TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 704 Tuesday March 10th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2-4pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 4:40-5:20pm). A slow start: FOUR songs before any coinage (two donations for Here Comes The Sun), but a perfectly acceptable temperature: 12 degrees. A mildly offensive incident occurs as a bunch of foreign students march by. A boy leans in… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 703
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 703 Saturday March 7th 2015 Hythe (In front of Waitrose, Time: 11:30-1:52pm). Back to Hythe, first time since the winter recess, and I wonder if the kind inhabitants have missed me… A sunny day but the wind was pretty rough on the bike ride and really REALLY rough on the ferry. I got some more… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 702
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 702 Friday March 6th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 2:45-3:20pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 3:28-4:35pm, 3. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 5:04-5:35pm). I start off at somewhere I haven’t been since last year, and they must have missed me. One of the older blokes in G & H waves to me from inside the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 701
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 701 Wednesday March 4th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:15-5:15pm). I was thinking of setting up near The Butter Cross but when I got there, 1. It was too windy, and 2. Some workmen had a radio on and I thought ‘If I start up, I’m just going to piss them off’, so I didn’t… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 700
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 700 Tuesday March 3rd 2015 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:45-5:15pm). The 700th Day. How many more of these before I chuck in the towel?! Another sunny but cold day: 8 degrees. I cycled around a bit before deciding Oxfam was the least windy spot. But before I decided, Otto passed me in The Square and… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 699
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 699 Sunday March 1st 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 1:37-2:58pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:35-4:08pm). The first donation was from an Indian bloke who told me he was a guitarist and used to play all over the world, playing Santana and other stuff like that, until he had a heart attack and couldn’t play… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 698
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 698 Saturday February 28th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:42-5:14pm). I had an incredible stroke of luck in that I sold a CD before I even started. It was to a man who’s already got the first one, and he’d come up to me a few weeks ago just after I’d got the new one… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 697
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 697 Friday February 27th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:56-4:26pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:50-5:50pm). Temperature: 6 degrees and windy. I spend a few minutes cycling around to find the least windy spot…and end up down the arse-end. Song Of The Day: 3rd one in – Here Comes The Sun, as it got five… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 696
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 696 Wednesday February 25th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:13-5:25pm). A mild day, for once. In fact, compared to the last few weeks, it’s positively tropical! And it put me in an almost good mood: a rare occurrence indeed. The other thing that put me in a good mood was a man buying both CDs.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 695
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 695 Tuesday February 24th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:55-4:07pm, 2. Opposite The Body Shop, Time: 4:50-5:42pm). A sunny but cold (6 degrees) and windy day. I cycled around to all the areas and decided Vodafone was the least windy. That little lady in the motorised wheelchair, Maureen, who’s name I remembered just in… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 694
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 694 Saturday February 21st 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:36-3:25pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:32-4:25pm, 3. Opposite The Body Shop, Time: 4:55-5:45pm). Mr. Jackson and his rockabilly trio, of which he is one, are rockabillying at The Butter Cross, just a tad too loudly, I thought. Any louder and I wouldn’t have been able… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 693
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 693 Friday February 20th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:02-3:32pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:05-5:38pm). I’m standing with the bike outside Monsoon, looking about, and suddenly there she is – Delia – practically in front of me. Of course, she insists on giving me a pound, even though I’m not actually playing. She’s only… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 692
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 692 Wednesday February 18th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:18-4:01pm). At the risk of sounding presumptive so early in the set, I name Here Comes The Sun as Song Of The Day as it earned no less than SEVEN donations…probably not all pound coins, though. There are some birds busy above, chucking stuff down at… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 691
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 691 Tuesday February 17th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:46-4:47pm). I’d only been playing a few minutes when someone I haven’t seen in ages, Kai, walks by with his violin case and one of those tablet things that take photos, and he took one of me. He didn’t stop. I should have asked if he… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 689
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 689 Wednesday February 11th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 3:10-4:52pm). Temperature: 6 degrees, cold but no wind. A man about 65 donates in the first song and says ‘Sorry it’s not much’. Not much but whatever it was, it was more than anything I got for the next three songs, which was zero. It got… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 688
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 688 Sunday February 8th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:02-3:07pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 3:15-4:25pm). A cold day – of course, but no wind – good. Sam’s come up again, from Brighton. He’s set up camp at his usual Butter Cross spot. As I’m walking by, he tells me he’ll be done in 40… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 687
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 687 Saturday January 31st 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:07-4:07pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:31-5:11pm). Young Sam’s here – like he said he would be – at his usual residence: The Butter Cross…I had a look at the Pavilion spot around the corner, but there was no one sitting outside any of the restaurants.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 686
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 686 Friday January 30th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 3:50-5:30pm). If it wasn’t for the non-appearance of an 18 year old Peter Symonds student – one Emma Cuifie, or Ciufie, or something like that – for a lesson (she never even sent a message, and I’m down by £15…and a capo I leant her), I… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 685
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 685 Tuesday January 27th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 12:44-1:54pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:05-2:35pm). Temperature: 7 degrees. A really slow start, the first donation being fifteen minutes in, from scouser Chris, whose name, as usual, I couldn’t remember at the time. I knew it wasn’t what I’d been calling for ages, though: Mick.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 684
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 684 Saturday January 24th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:17-3:37pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:43-5:15pm). The amplified rockabilly trio – I forgot the name – were set up at The Butter Cross, and although I couldn’t really hear them at Pavilion on the other side of the alleyway, I carried on down to Vodafone.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 683
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 683 Thursday January 22nd 2015 Winchester (Opposite Jigsaw, Market Street, Time: 2:12-3:04pm). First time out for over a week, as it’s been so cold. It’s a good job I got the money for that cruise or I don’t know what I would have done. I stopped at the crossroads, trying to work out what to… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 682
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 682 Sunday January 11th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite The Body Shop, Time: 1:17-2:38pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:05-4:35pm). After an hour and 10 minutes at the seldom used Body Shop spot, I took a toilet break and compared the two hand driers…and the Steibel Eltron won “hands down” over the Warner Herald one, for the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 681
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 681 Saturday January 10th 2015 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:10-3:40pm, 2. Opposite Jigsaw, Market Street, Time: 3:55-5:15pm). A rather depressed state of mind today, with a light headache…which is what happens when you have a few rum and cokes followed with half bottle of red. I need to lay off the sauce, especially the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 680
