Day 11: Forgotten parts and Rick Rolling

Today, I went out at about 11:45 to catch the lunch rush, which was a good idea, as I made about $35 in just over two hours. However, in my rush to leave, I forgot my demo CDs that I was planning to hand out, as well as my capo, which is essential to playing certain songs. I rearranged some of those to work without the capo, which worked on some (for example, "The Only Exception," by Paramore, which fit much better into my vocal range with my on-the-spot alterations), and less so on others (Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," which stuttered and didn't work at all).

Today, I used my platform as a busker to execute something of a prank on unsuspecting passers-by. Rick Astley's song, "Never Gonna Give You Up," has become an internet phenomenon, by way of something called "Rick Rolling." Urban Dictionary defines Rick Rolling as the following:

"A method in which a prankster makes a fake link to the music video of Rick Astley's Never going to give you up. To be rick rolled is to be the victim, rick rolling is the act of being the predator. The prank is considered funny because of the horrible dancing in this music video. Sometimes the bar tender is seen to be funnier. Over one million people have been rick rolled and counting."

I engaged in a variation of the prank, in which I sang the song (while dancing just a little). Most people seemed not to notice, but a kid my age and his girlfriend both fell off their seats at Au Bon Pain when I began singing the first verse.

Day 10: Make Music Harvard Square!

Today, me and my brother Andy (as the band Mimic the French, myspace.com/mimicthefrench) played in Harvard Square in the street festival Make Music Harvard Square. The festival is modeled on the Fete de la Musique which originated in France, and this is the third year it has been organized here (though the last two years were under a different name, Make Music Cambridge), and the third year we have participated. Our music was far louder and more raucous than my busking typically is, and Andy was using our homemade, buckets and pans drumset, which got some stares. We were given about $20 by passers by, $5 from a woman who insisted on paying us for the demo CDs we were giving out free.

We had a great time, and I think we got some people to listen to music they might not normally gravitate towards - the middle age women who stopped to listen probably are not huge fans of My Chemical Romance or Avenged Sevenfold.

Day 9: It's a beautiful rain...

Yesterday, I played in front of Au Bon Pain for about two and a half hours. It was a perfect day - overcast, warm but not too hot, and mostly dry. I say mostly, because around 4:45 (just over 2 hours after I started playing), it started drizzling. I continued to play, as I was having quite a bit of fun, and there wasn't too much rain, but after a while, it got heavier, and I stopped after finishing a version of Bush's "Alien" (which includes the line I used for the title). I met several other musicians who stopped to say hello, but overall, had very few of my "interesting moments."

I made about $30, which was a pretty good sum, given the soggy weather at the end. In any case, I look forward to playing more as school wraps up.

Day 8: Harvard graduation and shirtless men

I'm a bit late (more than a week) on this one - I've been very busy writing some end-of-semester papers and recording a set of demos.

Last week, I played in the Pit during one part of Harvard's graduation ceremonies. The money wasn't great, and I got a terrible sunburn, but I had lots of fun. I played, for the first time in public, my version of the song "Falling Slowly," from the movie "Once," and, though I forgot the second verse momentarily, I got a generally positive reaction from passers-by. The song has a very high note in the chorus, which I can only hit if I shift to more of a scream, but I made it work.

A crazy, shirtless guy came by just after I started playing and got in my face, trying to get me to sing and play louder, despite the fact that I was playing an original song that has to be quiet to get the full effect. He then proceeded (once I had gotten a little louder than I would have liked) to encourage people to give me money, and later sang with me on a cover of "Use Somebody," by Kings of Leon.

Overall, it was a good time, but I need to use more sunscreen.

Day 7: Guest stars and such

Today, my busking was not particularly profitable (just $15 in about two and a half hours), but it was one of the more fun times I've had. My friend Julian of the band Nervous Breakdown came by and sang a few covers with me. I must have been more in-key than usual, because several people complimented me on my singing (usually it's, "you're a pretty good guitarist, but the singing....not so much"). I attribute the lack of monetary contributions to the stiff competition I was up against. Sundays are usually pretty tough, because that's when more musicians come out, and today, they were all playing extremely well. It's days like today when I wish I could arrange a jam session with all of my fellow Harvard Square musicians...

I had to stop in the middle of songs twice today to let the Harvard tour guides do their introductions (I don't like having to compete with them for top volume).

Day 6: TV, but not much money

I'm a bit late on getting this entry written - I've been working on this remix: .

Yesterday, I was filmed by my school's TV station (of which I'm an employee) while busking, as the closing act for this week's episode of Youth View Cambridge. I played a cover of 30 Seconds to Mars' "Alibi," and I'll post a link once we get it online.

Sadly, the filming was pretty much the only interesting thing that happened yesterday. I made only about $15 over two long hours - this may have to do with the homeless woman standing near me, smoking. I've discovered that when people are smoking near me, my profits go down, as people are less likely to stop and listen. The same woman also asked me to play at her coffee house in Hull, but I declined, because, first of all, it's doubtful whether the place even exists, and secondly, Hull is pretty far from Cambridge.

Overall, a pretty boring time, but still fun. Hopefully, I can start to get out more often as the weather gets warmer and drier.

Day 5: This is what they call "average"

Today was a fairly average day of busking for me. Of course, what that means is people heckling me, giving me weird looks, buying me bottles of water randomly, and giving me $20 bills.

I started right after school, and was set up by 3 PM. Right off the bat, someone (I didn't see who) gave me a $20 bill for playing "High and Dry" by Radiohead. Or at least I think that's why. It could have just been a parent who saw a kid and said "that could be my son," or it could have been someone I know. In other notes, a really nice guy bought me a bottle of water, unprompted, because he saw that I was sweating and starting to lose my voice. A couple of people heckled me, singing along mockingly when I was playing "Glycerine," by Bush, and "Day I Die," by Story of the Year (both were radio hits a while back). I've noticed it's always overly muscled college students (always guys) who do this sort of heckling, though I have no idea why that is.

Somewhere along the way, someone else gave me a $20 bill, bringing today's total to about $55 for two hours - not bad at all.