Tag: busking

Pilgrim, Elmore and Bob play “Black Eyed Suzie”

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Pilgrim, Elmore and Bob play during a rainstorm in the entrance to the Miles Building.
What’s a group of buskers to do when they’re ready and willing to play, but the weather has different plans? Hiding out in the entrance of the Miles Building during a fierce rainstorm, traveling buskers Pilgrim, Elmore and Bob had planned on busking in front of the Iron sculpture in downtown Asheville. As a result, they were instead playing tunes largely to entertain each other until the torrent passed. Continue reading Pilgrim, Elmore and Bob play “Black Eyed Suzie”

Mike Gray rocks the Go-Box on “Her Mind Is Gone”

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Mike Gray plays a virtuoso set on his one-of-a-kind Go-Box near the Grove Arcade.
If you’ve never seen Austin-based musician Mike Gray bust out some tunes on his “go-box,” you’ve missed out. Inspired by the designs of Asheville-based folk artist and performer Robert Seven, there’s really no way of explaining what he’s playing other than “It used to be a guitar, but there’s now a bunch of percussiony bits on it, and he plays it with chopsticks.” Here, he plays a version of the Professor Longhair tune “Her Mind Is Gone” near the Grove Arcade. Continue reading Mike Gray rocks the Go-Box on “Her Mind Is Gone”

Sara Lengel covers “I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy”

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Sara Lengel covers the song that made O.V. Wright famous.
When I met Sara Lengel, she wasn’t actually busking. It didn’t take much convincing to get her to play something, however, and when she did, it was wonderful. “I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy” was first made famous by now semi-obscure Souther soul singer O.V. Wright, but many folks today know the song because of covers by groups like The Derek Trucks Band. It’s that modern, jam-band infused version Lengel performs here. Continue reading Sara Lengel covers “I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy”

Alex Travers shares a little rainy day Bach

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Alex Travers thinks out of the Bachs.
During a rainy day in Asheville, NC, Boone-based busker Alex Travers performs the first movement of J.S. Bach’s Partita No.3 for Solo Violin in E major. Travers was originally planning on performing in front of that ever-popular downtown busking spot, the giant Iron Sculpture near the Miles Building, but the constant drizzle moved him under the eave of a nearby store. Tips were understandably poor, and he started to moved on after only a few minutes of playing. Thankfully, I ran into him before he did, and managed to convince him to play a few more tunes for the Busk Break project. Continue reading Alex Travers shares a little rainy day Bach

Sparrow performs “Power Ballad”

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Accordion-playing busker Sparrow performs her original song “Power Ballad” near Woolworth Walk 2011.
It had been the better part of a year since I’d encountered Asheville-based busker Sparrow, and I was glad to run into her again. Her video had been one of the most popular from the first year of Busk Break, and I genuinely enjoyed listening to her perform. Although she’d seen the video from Halloween the year before, she said she couldn’t recall which song she performed for me. I remembered the tune, but couldn’t remember the name of it. So, after a moment, she decided to go with a song she was almost certain she hadn’t performed for me.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t quite recall how the song she wanted to play went. So, right in front of me, she worked the entire thing out. Continue reading Sparrow performs “Power Ballad”

Caster covers “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)”

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Caster performs in front of the Iron Sculpture in downtown Asheville, NC.
If there’s any song that provokes a completely surprised, totally unguarded smile, it’s the “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” from the 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book. Add a banjo, a kazoo and a young busker just finding his voice, and you have a very light-hearted busking moment on the streets of Asheville. And, more than that, it’s an early glimpse at a performer who was slowly coming into his own. Continue reading Caster covers “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)”

Balkan Death Grip perform “Men Trinkte Mashke”

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Matt Heckler, Trevor Grassi and Jeff Loops, with unseen members of Balkan Death Grip, perform near Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville, NC.
Matt Heckler and Trevor Grassi lead this incarnation of Balkan Death Grip to hell and back. Well, maybe that’s a bit of a melodramatic way of putting it, but this is a highly melodramatic song. After all, it’s about a man who pays his way by shoveling coal in hell, who plays music that smells of gasoline and who, they say, is around “every time a ship goes down.” It’s also one of the most entertainingly over-the-top tunes ever performed in front of the Busk Break camera. Continue reading Balkan Death Grip perform “Men Trinkte Mashke”

Mister Gunn & The Pistol Packin’ Mamas perform “Caffeine”

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Aaron Gunn and friends perform his original tune “Caffeine” in front of the Woolworth Walk.
It’s not every musician that can write an entirely new song that also manages to feel timeless. That’s doubly true when their chosen genre is the nostalgia-driven jazz, blue and old-time hybrid that has been dominating the regional busking scene for the past several years. I was absolutely certain that “Caffeine” was a cover, like some jazzed-up, long-forgotten companion b-side to Clara Smith’s “Ain’t Got Nobody To Grind My Coffee.” But it turns out that it was written by a guy I’ve known for years. Continue reading Mister Gunn & The Pistol Packin’ Mamas perform “Caffeine”

Mister Gunn & The Pistol Packin’ Mamas cover “My Fat Gal”

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Mister Gunn & The Pistol Packin’ Mamas perform in front of the Woolworth Walk.
Filmed on a gray spring day outside the Woolworth Walk, Mister Gunn & The Pistol Packin’ Mamas performed an exceedingly fun take on the Merle Travis tune “My Fat Gal.” In other hands, it’s one of those songs that could be interpreted as insensitive, or even outright offensive. But here, it’s neither. It’s just a great band playing a truly entertaining song. Continue reading Mister Gunn & The Pistol Packin’ Mamas cover “My Fat Gal”

Sparrow performs “Walt’s Waltz”

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Accordion-playing busker Sparrow performs in front of the Woolworth Walk on Halloween weekend in 2010.
I met Sparrow the weekend of the first MoogFest in downtown Asheville. Even on an average weekend, the city could be mistaken for a costume party that had somehow spilled out onto the streets, but add Halloween weekend and a major, national-level electronic music festival to the mix, and the experience began to border on the hallucinatory. Continue reading Sparrow performs “Walt’s Waltz”