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| SELF AND MOHAMMAD BUSKING IN MARRAKESH |
SELF-ACTUALIZATION, in my circles, is always about Abraham Maslow’s HIERARCHY OF NEEDS, a theory of human motivation. Maslow, an American psychologist, presented a pyramid of needs for personal growth, the foundation being the physiological need of shelter, food, and water, and the peak being the self-actualized achievement of self-fulfillment. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theoretical psychological assessment tool to measure what motivates human behavior. But this is a blog about the psychology of busking, and therefore, I have modified Maslow’s theory to create a singer-songwriter performance pyramid of needs.
And so, to achieve SELF-ACTUALIZATION as a singer-songwriting
busker, there are three stages (pun intended) to my Maslow modified HIERARCHY
OF NEEDS on the continuum to achieve this: GIGS (the beginning), OPEN MICS
(the middle), BUSKING (actualized end). The first stages, Gigs and Open Mics,
are the essential platforms to achieve singer-songwriter self-actualization. Hmmm and indeed. Regarding the eddy of entertainment industry,
in the public eye the group think is that gigs are of the highest achievement, while
those of us who are still out busking can be bracketed as undiscovered beggars
with guitars. In my experiences just the
reverse is true. Over the last couple decades, I do know (for me) that gigging
is straight forward and facile, whereas busking is strenuous and grinding.
- GIGS
Anybody who can strum and carry a tune can
(eventually) get a gig. To get a gig one
needs only to establish a likeable stage presence, while having the singing
chops and strumming skills necessary for a stage strut. Wannabee giggers may have to get their start strumming
and singing at birthday parties and retirement communities, and getting bigger
gigs, is simply a matter of practice, practice, practice and getting out there
more, more, and more. It is a simple formula.
The better you get the more opportunities you get.
I have had paid gigs fundraising dinners, garden
parties, and bars. (Factoid: I
have never done a birthday party.) Of these example venues, bars are the
best! There is a bar in my city, the
BUSHWAKKER BREWPUB, where I have performed four times a year for the last ten
years. Singing original songs on the
Bushwakker stage is always a privilege and always a load of fun! Bushwakker Wednesday nights are “folk”
nights, and for the most part, on Wednesdays the place is packed with the “folksters.”
To keep such a gig going on a regular basis, I have
not been complacent. Once I have the playlist
practiced next to perfection, my actual ninety-minute performance, including
the introductory and in-between song and closing banter have become a rather
perfunctory production.
Those patrons who are there for the folk songs try to seat
themselves as close to the stage as possible.
Other patrons, who happen to be like incidental tourists, who are there for
the delicious cuisine and the craft beers, can be seated near and far and
everywhere between.
This Bushwakker bar crowd is never threatening. On stage I conscientiously appeal directly to
those sipping right ‘neath the stage, while sometimes acknowledging those
amongst the steady drone and murmurings in the backdrop.
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| THE FLOWER STREET CAFE $125 PER PLATE FUNDRAISER DINNER GIG |
- OPEN MICS
Open mics offer much more angst than paid gigs. Performing at open mics takes a Shure load (pun intended) of confidence. At an open mic the crowd is always raucously supportive,
while taking close heed to the performers.
I say raucously because oftentimes there is standing room only at
my favorite open mic haunt, THE CURE, in downtown Regina. Every member of that raucous Cure crowd will
clap and cheer for every performer no matter the quality of the material being delivered
from the stage. An open mic is the
perfect place for performers to experiment with new material for an empathic
and very friendly audience.
THE CURE offers OPEN MIC night every Monday evening
from 8:00 – 10:00 p.m., and I am one of the regular performers. The Cure Open Mic
is a mixture of musicians and stand-up comedians. All potential performers vying for the stage put their name
into one of three hats, the musicians’ hat, the stand-up comedy hat, and the
miscellaneous and overflow hat. I always
arrive early and almost always get to perform in the first batch of musicians. Musicians are allowed two songs; stand-up
comedians are allowed three to five minutes.