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 680 Tuesday January 6th 2015 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:10-3:30pm). I only came out as I was a bit depressed in the house. I’m not sure why although it might partly be because tonight’s the last lesson I give to Tom and Owen, down the road. I’ve been seeing them for 2 1/2 years, but… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 679
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 679 Friday January 2nd 2015 Winchester (Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:02-4:05pm). 10 degrees says the weather website – warm! First busk of the year, second day of the year. It started a bit slow, then I got a few donations for the 1st. Gnossienne, and it earned a CD sale: Song Of The Day! The CD… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 678
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 678 Wednesday December 31st 2014 (Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:46-4:50pm). At 8 degrees, the temperature’s up a couple of degrees since three days ago, so I thought I’d venture out…maybe people are more generous on New Year’s Eve…I don’t know. I checked the diary and I was out last year and got £26 in an hour… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 677
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 677 Sunday December 28th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:40-4:18pm). I don’t know why I went out. I mean, I know it was cold: 5 degrees by the website…I don’t know. I hadn’t even thawed out from a trip into town, and I went out again less than an hour after I got in. I… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 676
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 676 Wednesday December 24th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:30-4:30pm). I was going to come in yesterday, which was a few crucial degrees warmer than today, but it was drizzling pretty much all day so I didn’t bother. Anyway, I haven’t been in for over two weeks…I wonder how rusty I’ll be…for rusty I will… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 675
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 675 Sunday December 7th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:27-2:26pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:36-4:08pm). Back in, in a last ditch attempt to put some more money in the account tomorrow morning before the coach to Heathrow. I thought I’d head for the Pavilion spot, as it was OK there yesterday. But Young Sam… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 674
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 674 Saturday December 6th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:40-3:10pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:44-4:45pm). In the morning I went to the bank to see if they’d reinstated my money. Of course they hadn’t, so the lady – Sue Melligran(?) – who’s been dealing with me said she’d sort out some money… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 673
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 673 Friday December 5th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 1:57-4:17pm). I don’t know…sometimes I wonder what’s going to happen next. I came into town in the morning and found all my money had been taken out of the account and spent at an Argos shop. £308, although I only had £238 in it. Maybe they… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 672
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 672 Saturday November 29th 2014 Hythe (1. Opposite Waterside Furnishing shop, Time: 10:40-11:04am, 2. In front of barbershop, Time: 11:15-1:05, 1:55-3:40pm). So here it is at last. The day of the famous Hythe Mistletoe Fayre. I don’t know what it is, but like yesterday, I get to Town Quay just as the ferry’s pulling away.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 671
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 671 Friday November 28th 2014 Hythe (Opposite Harvey’s Sandwich Bar/In front of Waitrose) The first of two days in Hythe, at the request of Helen from the council and Chris Bradford, who says I’ll get £40 for expenses – almost twice as much as I need. I did protest but not too loudly. It’s also… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 670
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 670 Saturday November 15th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:36-1:39pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 1:58-3pm, 3. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:05-3:44pm). I’m off to Istanbul tomorrow and back via Rome next Saturday, so this is it for a week. Also, I need to take whatever I make today to the bank as I need to… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 669
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 669 Friday November 14th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:29-3:49pm). I’d come in in the morning and Young Sam was talking to Rob at The Butter Cross, so I thought ‘They’ll both be here for a few hours’, and sure enough Sam was at Vodafone when I came in later. An old lady contributed 50p… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 668
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 668 Wednesday November 12th 2014 Winchester (Opposite The Body Shop, Time: 2:51-4:23pm). Rain, and the young, light-haired bloke was in the shelter of The Pentice, right near The Butter Cross, so I did the same thing but down at the other end of it, although it was rather too close to Timpsons, I fear…but, sod… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 667
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 667 Sunday November 9th 2014 Hythe (Opposite Harvey’s Sandwich Bar/In front of Waitrose, Time: 12:51-3:15pm). Last week in Hythe was a disaster, of course, then there was rain all day on Saturday but Sunday it was supposed to be sunny all day, according to the Weather In Hythe website…well it was sunny on the way… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 666
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 666 Friday November 7th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:47-2:40pm, 3:07-4:26pm). The temperature: 12 degrees – not too bad, although there’s a bit of wind which doesn’t help matters much. A couple donate, she correctly identifying Windy & Warm as a Chet arrangement…actually Doc Watson…or maybe they’re the same. He asks if I know Happy… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 665
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 665 Wednesday November 5th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:42-4:03pm). Back to the scene of the crime, literally. The temperature: 8 degrees, in other words, 2 degrees above the limit of which, below, it is impossible to play. Namely 6 degrees! It’s still cold, though, but at least there’s no wind. I sell a CD,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 664
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 664 Sunday November 2nd 2014 Winchester (Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:43-4:36pm). A wet day…and a noisy one. I happen to set up opposite a stall set up by the Winchester Round Table people. Four blokes with very loud voices. (I seemed to have arrived during a break in the shouting). They were selling tickets for a… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 663
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 663 Saturday November 1st 2014 Hythe (Opposite Harvey’s Sandwich Bar/In front of Waitrose, Time: 4:25-5:55pm). I’m not having a very good week. I had just chained up the bike and was at the ticket machine at Town Quay, getting the coins from my pocket, when I thought ‘There’s something not right’. And what was not… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 662
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 662 Friday October 31st 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:20-3:32pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:40-4:30pm). Ten minutes after I started (on a warm day!), that bloody European van pulled up in front of me again. I couldn’t be bothered to pack up so I stayed there…and one song later – Albatross –… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 661
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 661 Thursday October 30th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:25-2:35pm). I’d only done three songs and was halfway through the fourth – Here Comes The Sun, before I was rudely interrupted in the highest degree by the biggest offender I’ve had the displeasure to come across in my, now, 4 + years out here. This… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 660
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 660 Tuesday October 28th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:15-3:35pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:08-5:15pm). At The Butter Cross it’s the guy from New Zealand, and Wimoweh, and he does a very funny – although I’m not sure it’s meant to be – high falsetto. In fact, I’ve never heard a man get that… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 659
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 659 Monday October 27th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:45-4:41pm). When, at 9 o’clock, I did the weekly trip to the bank with the coinage, that girl singer had her stuff set up at The Butter Cross. I don’t know where she was but she’d clearly put a claim on the spot. Five hours later,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 658
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 658 Sunday October 26th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:30-4:40pm). A landmark day: the 4th anniversary of the start of all this busking business…and of this diary, of course. Oh yes, I remember it well: Southampton in the cold, and I was so embarrassed to set up, I delayed it as long as I could.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 657
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 657 Saturday October 25th 2014 Hythe (Opposite Harvey’s Sandwich Bar/In front of Waitrose, Time: 1:01-3:21pm) I thought I’d try a bit later this time and see how it went. I got the train at 12 o’clock and got to the ferry just in time, and a different ferry, too. A bigger one than Great Expectations… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 656
