Hello,
I thought I'd share my experience of how useful busking can be to get yourself noticed and to pass on some advice. The acoustic Americana trio I sing and play dobro and guitar with have done a little busking in local towns over the past few months. Aside from making some "guitar string" money (around £30 an hour) it can be very useful for getting noticed. We have been approached by several people prepared to pay us substantial sums to play at their forthcoming wedding, asked where we're playing our next gig and best of all, approached by a music promoter and host of a local radio program. She wanted us to play a session on her radio show and appear at the festival she organises. This is just from hearing us as she was walking past in the street.
It's also a useful mechanism to road test songs to see if they work before including them in a live repertoire.
Based on my limited experience, here's my advice to buskers:
Rehearse thoroughly before you get out there. Don't treat busking as a rehearsal.
Keep the material uptempo, catchy and sing out.
Choose 5 or 6 of your best songs and repeat them "on a loop".
Choose your spot carefully. Opposite a large building is great for reflecting the sound and make sure plenty of people are passing.
Include your own original material if possible and don't sing the same old songs that everyone knows.
The best time to busk is a Saturday. People who work in the business are out shopping with their families and not at work.
Choose towns that are cultural hubs, not backwaters and keep going back if interest is high.
I hope this is useful to somebody.
Alan
