Mull of Kintyre in need of some paint and a hand Aug. 21, 2007

On my way to the Mull of Kintyre Cradle of The Nation music festival, I picked up two hitchikers on the road aside Loch Lomond.

Australians, Mark had been in the country some while and was now showing his big sister the ropes. Guitar over the shoulder. Mark spoke of busking and which town and cities fared the better as far as he was concerned. Bournemouth had told him to leave! Exeter and beautiful Oxford loved buskers.

I looked up definitions of buskers and found this on
http://www.vocalist.org.uk/busking.html

“Buskers and Busking have received a lot of attention in the media recently due to the recent licencing trial on the London Underground Railway. We have received several queries and the following article aims to answer the most frequently asked questions on the subject and there are some excellent dedicated sites for buskers available on the internet which are listed at the end of this article.

The term ‘Busk’ means to play music or sing in a public place so that the people who are there will give money (Cambridge Dictionary). “Busker” means ‘itinerant musician or actor’ although nowadays it is used to describe any form of street performer. Buskers are also referred to as travelling musicians, street musicians, sidewalk musicians, subway musicians, minstrels or bards.

Busking is a time honored tradition going back to medieval times when wandering minstrels and bards travelled from place to place and acted not only as entertainers but also as news reporters and message bearers. The term ‘Sing for your Supper’ probably originated from around that era, when it was common practice for inns and stall holders to pay the busker with a meal and/or a bed for the night instead of money.

A performer can be any age or standard, although in the western world there are laws that restrict or limit any form of employment for children under the age of 18. A ‘Busker’ is now defined as any form of entertainer including (but not limited to!) solo singers or musicians, one man bands with multiple instruments, carollers, duos, trios, bands, magicians, clowns, balloon artists…... Likely venues to see buskers (or find a pitch) include parks, fairs, fetes, subways, train stations, bus depots, shopping centers, street corners or any open space where there are enough passers by to hope for an interested reception and possible donation into the hat. There are even dedicated Busking Competitions, Festivals & Events!

In the last few years it has become more regulated with many countries local authorities requiring performers to apply for a license to publicly entertain on designated ‘pitches’. Favourite areas for buskers in the UK include major towns and underground stations where a high amount of walking tourists and travellers may be persuaded to stop and drop a few coins into the collection.

The standard of performer varies considerably from the enthusiastic amateur to concert virtuoso. How much a singer or musician can make busking depends on several factors including, musical style, proficiency, image, location, weather and time of day! The variables may differ from country to country, but generally, people are more likely to part with their cash if the busker is reasonably presented and plays with a modicum of competance. Covers of popular songs may gain more financial reward, but…

When music is played in public the owner of the copyright is entitled, by law, to payment from the music user. The Performing Right Society is an organisation that collects and distributes this money (known as ‘royalties’) to it’s members – the owner of the copyright (usually the composer or their publisher). This means that buskers who perform cover versions of popular songs are required to pay royalties to PRS, but on the up side, if you are performing your own original works and are a member of PRS you may be entitled to receive royalties! (Information courtesy of Performing Right Society).”

Meanwhile in Campbelltown capital of Kintyre, Mark drew a small crowd outside the boarded up bakery singing all his own songs. Although as one car of lads kept driving past yelling for “Oasis” so Mark obliged with the first few notes of “Wonderwall” then broke back into his own songs.

Although there was to be a festival that weekend, the Mulls of Kintyre didn’t seem to know how to react to a singer opening up in front of them without rehearsal, appointment, commentary.

I eventually dropped the travelling duo off at the ferry to Ireland, where they were to go in search of “the sessions” in County Clare. “The Scots” afterall had originally arrived from Ireland in the 6th Century, landing here in Kintyre – so it seemed only right our wandering minstrels took the return journey in search of the epicentre of the Scots arousal.

As I prepare for showing “Scenes From A British Summer Country Pop Music Festival”, at 10 major museums in the UK, I am on the look out for 50 buskers a time to play each venue, surrounded by all the photographs and an audience assured.