News.
August 29 2010
Mark your calendars! The 2011 Big Busk will be on Saturday, July 16.
Also, we posted a bunch of photos from the 2010 Big Busk on Flickr.
Press.
2010
Peter Carlin's story for The Oregonian is awesome. We were also mentioned on End Hits at The Mercury, Dave Knows Portland, and PDX Pipeline.
2009
Robert Wagner and his team at what has become pdx.fm were so supportive. Pitch Perfect, Jennifer Coughlin's story for Neighborhood Notes, considers busking in general and The Big Busk in specific. We were also mentioned on End Hits at The Mercury, Dave Knows Portland, and PDX Pipeline.
Info.
The Big Busk is a new music festival for downtown Portland.
These are the ingredients:
- a deep and diverse pool of creative and talented musicians
- a beautiful, human-friendly downtown that consistently ranks among the most walkable in the nation
- a really crappy economy
The idea is, for an entire afternoon, to saturate downtown with music. All kinds of music. Up and down Broadway, the transit mall, the park blocks to the esplanade.
There is no stage, but every corner is a stage. There is no audience, but everyone is the audience. There is no admission fee, but we trust attendees tip generously.
So it's kind of an experiment. It's also kind of an art project and a tongue-in-cheek celebration of creative defiance. Good music for tough times.
If you'd like to be a part, please send us an email.
Busking.
To busk is to play music or otherwise entertain people in a public place for tips.
Many musicians get their start by busking, and some famous musicians take to the streets just for fun. When he was young, Beck busked his way around Europe and L.A. Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders asked The Violent Femmes to open for them after seeing them busking in Milwaukee. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Simon and Garfunkel, Louis Armstrong, B. B. King, Norah Jones, Billie Holiday, Bon Jovi, Sting and Lou Reed have all played their music on downtown streets. In 2007, Joshua Bell played in the subway of Washington, D.C.
Buskers are a big part of what makes urban areas so fun. They invite us out of our iPods. They help make downtown beautiful.
In short, it's a respectable way to live one's art.
No permits are needed to busk in Portland. You should have no trouble from business owners or the police as long as you abide by the Street Musician Partnership Agreement and the sidewalk obstruction laws.