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 656 Friday October 24th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:05-2:35pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:40-4:50pm). Another day of very reasonable temperature and no wind…and a really crap first session down at Oxfam: £2.20p for half an hour’s playing…and a woman offered me a plastic bottle of Fanta. She didn’t say anything, she just held… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 655
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 655 Thursday October 23rd 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:55-3:01pm). Once again, no wind and a temperature of a perfectly acceptable nature. Quite amazing for this time of year. There wasn’t much else to write home about, though…a few old people at one of the tables across the way were tapping their feet along to… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 654
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 654 Wednesday October 22nd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:17-4:25pm). The weather was alot better than yesterday. No rain at all and about 60 degrees – perfect playing temperature, in fact. Actually, 65 would have been perfect, but 60 is fine! Song Of The Day – the 1st. Gnossienne, as it secured a £5… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 653
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 653 Tuesday October 21st 2014 Winchester (Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:13-2:50pm). And once again, I don’t know why I bother…after 4 songs, a Chinese girl fiddles with her purse and looks in the bucket. All that’s there is my camera in its case, to give the bucket some weight or it would blow away – a… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 652
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 652 Monday October 20th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 12:58-1:48pm). That girl singer/songwriter – she’s very nice although a bit boring – was at The Butter Cross, and that big brown UPS van was around the corner at Pavilion, so I was banished down to the arse-end. During albatross, an old guy makes conversation –… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 651
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 651 Saturday October 18th 2014 Hythe (Opposite Harvey’s Sandwich Bar, Time: 12:26-2:47pm). I left a lot later than usual, waiting for the rain to stop, and as a consequence the train to Southampton was pretty full up, and with a few drunken football supporters, to boot. I was standing near the doors and a football… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 650
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 650 Friday October 17th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:54-4:01pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:15-5:35pm). I’d been practising Sukiyaki so much, I decided to debut it: 3rd song in, so I must have been pretty confident. Of course, I know I can always rely on the bloody buses to cover up any bum notes,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 649
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 649 Wednesday October 15th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis/O2, Time: 4:25-5:25pm). I was brave enough to venture out while the rain – or drizzle rather – took a break. Fortunately, the undercover Pentice/Butter Cross place, which I hadn’t been for awhile, was free. The first half-hour was OK, weather-wise: temperature – a bit chilly, but not… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 648
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 648 Tuesday October 14th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:42-3:48pm). It’s…Graduation Day! There’s loads of people…well, mainly young ones of the female sort, walking about with those hats that look like mortar boards. It’s a slow start, as it often is: a full FIVE songs before the first donation, from a man in a light-coloured… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 647
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 647 Saturday October 11th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:15-4:15pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 4:32-5:32pm). When I got to Pavilion, my old mate Rick Tarrant was sitting outside the restaurant next door with a cup of coffee. I declined his invitation to join him as I wanted to start up. As he had his… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 646 (parts 1 & 2)
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 646 Friday October 10th 2014 Hythe (Opposite Harvey’s Sandwich Bar/in front of Waitrose, Time: 10:55-1:10pm). 1st time with the bike, and the ride from the train station to Town Quay was pretty effortless – mainly along the cycle track. At the quay, I locked it up alongside a load of other bikes, then went in… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 645
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 645 Wednesday October 8th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 11:16-12:40pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 1:16-1:40pm, 3. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:14-2:55pm). I got down here early, as it was the time when the lady with the quadriplegic and the others said they’d be here… That bloke – Nick, who I wrote about years ago, popped… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 644
TweetDiary of A Busker Day 644 Tuesday October 7th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 12:53-2:56pm). I’d just started setting up when an offender (thankfully, the day’s only one) turns up. It’s that old bugger who said maybe I was playing the wrong stuff, when I told him I didn’t make any money on the underground. He never contributes, either…which is… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 643
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 643 Sunday October 5th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:08-4:01pm). Got off to a good start: Albatross, which got a contribution from a couple a bit older than me…and that’s not all. As they were walking off, they stopped, listened some more, then came back and BOUGHT A CD!!! I was so HAPPY!, especially after… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 642
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 642 Saturday October 4th 2014 (1. Opposite Bellis/O2, Time: 3:45-4:14pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 4:20-5:40pm). I was going to go to Hythe in the morning, but it was raining and it didn’t stop for hours. I’d even bought the train ticket so I had to get a refund. Anyway, by 3 o’clock it had cleared… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 641
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 641 Friday October 3rd 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:25-4:37pm). First time in since my near-breakdown on Monday and I definitely needed the few days off. The weather’s still fine: temperature warm, but it’s changing over the weekend, apparently. I was mildly offended when, after 45 minutes, a family of three: man, woman, teenage daughter… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 640
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 640 Monday September 29th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:20-3:40pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:45-4:02pm, 3. Opposite Bellis, Time: 5:45-6:20pm). I think this was the day I decided I’d finally had enough – of Winchester, anyway. I thought I’d get a short one in before the guitar lesson at 4:15. The middle… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 639
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 639 Sunday September 28th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 2:35-3:05pm, 3:09-3:13pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:20-4:45pm). Five minutes into the set, in the middle of Blowin’ In The Wind (appropriate today), I could hear something in the background. All was revealed soon enough: those bloody bells from the cathedral. I forgot it… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 638
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 638 Saturday, September 27th 2014 Winchester (1. Corner Of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 1:40-2:05pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:10-3pm). I thought I’d get an hour or so in, before the paid gig tonight: Clive and Tessa’s 40th anniversary, round the corner in the cathedral refectory. WOW a PAID gig! So, a sort of rehearsal…which started… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 637
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 637 Friday September 26th Romsey (Old bank doorway, opposite Romsey Market, Time: 10:17am-12:36pm), Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:50-5:35pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 5:43-5:50pm, 3. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:55-6:23pm). The day got off to an odd start. As I got on the bus at the train station, I heard a ‘hello’. I looked down the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 636
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 636 Wednesday September 24th 2014 Chichester (1. Opposite Marks & Spencer, North Street, Time: 11:45am-2pm, 2. Opposite Next, East Street, Time: 2:30-4:05pm). The 1st set brought forth no less than two instances of offensiveness. Firstly, three youths walked by, one dropping, in a rather careless manner, a 20p coin, which landed outside the bucket. He… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 635
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 635 Sunday September 21st 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 12:30-2pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:15-2:45pm). I was going to set up at Vodafone but Danny Ward was there, singing and playing his guitar: a very nice, very old Epiphone acoustic, it was. A man donated after Albatross, saying, ‘That reminds me when I was… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 634
