest checking out his album You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical if you like what you hear in the video. Now, about that video. This is also a recording from the very early days of Busk Break. The pre-video days present an interesting challenge, as we're now a video rather than a podcast-based project. So, I've decided to set the song to a film called "Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire" from the creative commons/public domain Prelinger archives. (A big thank you to Archive.org for providing this content.) Steve Shanafelt no 3:08 Natchez On Fire perform “The YoYo Song” http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/natchez-on-fire-perform-the-yoyo-song/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=natchez-on-fire-perform-the-yoyo-song http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/natchez-on-fire-perform-the-yoyo-song/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:31:21 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=337 Way back in May of 2011, Busk Break caught a few songs from New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire during their brief visit to Asheville. One of those songs, their version of the classic “Crawdad Song,” was released at the time, but this song never made it out of the archive. Now, for the first [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/11/natchez-on-fire-perform-the-yoyo-song/feed/ 0 banjo,blues,busk break,dobro,fiddle,folk,iron sculpture,natchez on fire,resonator guitar,violin Way back in May of 2011, Busk Break caught a few songs from New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire during their brief visit to Asheville. One of those songs, their version of the classic "Crawdad Song," was released at the time, Way back in May of 2011, Busk Break caught a few songs from New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire during their brief visit to Asheville. One of those songs, their version of the classic "Crawdad Song," was released at the time, but this song never made it out of the archive. Now, for the first time ever, we present Natchez On Fire's "The Yo-Yo Song"! Natchez On Fire broke up the following year, so this is one of the few recordings of the band playing outside of their hometown. Members from the band, however, appear in several other Busk Break videos with other projects. Like many of our early videos, the video suffers a little from trying to use an action-following flow rather than something more sensible, like a tripod. There's a kind of rough-weather sailing feel to this period in Busk Break, but at least the audio turned out fairly good. The filming would improve later, but these were early days, and it shows. The second video from the session is a little more focused and watchable. Keep an eye out for it soon. http://youtu.be/yRyZ6EsVSSY DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Originally recorded 05/13/2011. Steve Shanafelt no 2:49 Aaron Basskin performs “What To Do” http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/09/aaron-basskin-performs-what-to-do/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=aaron-basskin-performs-what-to-do http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/09/aaron-basskin-performs-what-to-do/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:15:59 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=328 Recorded in the same session as his cover of “If I Only Had a Brain”, local busker Aaron Basskin performs his original tune “What To Do” in front of the Iron sculpture on downtown Asheville, NC. Most of the time, the buskers I meet aren’t aware of the Busk Break project, but as it turns [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/09/aaron-basskin-performs-what-to-do/feed/ 0 aaron basskin,busk,busk break,busker,free things to do in Asheville,guitar,iron sculpture,original,songs recording,things to do in nc Recorded in the same session as his cover of "If I Only Had a Brain", local busker Aaron Basskin performs his original tune "What To Do" in front of the Iron sculpture on downtown Asheville, NC. - Most of the time, Recorded in the same session as his cover of "If I Only Had a Brain", local busker Aaron Basskin performs his original tune "What To Do" in front of the Iron sculpture on downtown Asheville, NC. Most of the time, the buskers I meet aren't aware of the Busk Break project, but as it turns out, Basskin was. He'd seen one of the several videos documenting local jazz band and busking scene favorite Big Nasty, and was highly impressed. "Those guys are so cool," he explained with a smile. Although Basskin was mostly playing covers, it wasn't too hard to talk him into playing an original for his second contribution to the Busk Break series. http://youtu.be/eEdeO4Kwg4I DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Originally recorded 05/11/2012. Steve Shanafelt no 4:48 Aaron Basskin covers “If I Only Had a Brain” http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/09/busk-break-aaron-basskin-covers-if-i-only-had-a-brain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=busk-break-aaron-basskin-covers-if-i-only-had-a-brain http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/09/busk-break-aaron-basskin-covers-if-i-only-had-a-brain/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2012 01:13:11 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=322 Local busker Aaron Basskin performs his version of a song almost everyone in the English-speaking world can at least hum along to: “If I Only Had a Brain” by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, written for the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz. At first Basskin was a little reluctant to perform this [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/09/busk-break-aaron-basskin-covers-if-i-only-had-a-brain/feed/ 0 aaron basskin,busk,busk break,busker,cover,free things to do in Asheville,guitar,iron sculpture,songs recording,things to do in nc Local busker Aaron Basskin performs his version of a song almost everyone in the English-speaking world can at least hum along to: "If I Only Had a Brain" by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, written for the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz. - Local busker Aaron Basskin performs his version of a song almost everyone in the English-speaking world can at least hum along to: "If I Only Had a Brain" by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, written for the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz. At first Basskin was a little reluctant to perform this tune, as he's only played it a few moments earlier. But that's one of the great things about mid-day busking, as crowds rarely linger for more than a song or two, so there's no harm in playing your favorite tune a few times. And what's not to like about this classic, sing-alongable tune? http://youtu.be/NliS-yVaFL8 DOWNLOAD THE SONG! Originally recorded 05/11/2012. Steve Shanafelt no 2:52 Anna Trevor performs the first movement of Sonata in G minor by Henry Eccles http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/08/anna-trevor-performs-the-first-movement-of-sonata-in-g-minor-by-henry-eccles/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=anna-trevor-performs-the-first-movement-of-sonata-in-g-minor-by-henry-eccles http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/08/anna-trevor-performs-the-first-movement-of-sonata-in-g-minor-by-henry-eccles/#comments Sat, 25 Aug 2012 18:41:44 +0000 Steve Shanafelt http://www.buskbreak.com/?p=312 New Hampshire-based cellist Anna Trevor gave me a wry smile before putting the bow to the strings of her cello. I was trying to convince her to perform an original tune, but although she assured me that she had written several songs on guitar, she hadn’t worked them all out on the cello. So I [...]

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]]> http://www.buskbreak.com/2012/08/anna-trevor-performs-the-first-movement-of-sonata-in-g-minor-by-henry-eccles/feed/ 0 anna trevor,busk,busk break,busker,cello,classical,free things to do in Asheville,iron sculpture,knoxville,original,songs recording,things to do in nc New Hampshire-based cellist Anna Trevor gave me a wry smile before putting the bow to the strings of her cello. I was trying to convince her to perform an original tune, but although she assured me that she had written several songs on guitar, New Hampshire-based cellist Anna Trevor gave me a wry smile before putting the bow to the strings of her cello. I was trying to convince her to perform an original tune, but although she assured me that she had written several songs on guitar, she hadn't worked them all out on the cello. So I switched gears, and asked her if there was a song she simply loved to play on the cello. That's where the smile came from. "There's definitely a very sad classical tune that I really enjoy playing," she said. The piece would turn out to be the first movement of Sonata in G minor, perhaps the best-known work by Henry Eccles, an 18th century English composer largely unknown outside of classical music circles. One can only imagine that he'd be pleased to know that his work can still bring a tingle of excitement to a young woman living nearly three centuries later. http://youtu.be/wKk1_CGxdB8 DOWNLOAD THE SONG! This video, however, has been sitting around in the Busk Break vaults since it was recorded on that windy day in the winter of 2010. Instead, I opted to go with the next tune she played, "Old Joe Clark," and quickly forgot that this performance even existed. Two years later, I'm very happy to present it for the first time. Steve Shanafelt no 1:37