At The Cure (and every place elsewhere actually) I am
known for thrumming only original songs. Sometimes at The Cure open mic, I bring my
banjo and frail traditional American folk ballads, Tom Dooley and Worried
Man Blues, being two examples.
Not-so-strangely, the musicians tend to visit other
musicians, the comedians tend to visit other comedians during those open mic
evenings. I have been going to The Cure
long enough now to be recognized and engage in phatic chat with lots the
regular performers of musicians and stand-ups.
Over time at The Cure open mics, we have all become familiar strangers,
so to speak. And sometimes these open mic familiar strangers even become gig-mates, Abbey and Jay (pictured below), being just two current examples.
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| ABBEY AT THE CURE OPEN MIC |
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| JAY AT THE CURE OPEN MIC |
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| TROY AT THE CURE OPEN MIC |
- BUSKING
Once a performer can manage gigs and survive open mics,
that same performer could now be ready for the ultimate challenge, BUSKING. There is nothing quite like wandering with
purpose into an unfamiliar setting to strum and sing for an unpredictable
passer-by crowd. When on a busk, every
person who walks by is a wild card. I
repeat: Every person who walks by is a
wild card.
Over the years I have had people yell in my face in derogatory
fashion. Over the years I have had
people philosophically challenge me on my purpose in life and practically
command me to get a real job. Over the
years I have had people try to steal money from my open guitar case. Over the years I have had merchants shoo me
away. And just one time, over the years,
I had a guy take a swing at me.
Busking is not for the meek. Busking is for the brave.
Lastly, over the years I have met many, many people
over many, many performances. Some of
whom I have met, are regulars, when I am booked into a gig at the Bushwakker Brewpub for
example. At The Cure open mic, I am
among a friendly and supportive community of musicians and stand-ups, who over
time become familiar strangers and even, future gig-mates. (My last gig at The Cure I recruited three
singer-songwriters who were regulars at The Cure Open Mic, and the person that I
chose to run the door, was a regular Cure Open Mic hip-hop performer.) Busking, especially in Regina because I tend
to play the same three haunts of Value Village, Italian Star Deli, and Shoppers
on Broad, I have repeat customers at the front door of each of these venues.
Paid gigs usually last a couple hours, and now for my
security blanket, I attach a Samsung tablet to my microphone stand. This tablet has my entire playlist of original
songs, complete with the lyrics and chords, literally at my fingertips. (I do believe my inconspicuous tablet has
enhanced the quality of my performance. I know longer play my original songs seemingly
at random, or in a manner for which I cannot always remember.)
At an open mic it is relatively simple to memorize
just the two songs allowed. And I must
confess, that putting in the time and practice to focus on just two songs for
the week, has really improved my stage delivery of those songs. The quality and personal value of presenting
two songs and then another two songs and then another two songs, one week at a
time at an open mic every Monday night for a year cannot be ignored.
Weather is the only real enemy of busking. Gigs and open mics typically take place in a
temperature-controlled environment, whereas busking always take place in a
never-controlled environment. I am a
fair- weather busker – I am not a brutto tempo busker! Never do I busk in cold
or windy weather. I do sometimes busk in
wet weather, but only with my metal pot six-string banjo.
When my world is windless and the rays of the sun are shining brightly upon me, while I am thrumming and humming in a fresh destination standing in front of my guitar case brimming with the bread and honey of paper bills and golden coins, I do feel as though I am a self-actualized human being.
Hmmm …
I must mention that even among fellow guitarists and
singer-songwriters, performing at gigs and open mics is a normative behavior,
but busking is truly idiosyncratic. And not-so-strangely then, these
beautiful but very brief busking hours of my busking delusional brilliance
are the result of years and years of gigs and open mics.
My nidus for the love of busking began on the stages
of gigs and open mics, and I will continue to perform on these stages in order
to foster the quality of my busking for today and for tomorrow, too.
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| SELF BUSKING AT THANKSGIVING |
