Busking is not common in Hartford. It may be due to a lack of impoverished musicians. It may be due to municipal hostility. It may be due to lack of tradition. It may be due to lack of generous, willing, giving and knowledgeable audience. It may be due to lack of readership and information. I once saw an elderly man sitting on an amp, playing guitar on the street corner between Max Downtown and the Goodwin. He also had a voice microphone. He played blues. I was surprised he was there. Then I was disappointed by the number of people making a show of ignoring him. Most walked past looking at the sky or something far ahead. The thousand mile stare. Meanwhile, all these songs about bad luck, bad habits, crummy insights, hollow wishes, fractured embraces, decaying remembrances and bad relationships poured out over the streets. I gave him all the cash I had in my wallet: fourteen bucks. He looked at me like I was a dead man.
If you enjoyed the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks, you probably have a soft spot in your heart for buskers. I plan on attending the 6pm fireworks in Bushnell Park. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the park were covered with buskers. Or a crowd of them in front of the statue of the guy who invented anesthesia.
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