I love busking. If it paid as well as my other gigs I'd do it all the time. It's easy, you meet lots of people, get lots of practice, and make your own hours. But most players turn their nose up at buskers, at least where I live. And often these are players that are still living with Mom, or working day jobs they hate, and practicing hours and hours every day at home earning nothing. What is the big hangup about playing on the street? Is it that druggies also do it? A lot of people have told me they're afraid of what their friends will think if they see them. This fear seems so powerful that some great players I know are working dishwashing and janitorial jobs, then playing crap pay gigs at night, but they won't even consider going out and playing on a street corner for tips.
There are some safety issues too I guess. I have had 2 horns stolen, been robbed 5 times, sucker punched and threatened with a knife twice. Another time I was threatened by a freak with a spear made of a cardboard tube with used needles taped to the end (no joke.) But I really don't think that's what's stopping most people.
I personally think it's a class thing. Having always been on the bottom of society, I've learned not to care what bourgeois types think of me. I have friends in low places and that's good enough for me. But people who grew up more privileged, they are terrified what other bourgeois types will think of them (homeless? druggie? drunk? mentally ill?) I guess personally I would say that unless those people are paying your rent for you, what they think means jack sh*t!
There are some safety issues too I guess. I have had 2 horns stolen, been robbed 5 times, sucker punched and threatened with a knife twice. Another time I was threatened by a freak with a spear made of a cardboard tube with used needles taped to the end (no joke.) But I really don't think that's what's stopping most people.
I personally think it's a class thing. Having always been on the bottom of society, I've learned not to care what bourgeois types think of me. I have friends in low places and that's good enough for me. But people who grew up more privileged, they are terrified what other bourgeois types will think of them (homeless? druggie? drunk? mentally ill?) I guess personally I would say that unless those people are paying your rent for you, what they think means jack sh*t!