Busk Pittsburgh [Archive] - performers.net forums

Drew Richardson

12-05-02, 05:41 PM

Another article, this one from Pittsbugh City Paper:

Paving the Way for Street Performing
writer: Sharmila Venkatasubban

When Mark Dignam first started performing along Dublin’s Grafton Street in the late 1980s, the commercial district was simply that -- a place where well-to-do shoppers could spend their money. By the time he left Ireland to pursue a career as a songwriter in the U.S., Grafton was known for a vibrant music scene that gave birth to a host of singer/songwriters who eventually made names for themselves.

“We would play for 12 to 14 hours a day, and some of us earned real money busking back then,” recalls Dignam, who now lives in Swissvale. Buskers are street performers -- musicians, dancers, entertainers -- who use public space as their stage. “In fact, most of the bands I was performing alongside eventually made it. Playing there was a musical apprenticeship. I got to learn what songs worked, which ones didn’t work.”

Dignam’s popularity grew such that his street-level audience began to include more than passersby: Fans would actually come to the district simply to hear him play. At times, his music would draw crowds of nearly 100 people -- a natural benefit of an urban environment that encourages art in the public arena.

His music also drew attention from the local law enforcement: “We were busted for filling up the whole street -- a street that really was the life of the music scene there,” he says. Efforts to squelch it didn’t work.

“In some ways, there was a cultural precedent that made it hard to clamp down on us,” he adds.

In American cities, including Pittsburgh, such precedents don’t exist; thus the Busk Pittsburgh Committee, a small local group that formed to help artists find public space in which to perform. So far their efforts have included a marketing and educational campaign that has been enough to inspire Mark Dignam to head back to performing on the streets. Within the next six months, they hope to get an ordinance passed through City Council that would make busking legal in Pittsburgh. Right now, it’s neither legal nor illegal.

Since the project’s official launch nearly a month ago, the five volunteer committee members have only set the ground work for their plans to get buskers on Downtown streets. Still, they’ve recently secured backing through the Sprout Fund, a year-old nonprofit focusing on promoting “young talent,” which will allow for performers to be paid upfront initially. The number of potential buskers has increased from roughly 20 to over 50 within the last few weeks, if calls to Busk Pittsburgh are any indication.

“Busking has to be about passing the hat,” says Committee member Gloria Forouzan. “But at this time, we want to be underwriting” the buskers’ efforts, she says. “We want to make sure that they’re earning more than just bus fare. Eventually we’re hoping that our artists will make $100 a day.”

Even she will admit that’s a lofty goal -- and one that will reach fruition only if people “vote for busking with their dollars,” as one of Busk Pittsburgh’s slogans says.

The organization will hold a meeting on Dec. 7 at Joe Mama’s in Oakland, called Busk U Oakland, for interested artists and Downtown business and property owners to gather for a preliminary information session. After the meeting, hosted by the Oakand Business Improvement District, the buskers will take to the streets as a trial run of the project.

“We want to create a solid program Downtown and then move into other neighborhoods,” Forouzan says. “But eventually we would like to take isolated areas in all neighborhoods and help make people feel comfortable to perform there.”

Busk U Oakland: 412-661-4560 or buskpittsburgh@yahoo.com.