Busking and Play-for-Pay - Our Experience; What about yours? - Minstrel Banjo2024-03-28T22:47:27Zhttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/forum/topics/busking-and-play-for-pay-our-experience-what-about-yours?commentId=2477478%3AComment%3A125549&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI've always looked at donatio…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2015-04-07:2477478:Comment:1260442015-04-07T15:06:20.486ZCharles Edward Leehttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CharlesEdwardLee
<p>I've always looked at donations as the way folks say "Thank you" in a tangible fashion. The way we dress and perform, our repertoire, and the extra things we do and offer is lagniappe for them; and it adds flavor to a city known for its flavor. It's also how we distinguish ourselves from the rest of the herd; and it's often why people come to hear us: they're curious about our manner of dress, and our instruments. Unless we can draw them close enough to see and hear, then we're just laying…</p>
<p>I've always looked at donations as the way folks say "Thank you" in a tangible fashion. The way we dress and perform, our repertoire, and the extra things we do and offer is lagniappe for them; and it adds flavor to a city known for its flavor. It's also how we distinguish ourselves from the rest of the herd; and it's often why people come to hear us: they're curious about our manner of dress, and our instruments. Unless we can draw them close enough to see and hear, then we're just laying out in public for our own enjoyment, or to stroke our own egos, or something...lol. We aspire to be far more than an mp3 player come to life; we hope to educate folks, and perhaps spark an interest in historic music, the history of New Orleans and Louisiana and the South, and gain a better understanding of how the music we play and love impacted the people of New Orleans. From time to time, when we have a crowd that seems amiable and amenable to suggestion, we can take them in on a Juba dance, which has been danced on the streets of New Orleans since the days of the first slaves, and on up through today. We get to teach a little history through all that we do, and that's a good part of the fun for us. Tips pay for parking and food and making an hour trip down and another one back on a Saturday or Sunday. I am convinced that we perform a public service, and people accidentally learn a little history from us. If I wasn't convinced of that, I could just as well sit in my backyard and annoy my two dogs with my caterwauling and playing, and have my two cats avoid making eye contact with me, the way some visitors to New Orleans do...lol. The money justifies my taking time away from affairs and chores at home; but as you know, the real payback is connecting with folks who didn't expect to meet you that day, and didn't have the faintest idea that they would learn something new (other than what the outside of the Hustler Club looks like on Bourbon Street...lol). One thing that does strike me as interesting when we go there, though, is how often the folks who come to watch the longest, and chat a while, are residents of New Orleans - often folks in the service industry who have already seen pretty much everything they thought New Orleans had to offer. We're new and novel to many of them; and they dig it, and dig us. </p> Wow, thank you for the advice…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2015-04-07:2477478:Comment:1258132015-04-07T00:31:44.386ZJohn Cohenhttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/JohnCohen
<p>Wow, thank you for the advice! I've been wanting to do some busking in the Quarter for years now but never got around to it. I'll take this advice to heart and next time I'm back home I'll try it out. I'm more interested in playing for people than making money in all honesty, but a few donations wouldn't hurt!</p>
<p>Wow, thank you for the advice! I've been wanting to do some busking in the Quarter for years now but never got around to it. I'll take this advice to heart and next time I'm back home I'll try it out. I'm more interested in playing for people than making money in all honesty, but a few donations wouldn't hurt!</p> Though there's no license req…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2015-04-02:2477478:Comment:1255512015-04-02T22:37:18.875ZCharles Edward Leehttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CharlesEdwardLee
<p>Though there's no license required, thanks to an unenforceable law, there are regulations in place. If you're in Jackson Square, you can't be closer to the park area than 15 feet, unless you're a psychic or medium or paint-artist. You can't blockl the sidewalks. You can't set up in front of a store's door(s); and if you set up in front of a storefront, you must comply if the store asks you to move; failing to accommodate the store will result in your being escorted away by a police officer,…</p>