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 634 Saturday September 20th 2014 Hythe (In front of Waitrose/Opposite Harvey’s Sandwich Bar, Time: 11am-1:18pm). Off to Hythe again, this time on my own steam…plus the ferry’s and train’s steam, of course. It took awhile to find the ferry port, after a 25 minute walk from the train station at Southampton, but I got there… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 633
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 633 Friday September 19th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 5:53-6:14pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 6:22-6:52pm, 3. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 6:58-7:20pm). I would have come out earlier but I decided to change the bike tyres, as the new Raleigh Record whitewalls arrived this morning! The old tyres were really wearing down, especially the rear one,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 632
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 632 Wednesday September 17th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:28-3:48pm). Phillip came by again (it’s been ages since I called him Ragtime Phillip) and he was again walking slow, more like dragging himself, poor bloke. He said hello and looked a bit more cheerful than last time. As he was disappearing off, I took a… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 631
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 631 Tuesday September 16th 2014 (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:51-3:17pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:30-4:21pm). The first person to walk by, even before I played a note is Phillip. I can tell straight away he’s not well but he donates as usual. When I ask him how he is, he says, ‘Not too good’, smiles… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 630
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 630 Sunday September 4th 2014 Winchester (1. Corner of Monsoon, Time: 1:08-1:28pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:34-3:48pm, 3. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 4:06-4:47pm, 4. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 4:56-5:47pm). After the bonanza – there’s no other word for it – of yesterday’s Hythe debut – I was a ‘hit’, there’s no doubt about it –… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 629
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 629 Saturday September 13th 2014 The Italian Market, Hythe (Outside Waitrose, Time: 12-1:50pm, 2:16-2:57pm). Off to somewhere new, courtesy of Chris Bradford, without whom my Ballad In E Major, dating from 2002, would not have been recorded, and so, for whom, I’m exceedingly grateful. His friend, Helen’s got something to do with the council and… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 628
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 628 Friday September 12th 2014 Chichester (1. Opposite Marks & Spencer, North Street, Time: 11:44-11:54am, 2. Opposite Toni & Guy, Time: 11:57am-1:17pm, 3. Opposite Marks & Spencer, Time: 1:58-4:05pm). On arrival I walk by two young guys at The Cross. One’s strumming a guitar and kicking a bass drum, the other’s on a couple of… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 627
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 627 Sunday September 7th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:22-3:22pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:32-4:47pm, 3. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:01-6:01pm). I’d just started Wonderful Land when I spot Scouser Chris, from across the road. I’m playing ‘his’ song and I swear I never saw him, which I tell him when he comes… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 626
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 626 Friday September 5th 2014 Romsey (1. Romsey Market, Time: 10:15-12:00, 2. Old bank doorway, Time: 12:25-12:43pm), Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:35-5:40pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:55-6:45pm). It started off OK, although a bit slow. An old guy commented on my attire – ‘You don’t look like you’re bejeans (it sounded like that, anyway)’.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 625
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 625 Thursday September 4th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:40-5pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 5:18-6:03pm). A fairly uneventful hour and twenty minutes up the arse-end, as it were, as everywhere else was full: At Vodafone, Weird John with his show tunes, and some young strummers at The Butter Cross. There was no… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 624
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 624 Wednesday September 3rd 2014 Chichester (1. North Street, Time: 11:48-1:59pm, 2. Opposite Next, East Street, Time: 2:35-4:05pm). For a change, I set up a few feet from where I was last week – and in the sun: very unusual for me. There’s also no wall behind me which makes me feel a bit ‘on… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 623
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 623 Tuesday September 2nd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:53-3:54pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 4:11-5:11pm, 3. Opposite Bellis, Time: 5:20-5:55pm). After When I’m Sixty-Four an old guy comes up, leans in real close and says, ‘You’re the only proper guitar player I’ve seen today’, for which I’m most humbled, and for which I thank… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 622
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 622 Wednesday August 27th 2014 Chichester (1. Opposite Next, East Street, Time: 12:23-2pm, 2. Opposite Marks & Spencer, North Street, Time: 2:23-3:23pm, 3. Opposite Next, East Street, Time: 3:37-4:07pm). The train at Winchester was 15 minutes late so I just missed the connection at Fareham, which, for once, was on time, which meant I had… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 621
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 621 Sunday August 24th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:20-4pm, 2. Opposite Clarks, Time: 4:21-5:26pm). On the way to the first spot, I had a brief chat with Young Sam. He was feeling tired after a late session boozing last night and he didn’t know if he could last it! I suggested de-tuning his… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 620
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 620 Saturday August 23rd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:25-5:05pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:25-6:45pm). I meet the two Brians just after starting up with Albatross. First: Posh BrYan, who said, ‘Hellaaooww (like a cat’s Meow), how are you?’ I said I was OK, and that I was just warming up. ‘Ah, just tuning… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 619
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 619 Friday August 22nd 2014 Winchester (1. Corner of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 2:25-4:25pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:43-5:45pm). Some sad news. It began with the old lady who knitted those so-called wristies, and was going on about that Never Smile At A Crocodile song, paying me a visit (it sounds like I’m in a… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 618
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 618 Thursday August 21st 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 4:24-5:40pm). The temperature has got a bit cooler the last few days, which is of course giving me the BIG FEAR. I’m determined not to be doing this in the freezing cold. I think 4 years is enough for a 52 year old man. A toddler… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 617
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 617 Wednesday August 20th 2014 Chichester (1. Opposite Marks & Spencer, North Street, Time: 11:40-1:35pm, 2. Opposite Toni & Guy’s, North Street, Time: 2:20-4:02pm). Back in Chichester – my favourite place these days, as the populace appear to like me. And back on North Street, where I was booted off the last time I was… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 616
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 616 Tuesday August 19th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:44-4:49pm, 2. Corner Of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 5:04-6:04pm). A somewhat peaceful hour near the cathedral grounds to start off. Hardly anyone about but the percentage of donors was very high as there was about £20 at the end of the set. That… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 615
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 615 Monday August 18th 2014 (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: Sometime in the afternoon. Exact time not noted, but played 1 hour and 55 minutes 2. Opposite Bellis(?), Time: Afternoon. Precise time not noted, but played 35 minutes). A stroke of luck which afforded me at least one donation. The second song in – Here Comes… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 614
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 614 Sunday August 17th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:17-3:45pm). A non-event, due to the event of a cycle race in town. There were barriers all along the High Street and Market Street, near Pavilion, that goes down to Gieves & Hawkes. Unfortunately, I didn’t know about it till I came into town or I… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 613
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 613 Saturday August 16th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 1:51-3pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:33-4:20pm, 3. Corner Of Monsoon, Time: 4:29-5:29pm). My old mate Pierre the balloon man’s in town. I see him as I’m coming into the High Street and have a chat with him. I remember he was having a bad day… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 612
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 612 Friday August 15th 2014 Romsey Market (Time: 10:17am-12:23pm), Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:18-5:29pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:43-6:53pm). Back to Romsey to see my old mate Bertie. An unusually slow start by Romsey standards: FOUR songs before I get any coinage, so that was nothing for Blowin’ In The Wind, Here Comes The… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 611
