Diary Of A Busker Day 2522 Sunday April 6th 2025 Winchester.
Late Sunday morning and it’s a full house. Rob’s at the top spot, of course. He was in Salisbury yesterday and it wasn’t very good. I haven’t been there in ages…I must go back but the problem is I never make anything there, which is a shame as I quite like the place. Oh well, maybe I’ll go back soon. There are two blokes either setting up or tearing down in The Square. I say ‘You’re either setting up or tearing down.’ They’re setting up so it’s ME who’s tearing down – tearing down Market Street, that is, to have a look at the crossroads…and Meeta’s there, which means I’m back down the arse end and amongst the market stalls.
It’s getting warmer but still quite chilly in the shade, especially after an hour and a quarter, which is all I can take until the fingers get too cold. I’m directly facing a couple in their stall (who are sitting down and directly facing ME!) and they’re both expressionless throughout the set, until I start the last number, James Bond, then the woman smiles and gives me the thumbs-up. Now, initially I think this is because she knows it’s my last number and has had enough, but that’s impossible unless she can read my mind. I think this is pretty unlikely so decide it’s because she approves, which is fine. The coinage, about £17, isn’t very good so I’ll go home and return later…
…and I picked the right time to come back because the blokes in The Square are now packing up, so at the same time, I’m SETTING up beside them. Of the two, one seems more friendly. His name’s Jose, and he’s packing away a very nice and VERY expensive looking Spanish guitar. They’ve come up from Southampton which prompts me to relate my experiences busking there when I started out almost 15 years ago. They’re still packing up when I start the first song, La Vie En Rose, but are gone after a verse of the second one, Albatross.
Fortunately, there are a number of children about – always good for coinage as they ALL want to contribute but have no money of their own so they hassle mummy and daddy for some, and 9 times out of 10, they get it…then it’s ME who gets it. One father has his three children in tow. A boy of about 10 and two daughters a few years younger. The girls have just had their faces painted and have small unicorn horns sticking out of their foreheads. The youngest says something to me that sounds like ‘Have you seen my mummy?’ So I repeat the question back at her but I’ve got it wrong, she’s saying ‘Can you play Mamma Mia?’ ‘Umm…sorry, no I don’t do that one.’
For a few minutes, the boy stands in front of me, watching. At the end of whatever I was playing I strike up a conversation.
‘Do you like the guitar?’
‘Yes…I’ve got a guitar.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, the same shape as yours. It’s an electric guitar.’
‘Really? What kind is it?’
‘Umm…I don’t know…I’ll ask my dad’ and he walks to the road where his dad is, then returns.
‘It’s a Yamaha.’
‘Really? Oh, they’re pretty good. You’ve got a nice guitar, then.’
‘Yeah, and I’ve got an amp, too.’
‘Right, well you’re all set…that’s really good.’
‘It’s a Blackstar.’
‘You’ve got a Yamaha guitar and a Blackstar amplifier?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Wow, that’s all good stuff.’
It’s Sunday, so the museum has put out the bucket of coloured chalk for the children and during my conversation with this boy, his sisters have been chalking different coloured stars, you know how children do them, with five lines crossing. I carry on playing and the boy gets some white chalk and starts drawing my guitar a few feet in front of me. ‘That’s very good’ I say when he’s finished it. He then starts drawing ME – ‘Oh, you don’t want to do that!’ but he carries on, giving me a big round head and dotting in my white beard – ‘Well, you’ve got the right bit of chalk for my beard, haven’t you?’ he then asks if I can play Here Comes The Sun and while I’m doing that, he draws a sun at the top, then four stick people with “clap” next to them, which I think is really funny. Then he does “da da da da da da da” in a long blurb coming out of my mouth, has a think…then “da da da da da da” in a blurb coming out of the guitar!
After Here Comes The Sun, I say ‘I’ve got to take a photo of that, it’s great. You should write “Marvin by whatever your name is” but he ignores me so I say ‘You know, your drawing will be there for as long as it doesn’t rain. It might be there for a week or even more’ then I start up The Third Man and while I’m playing, I’m thinking I should ask this boy if he can video me and also his drawing…but after looking down at the guitar (the real one, not the drawing) when I look up again, the family are gone. That’s my problem. I spend too much time thinking and not just getting on and doing the bloody thing! Anyway, the coinage was a better hourly rate so it was worth coming back in AND I’ve been immortalised in chalk. For a few days, anyway.