<p>Though there's no license required, thanks to an unenforceable law, there are regulations in place. If you're in Jackson Square, you can't be closer to the park area than 15 feet, unless you're a psychic or medium or paint-artist. You can't blockl the sidewalks. You can't set up in front of a store's door(s); and if you set up in front of a storefront, you must comply if the store asks you to move; failing to accommodate the store will result in your being escorted away by a police officer, and you may have to pay a fine of up to $500 (which sucks all the fun out of busking, I'm sure).<br/><cite><br/></cite></p>
<p>No one owns a "spot" or a corner, etc. Theoretically, it's "first come, first served." However, don't think there won't be a problem if you take over a corner someone else has habituated over the last year . 5 years / 22 years (the last is the case with Maurice the Tuba Player, in front of the Cabildo). </p>
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<p>You can't charge for your services and you can't sell products. You can accept tips and other donations - but you can't display a "donation thank you value list" - a price list. How do we handle that? We have items safely on display (so they can't easily be stolen by friendly passers-by) and we can tell a small crowd that if they elect to make a donation, we have special ways of saying "Many thanks!" - and then we reel off what we have to offer. Nothing in writing = nothing illegal, in essence.</p>
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<p>You can't perform after 8:00 pm (and you;re crazy if you try to perform after dusk). There are decibel level restrictions, but I don't think a trio like ours - even as a loudly as I sing - can violate THAT ordinance. </p>
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<p>Early morning is the best time to arrive so you can find a place to roost; but be prepared to move around. It makes good sense to move around, though, as traffic flow shifts during the day.</p>
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<p>From 9:00 am to 8:00 pm on Saturdays, I think it is, Royal Street is closed to traffic, beginning two blocks away from Jackson Square and extending maybe four blocks toward Canal Street. You know parking is going to cost you something. How much stuff you plan to bring with you, and how far you'll want to tote it, and how much you're willing / able to spend for parking will dictate whether you park next to the levee, down near the Crescent City Brewhouse and Jackson Brewery, or if you want to get into the parking garages a block or two over from Jackson Square. </p>
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<p>Unless you're friends with a store owner or some museum folks (we are), be very aware of public restrooms. </p>
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<p>That's a lot of the fatherly advice I think I can give...lol.</p> None required since about 200…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2015-04-02:2477478:Comment:1256422015-04-02T22:17:22.418ZCharles Edward Leehttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CharlesEdwardLee
<p>None required since about 2008. There is a regulation on the books, but it's unenforceable as written; and the City has elected not to revisit it "for the time being," we were told, by the fellow in charge of those regulations when we visited him in person several years ago.<br></br> <br></br> <cite>John Cohen said:…</cite></p>
<p>None required since about 2008. There is a regulation on the books, but it's unenforceable as written; and the City has elected not to revisit it "for the time being," we were told, by the fellow in charge of those regulations when we visited him in person several years ago.<br/> <br/> <cite>John Cohen said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/forum/topics/busking-and-play-for-pay-our-experience-what-about-yours?commentId=2477478%3AComment%3A125549&xg_source=msg_com_forum#2477478Comment125436"><div><div class="xg_user_generated">Did you guys have to get a license to perform in the Quarter?</div>
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</blockquote> Did you guys have to get a li…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2015-04-02:2477478:Comment:1256372015-04-02T21:04:19.250ZJohn Cohenhttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/JohnCohen
Did you guys have to get a license to perform in the Quarter?
Did you guys have to get a license to perform in the Quarter? Did you guys have to get a li…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2015-04-02:2477478:Comment:1255492015-04-02T21:04:19.238ZJohn Cohenhttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/JohnCohen
Did you guys have to get a license to perform in the Quarter?
Did you guys have to get a license to perform in the Quarter? Did you guys have to get a li…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2015-04-02:2477478:Comment:1254362015-04-02T21:04:19.228ZJohn Cohenhttps://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/JohnCohen
Did you guys have to get a license to perform in the Quarter?
Did you guys have to get a license to perform in the Quarter?