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 611 Thursday August 14th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:38-4:08pm, 2. Corner of Monsoon, Time: 4:14-5:49pm). On the way down the High Street there were two young strummers banging it out at Vodafone. I carried on walking!…and had a depressing start: a half hour down the arse-end in which I got three donations, for… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 610
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 610 Wednesday August 13th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:12-5:42pm). I couldn’t believe it – I forgot the tuner! First time I’ve ever done that. In fact, I was so annoyed, I was going to come home. All the stuff was on the ground: the lead, capo, tattered old music folder, cloth, bucket…no tuner. I… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 609
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 609 Tuesday August 12th 2014 Chichester (1. Opposite Next, East Street, Time: 12-2pm, 2:38-4pm). Song Of The Session (not Day): California Girls, as it secured 4 donations. A man I recognised from last week, stood by me. In fact he’d bought a CD – ‘I listened to some of your CD’, he said, and didn’t… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 608
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 608 Monday August 11th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Jigsaw, Market Street, Time: 4:17-5:54pm). I seem to be seeing alot of Mr. W. Kendall of late. He rode by today and asked if I knew Telstar, which, oddly enough, I taught Tom and Owen (their performance now on youtube!) The trouble is the melody: it’s all over… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 607
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 607 Sunday August 10th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Jigsaw, Market Street, Time: 2:35-4:11pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 4:32-5:34pm). After Wonderful Land, I got a £5 note from an old lady in a wheelchair. She was being pushed by two men. Maybe they were taking turns. Anyway, she made them stop in the High Street, about… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 606
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 606 Saturday August 9th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:33-3:14pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:29-5:31pm, 3. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:55-6:25pm). The whole place is full up with these bloody buskers. There’s even a bloke at the Pavilion spot – I forgot to see if they’d shut the door on him…with Rick Tarrant… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 605
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 605 Friday August 8th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:45-5:45pm). An end of the day session, and I should have brought the umbrella. It wasn’t raining when I started, although the sky was grey all over (like that crap Dave Clark Five song). It was 5 songs in before any coinage, and that was from… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 604
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 604 Wednesday August 6th 2014 Winchester (1. Corner of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 2:28-4:10pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 4:25-5:45pm). It was nice to see Madelaine after I don’t know how long: she’s certainly the most toothsome of the lot out here, that’s for sure. I said she should try Chichester as the people are more… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 603
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 603 Tuesday August 5th 2014 Chichester (1. Opposite Next, East Street, Time: 11:45-1:20pm, 2-4pm). Seeing as I did so well up the road from The Clock, I made sure I booked the same place this time. On the phone, the woman went through the same routine: take a break every half hour, this time adding… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 602
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 602 Saturday August 2nd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:49-4:56pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:19-6:21pm). I had a quick wander about…Sid, the bloke who breathes into his flute, was at Vodafone…and up from him, towards The Butter Cross, there were some annoying people banging on boxes. In fact, The Butter Cross was strangely buskerless… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 601
TweetDiary of A Busker Day 601 Friday August 1st 2014 Winchester (1. Corner of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 1:20-3pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:43-4:25pm, 3. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 4:33-5:32pm). A good session around the corner from the ice-cream man. I’v put Horizons back in the set, and was rewarded with a pound from a man who said, ‘That’s… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 600
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 600 Thursday July 31st 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time; 2:03-3:23pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:35-4:35pm, 3. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 4:53-6:03pm). As I’m on the bike trying to work out where I’m going to set up, I pass Mandolin John at the Gieves & Hawkes spot. He’s not playing, just sort of hanging… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 599
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 599 Wednesday July 30th 2014 Winchester (1. Corner of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 4:33-5:12pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:17-6:12pm). I must remember: avoid playing on Market Street from 4:30-5:30, as all the market people bring their vans around to load up. It’s only a little street and I had to stop and rescue the bucket… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 598
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 598 Tuesday July 29th 2014 Chichester (The Cross, Time: 12-4pm). Strictly adhering to the half hour playing then 10 minute break rule… 1. 12 noon-12:30pm. I had the guitar on my lap while I was enjoying my cucumber, cheese and lettuce baguette, just before starting up, and woman walked by and said, ‘Don’t get that… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 597
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 597 Monday, July 28th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:20-5:50pm). I set up near The Butter Cross, locked the bike behind me, sat down and had just tuned up, when I heard a bloody saxophone. There’s a bloke – early 20’s, tall, reddish hair – playing about 40 feet to my right, about 8 columns… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 596
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 596 Sunday July 20th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:13-5:13pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:25-6:10pm). I think I’m usually pretty polite with foreign visitors, and if I’m in a really good mood (unusual), I’ll even stop playing if they interrupt me to ask where the bloody cathedral is. But some guy came up and… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 595
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 595 Saturday, July 19th 2014 Winchester (1. Corner of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 2:08-4:20pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 4:47-5:05pm, 3. Opposite Bath Travel, Time: 5:17-6:25pm). An incredible day, money-wise! If only every day was like this. I started off round the corner from the Vodafone spot because Sid the flute Drongo was sitting just up… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 594
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 594 Friday July 18th 2014 Romsey (Romsey Market, Time: 10:15-12:25pm). I decided to do what Bertie said, and get out of town for a few hours: get back to Romsey where I haven’t been for ages… On arrival at Romsey Market, I said hello to Bertie and his mate, who also has a stall –… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 593
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 593 Thursday July 17th 2014 Winchester (Corner of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 3:20-5:30pm). A very hot day – about 85 in the old measurement, I reckon, and so I’ve donned the summer outfit: stone (light beige) trousers and matching jacket bought from Primark about three years ago, and my white Peter England shirt from Shillong,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 592
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 592 Wednesday July 16th 2014 (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:51-2:51pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3-4:20pm). An amusing incident occurred at the first session. When I started playing, the Pavilion door was wide open but when I looked up after having my head down for not more than a minute, it was shut! I didn’t see… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 591
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 591 Tuesday July 15th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:18-2:18pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:25-3pm). Down at Market Street near Vodafone is Caroline Dexter. I know this because she’s got her name on a case of CDs. She strums and sings – and quite loudly, too – or is it she’s just… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 590
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 590 Sunday July 13th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:38-5:12pm). A mammoth – even marathon – set, down the arse-end. This was mainly because when I came into town, there wasn’t a space anywhere. The order of play from The Butter Cross down: The Butter Cross – Young Sam. The cathedral grounds entrance near Pavilion… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 589
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 589 Saturday July 12th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 12:58-2:58pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:07-3:54pm). Young Sam’s back in town and at his usual Butter Cross residence. In fact, he’s not yet set up as there are 3 people playing across the way. Down at Vodafone is that weirdo John. I have a chat… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 588
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 588 Thursday July 10th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:15-2:49pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:02-3:42pm, 3. Opposite Bellis, Time: 5:52-6:07pm, 4. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 6:15-6:55pm). Unbelievable – the door of Pavilion stayed wide open for 26 minutes! – until California Girls, when The Bitch had obviously had enough. And then, as if in cahoots,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 587
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 587 Wednesday July 9th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite The Body Shop, Time: 1:30-2pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 2:07-3:37pm, 3. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 4-5pm). It got off to a depressing start. Half an hour – that’s all I could take – smack dab in the middle of the High Street, and all I got… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 586
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 586 Sunday July 6th 2014 Basingstoke (1. Location 2: The Malls, Central Square, by red planter, Time: 1-2pm, 2. Location 3: Outside Halifax, Wote Street, Time: 3-4pm). Day 2 of the Basingstoke Busking Festival. On the way to the first spot, I came across one-man band Ian Kimber, playing just inside the entrance to Festival… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 585
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 585 Saturday July 5th 2014 Basingstoke: Basingstoke Busking Festival (1. Location 3: outside Halifax, Wote Street, Time: 11-11:45am, 2. Location 2: The Malls, Central Square by red planter, Time: 12-1:00pm). The day of the Basingstoke Busking Festival. The first spot they’ve got me down for is in the Old Town. A young lady, Jess, is… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 584
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 584 Thursday July 3rd 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:30-6:10pm). As I was walking the bike up the road, a tall, young guy with a guitar passed me. Ten minutes later, I’ve sat down, tuned up and about to start, when I hear someone singing that bloody awful Adele song, and it’s that guy, about… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 583
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 583 Wednesday July 2nd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 2:30-3:25pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:35-5:45pm). Another fine, sunny day…but I’m offended, yet again. This time, by that rough old ex-whore (because I’m sure she was one). During The Third Man, she comes out from the cathedral grounds, accompanied by two Drongos, and… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 582
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 582 Tuesday July 1st 2014 Winchester (Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:56-3:06pm). Another slow start: 4 songs before any coinage, and then some idiot pulls up in a car right in front of me! He gets out, opens the back – it’s a hatchback, as we used to say in the old country – and goes off… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 581
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 581 Sunday June 29th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 12:45-1:19pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:25-2:35pm, 3. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:43-3:29pm). I knew – or I suspected – there was something weird about Mandolin John, and now I’m sure. I turned up at the spot and he was a few feet away and was packing… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 580
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 580 Friday June 27th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:05-5:05pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:30-6:30pm). The reason I came in late was because I got a call from Ollie’s mother saying he’d have to cancel the lesson at 4 o’clock due to him cutting his finger, slicing an avocado. Anyway, the first person I… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 579
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 579 Wednesday June 25th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite The Body Shop, Time: 1:42-2:42pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:09-4:39pm). I don’t want the ice-cream vendor bloke outside Vodafone to get fed up with me, so I set up a bit further up…and it goes slow. It’s around the 7th song before any coinage, so I was… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 578
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 578 Tuesday June 24th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:35-2:27pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:33-3:21pm). Young Sam, who I haven’t seen for ages, has set up camp at – in fact on – The Butter Cross. As usual he’s on a break! Down at the crossroads, there’s a long-haired (actually meduim-haired) youth,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 577
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 577 Sunday June 22nd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 12:55-1:55pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:09-4:29pm). The door of Pavilion is open wide and that dark-haired miserable bitch doesn’t seem to be there today, so I reckon they’ll keep the door open. Things go OK for almost 45 minutes…a man sitting with his wife and… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 576
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 576 Thursday June 19th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:38-6:23pm). Since I got my new bike, I’ve been thinking about strapping the amp on the back and coming into town. The amp fits pretty well on the rack and there’s an elastic rope which stops it from falling off. I reckon I can put the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 575
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 575 Wednesday June 18th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:35-6:02pm). A late start, as I’m trying to finish that bloody painting in time for Clare’s birthday next week. An offensive moment near the end of Here Comes The Sun. Two women and a small boy turned the corner just to my right. One of the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 574
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 574 Tuesday June 17th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 12:38-1:58pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:25-3:10pm). I’ve only been playing a minute when one of the old lady regulars (OLR) appears and asks me where I’ve been lately. I say I haven’t been anywhere, I’ve been here: we must have just kept missing each other.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 573
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 573 Saturday June 14th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:25-3:40pm, 2. Corner of Monsoon, Market Street, Time: 3:47-4:52pm, 3. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 5:04-5:37pm). A ‘note’ worthy day, in that for each session, amongst the usual donations of coinage, there was a £5 note. For the first session it came from a young… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 572
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 572 Friday June 13th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:55-3:10pm). Only one session today, due to the lesson at 4 o’clock. Song Of The Day – Here Comes The Sun, once again. One of it’s contributors was a man who gave £3. He was one of the dads of someone Jude went to school with… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 571
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 571 Thursday June 12th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 3:41-4:50pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 5:10-6:05pm). I start off with Siboney, a rather unusual starter but what the hell! I then do a bit of Puff The Magic Dragon, which I did a youtube recording of a couple of hours earlier on the Sigma twelve-string,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 570
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 570 Wednesday June 11th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 1:10-2:25pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 2:45-4:15pm, 3. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:25-5:05pm). I saw Delia for the first time in awhile, and I think it was the first time I’ve seen her hair, as she wasn’t wearing that scarf she’s always got. Her hair’s… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 569
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 569 Saturday June 7th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 1:15-3:35pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 4:38-6:23pm). Another day of fine weather and – weirdly for a Saturday afternoon – no one at The Butter Cross. Sod it, I’m going to take advantage! So, who turns up after not even 10 minutes, but Rick Tarrant. I… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 568
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 568 Friday June 6th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:48-2:06pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:14-3:35pm). I’d spotted Rob’s stuff in front of The Butter Cross when I came into town this morning, so I knew he’d be holed up there for a few hours…and sure enough, a few hours later he was… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 567
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 567 Wednesday June 5th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:21-5:22pm). First day back after a week off. An old couple contribute and the man asks about my amp: what does it run on. ‘Six double-A batteries’, I say. He asks how long they last. ‘Twenty-four hours’, I say. ‘That’s a big stint!’, the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 566
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 566 Thursday May 29th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite River Island, Time: 1:20-2:25pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:30-2:55pm). Just as I’m coming into town, it starts raining and the only place I can set up is at the Vodafone end of The Pentice, right near Big Issue Monica…and things were slow. That friendly foreign nanny and… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 565
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 565 Wednesday May 28th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:30-4:25pm). An overcast sky which started to lightly drizzle as I was coming into the High Street – typical! At The Butter Cross, there were two young guys: one strumming, one banging on a box. Halfway down to Vodafone, it’s Syd/Sid with his flute,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 564
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 564 Tuesday May 27th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: approximately one hour 25 minutes, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: one and a half hours. Exact times not recorded) I had two proper paying gigs – last Tuesday and Saturday, so I didn’t bother coming into town for over a week. In fact, I was a… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 563
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 563 Sunday May 18th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 3:17-4:47pm, 2. Opposite River Island, Time: 4:54-5:36pm). Not one donation for 28 minutes. In fact, I was just about to pack up, thinking half an hour’s long enough to put up with this rubbish, when a kid donated, followed by an adult then another one.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 562
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 562 Saturday May 17th 2014 Ringwood (1. Opposite Tansy’s cafe, Time: 3:30-4pm, 2. Outside Sainsbury’s, Time: 4:10-4:45pm). An out of town appearance: a rare event in my old age, being 52 today. This is The Fanfare For Spring that that woman came up to me about awhile back, when I was at Gieves & Hawkes.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 561
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 561 Thursday May 15th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:25-4:05pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:25-5:40pm). Fact is stranger than fiction…during the 1st set, an old couple came up and said ‘So did you ever get the £10,000 from that Mrs. Hurst?’*, which threw me for a minute – I thought ‘What? – £10,000?’ So… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 560
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 560 Wednesday May 4th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:40-3:30pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:40-4:10pm, 3. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:17-5:23pm). A sunny day…but people are still mean! I saw Delia for the first time in awhile, on her way to the bus. She’s got a problem with her ear. Some wax needs… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 559
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 559 Tuesday May 13th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis, Time: 1:20-2:25pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:30-3:15pm). I get the first of two related comments. Those of the ‘you’re wasted here’ variety. The first, from an Irish lady wearing those big black cataract glasses. She was sitting over the road for a bit, then she comes… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 558
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 558 Friday May 9th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 12:13-1:14pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 1:37-2:42pm). …and there he is again – Marcus!, near The Butter Cross. I can see he’s got his First World War uniform, but today he’s got his matching khaki cap. He must have read my mind because the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 557
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 557 Wednesday May 7th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Santander, Time: 1:55-2:25pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:33-4:03pm). Just after I leave the house, it starts raining – just a bit, so I was thinking – or hoping, that maybe The Pentice is free…unfortunately Mandolin John’s there, and down at Vodafone, one of the market stalls has… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 556
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 556 Monday May 5th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 12:53-1:53pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 1:58-3:38pm). As I was walking in, I bought a Big Issue off Simon outside Barclays, and found out the name of the whistle ‘busker’/homeless bloke – who’s everywhere these days: Sid. A slow first set, coinage-wise, although there’s plenty of… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 555
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 555 Saturday May 3rd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:15-1pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:15-3pm, 3. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:33-4:03pm, 4. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:07-5:07pm). I was just about to get going at Gieves & Hawkes – all tuned up and everything, when my ears were assailed by that bloody rockabilly lot,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 554
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 554 Friday May 2nd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 12-12:45pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 12:57-2:42pm). A grey day – or at least that’s how it started – and I wasn’t in a very good mood, which was why I got into a bit of a fix just after I started at the first place.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 553
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 553 Wednesday April 30th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:25-2:42pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:54-5pm). Rob’s back in town, at The Butter Cross, and the homeless bloke with the whistle’s down at Vodafone – what’s going on here, he’s taking all my spots! Half an hour in, Rob and his missus come… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 552
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 552 Tuesday April 29th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 1:20-2pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:10-2:20pm). There’s a guy with a guitar and P.A. speakers at The Butter Cross…and the homeless guy with the whistle down at Vodafone. While I’m standing around the corner from him, Ernie, who made the staddle stone thing a few… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 551
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 551 Sunday April 27th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:37-3:37pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:05-5:20pm). I had exactly one hour before it started to rain, which was long enough to get rid of a CD – a £9 one, no less – to my biggest fan: Charlie, around 10 years young. He was out… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 550
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 550 Saturday April 26th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:55-2:55pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:05-5:25pm). Some bloke’s banging out Layla at The Butter Cross, there’s a load of Morris so-called ‘dancers’ outside the cathedral grounds entrance near Pavilion, so it’s down the road I go…and it’s really slow, which is unusual: folks… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 549
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 549 Thursday April 24th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:21-3:06pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:10-4:20pm, 3. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 4:48-5:10pm, 4. Opposite Bellis, Time: 5:15-6:05pm). Started off with 45 minutes on the High Street, resulting in less than £4. I left in a hurry and in disgust! People are so mean, etc…… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 548
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 548 Wednesday April 23rd 2014 Winchester (opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:50-3:35pm). A miserable day, weather-wise: completely grey sky with drizzle. It wasn’t too bad when I went in but it gradually got worse. One good thing, though, I debut a new song – California Girls, which I learnt last night. Actually, I only wanted to figure… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 547
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 547 Monday April 21st 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 2:18-3:18pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:33-4:35pm). A really good start: I get a £5 note during the first song – Albatross, from a tall old guy sitting outside The Eclipse, who actually walked up…then walked back. I’m always impressed by that. Full marks for effort.… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 546
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 546 Thursday April 17th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 11:53-12:38pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 12:50-2:20pm, 3. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 2:47-3:53pm). There’s a guy about my age (too old for a pony-tail, anyway) who’s been at The Butter Cross for hours. He was there this morning at 9:30…and there’s the two young strummers,… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 545
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 545 Tuesday April 15th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 3:22-4:08pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:22-5:07pm, 3. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5:12-5:42pm). I set up, started Albatross, looked to my right and there was Kai and his violin!, just in front of the cathedral grounds entrance. He wasn’t playing – he was talking to… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 544
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 544 Monday April 14th 2014 (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 4:30-5:05pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 5:12-5:40pm, 3. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 5L45-6:16pm). Thinking about it, I don’t usually come in on Mondays, but what the hell. Opposite The Butter Cross, there’s a man playing a whistle or flute, so that’s out, and there are a… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 543
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 543 Sunday April 30th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 1:58-2:58pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 3:02-4:32pm). An hour for the first set. The bells went on for the first 20 minutes, behind me, then they stopped, then started up again at the end, so that ruled out setting up down the road, as they’re twice… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 542
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 542 Saturday April 12th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 1:30-2:30pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 2:40-3:05pm, 3. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 3:15-4:50pm). Andrew Rutter came up to say the folks at the Laura Ashley shop, which is in some of the drawings he showed me, were so pleased about one of them, they want… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 541
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 541 Friday April 11th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:13-2:18pm, 2. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 2:25-3:55pm, 3. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:45-5:08pm, 4. Opposite Bellis/O2, Time: 5:12-5:44pm). There it is again – the bloody big brown UPS van, in my spot! I’ve worked out what goes on. The driver parks there because it’s the… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 540
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 540 Thursday April 10th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:15-4:18pm). Another try at recording some songs. Today it’s Ne Me Quitte Pas, Chinatown, Yellow Bird, Wheels (twice), and Twelve-String Shuffle. Wheels twice, as the first one was aborted halfway through, when a woman donated and then started a conversation about Yellow Bird – the song… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 539
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 539 Wednesday April 9th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 2:15-2:47pm, 2. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 2:55-3:59pm, 3. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 4:32-5:32pm). There’s yet another person banging out Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door at The Butter Cross – they all do that one! – and those two ukelele girls are at down Vodafone – one’s… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 538
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 538 Saturday April 5th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 3:39-4:50pm). It’s been drizzling all day, but what the hell: if I can get the spot in The Pentice, I can do it… but I don’t want to overdo it as I did three hours yesterday and three the day before, actually more than three in… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 537
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 537 Friday April 4th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 1:30-2:06pm, 2:13-3:15pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:07-5:30pm). I set up opposite Pavillion, which I can’t see because there’s that big brown UPS delivery van parked in front of me. I see this van all the time, and the guy who drives it who has a… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 536
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 536 Thursday April 3rd 2014 Chichester (1. In front of HSBC bank, The Cross, Time: 11:38-1:08pm, 2. Opposite Next, Time: 1:40-2:50pm, 3. Opposite HSBC bank, Time: 3:17-4:05pm). The blonde woman’s here today at her mobile stall of phone covers and cheap jewellery, and there’s a burger stall manned between a man and a young fat… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 535
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 535 Wednesday April 2nd 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 2:01-4:02pm). Guy and part of his franchise are at The Butter Cross on a break…around the corner there are two vans in front of the craft shop…down the road and turn the corner and I can hear someone at the Vodafone spot, and when I walk… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 534
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 534 Tuesday April 1st 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 1:05-3:05pm) While I’m setting up, I see that foreign nanny sitting across the way with the little girl, Ariadne, in one of those old-fashioned looking prams that are very high. Very expensive, I reckon. Before I start, I try and mentally prepare myself for a bad… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 533
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 533 Monday March 31st 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:27-2:45pm, 2. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 2:49-3:12pm). Mandolin John’s at The Butter Cross, shouting and strumming away. I’m going to have to stop calling him that – it’s the guitar all the time, now…no, sod it, I’m going to keep calling him Mandolin John. It’s pretty dead… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 532
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 532 Saturday March 29th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 12:55-2:36pm, 2. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 3:25-5:05pm). It’s a Saturday, so that means Rick’s here – at his usual place, and there’s loads of people sitting down outside, as it’s a sunny – even warm day, for once. Rick’s a nice guy – he… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 531
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 531 Friday March 28th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 1:45-2:55pm). Just a short session before the lesson at 4 o’clock. Session before the lesson – ha! And I think it’s going to be slow one, as I got nothing for the first song…but then it’s Here Comes The Sun and a £2 coin followed by… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 530
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 530 Thursday March 27th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Bellis/O2, Time: 2:40-3:20pm, 2. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 3:25-4:35pm). One of my old lady regulars drops by and say she thought I’d died (makes a change from me thinking THEY’VE died), as she hadn’t seen me – ‘So you’re still in the land of the living’. I say… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 529
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 529 Wednesday March 26th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Gieves & Hawkes, Time: 1:30-2:55pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:13-5:18pm). Approaching The Butter Cross, I see Mandolin John’s there with guitar, so I take one of the side streets, and another one and come out near the craft shop, which is where I wanted to set up… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 528
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 528 Sunday March 23rd 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, The Square, Time: 1:48-2:20pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 2:44-2:58pm, 3. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 3:00-3:37pm). Coming in, I said hello to Rick, who’s facing The Butter Cross, and is, as usual, playing so quietly, I can’t ever make out what song he’s doing! We discuss the recent… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 527
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 527 Saturday March 20th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, The Square, Time: 2:22-3:42pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 4:37-5:49pm). A cold day…but then March is usually pretty cold, I suppose. Just after I start, a woman leaves her two kids in a buggy facing me, while she goes in the craft shop. She says to them… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 526
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 526 Thursday March 20th 2014 Chichester (The Cross, Time: 11:36am-1:37pm, 3:00-3:55pm). I thought I’d better come back here before my two month permit runs out. The last one I had, I never even used! …and I need to get out of Winchester, being a travellin’/wanderin’ minstrel and all that. Unfortunately, it’s rather cold and windy… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 525
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 525 Wednesday March 19th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 2:25-3:12pm, 2. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:26-4:15pm). As I was walking about trying to work out where to set up, I bumped into Mr. Lacy, who’s 60th I played at a couple of years ago (by expert deduction, I reckon he’s around 62 now), and he… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 524
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 524 Tuesday March 18th 2014 Winchester (Opposite Bellis, Time: 12:58-2:29pm). Another slow start – five songs before any coinage, and then it’s all at once: four donations and a CD sale – Can’t Help Falling In Love was the one that did it, thereby making it Song Of The Day. I’ve seen these groups of schoolkids… Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 523
TweetDiary Of A Busker Day 523 Sunday March 16th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Pavillion, Time: 1:20-2:50pm, 2. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 3:02-3:32pm, 3. Opposite Oxfam, Time: 3:37-4:09pm). The warmest day yet. I even swapped the corduroy coat for the light-coloured – or ‘stone’, as it says on the label inside – Primark summer jacket. But it’s another S L … Read more →
Diary Of A Busker Day 215
TweetTuesday March 27th 2012 Winchester High Street 1. Opposite Vodafone, Time: 1:40-3:58pm, 2. Opposite Bellis, Time: 4:45-6:02pm A day of perfect temperature; not too cold, not too warm. In fact, if it’s too warm, my fat fingers swell up, making it impossible to play! Someone I haven’t seen for awhile, George, who used to promise he’d get me ‘loads of… Read more →