![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Buskers of Glasgow - Origins
Mar. 30th, 2019 01:57 pmSo for the past almost 2 years I've been trying to lose weight. Last Spring, in an effort to be more active, I started taking a walk at lunchtime. Previously I would just have eaten lunch at my desk. I am really lazy and I don't like physical exercise. But I had to do something. So I was sort of forcing myself to go out. I had been doing this for a while, trudging round a 1m circuit, then one day I heard music from Buchanan St and there was a busker and he cheered me up. I'm pretty difficult to cheer up, as once I'm in a mood, I'm in a mood for the rest of the day. So I videoed him as he completely changed my attitude to the walk, to forcing myself to get some exercise and to the rest of the day. It was Oisin Murray. If he could cheer me up, then he could cheer anyone up and that alone needed to be shared with the rest of the world.
On June 12th 2018 I started the @buskersofglasgow Instagram account. The first video I posted was the one I had recorded of Oisin playing Budapest by George Ezra. June that year was glorious for weather and every lunchtime brought a whole new set of buskers. And all of them (with a couple of exceptions) were amazing. There was such a variety of styles and genres too. It was like walking through a free music festival everyday. I felt it needed to be shared with the wider world and more specifically my Facebook friends who weren't in Glasgow. And just as importantly it gave me a reason to go out at lunchtime and get my exercise.
Because I had been trying to lose weight I hadn't realised how much my weight was affecting my self confidence. I used to make the recording, make a donation and then move on quickly and somewhat self-consciously. I'm not sure when the next phase started, but one day I waited till the end of the song and spoke to the busker afterwards. Actually I think it was Liam Doyle, as he had gathered an audience of adoring school girls by playing Wild Mountain Thyme. I had such a good conversation with Liam about music and memory and how music has a dedicated part in your brain and your soul. That brought about a change. After that I spoke to almost every busker sometimes just to get an Instagram handle to tag them in the video, mostly to tell them that I loved their work. I think I had realised too that they recognised me and because I was feeling more confident about myself, I felt it was alright to impose myself on them.
After I had been off for a fortnight after my operation for breast cancer (false-positive) Mary Jane said she was pleased to see me back. She'd noticed I'd been gone. So I told her why I had been away and that was a turning point too. I had a different outlook on life and having a brush with potentially serious illness made me realise that there was no time to waste. I may be having a mid-life crisis, but so what if I am.
There were some buskers I saw almost everyday and I now think of as friends. They recognise me, they know my name and I sometimes get a hug. Mary Jane invited me on a buskers night out at Christmas Time and I decided not to go. For lots of reasons some of which are still self-consciousness, and the fact that I'm old and it was a school night. But it was so nice of her to invite me and after that I felt I belonged a bit and a bit less shy.
Now we're coming back into tourist season again there will be more buskers coming from all over the world and I'll continue to post them. Some people have started to ask me how the busking scene works and even if they can buy CDs of some of the artists. I now ask the chuggers to follow me on Istagram too which I find hilarious.
Recently I had a stroke of luck and a cascade of events. Cheggy of The Rain Experiment followed me and shared one of my posts on his story. [Not every busker that I record and feature follows me, even though I tell them my handle and ask politely if they want to and tell them how much it would mean to me if they did]. That post got picked up by @walkingthroughGlasgow and @monochrome_scotland and they both gave me a shout out and overnight my following went up by over 200. Currently I have over 700 followers which is absolutely amazing. One of my videos of Sara N Junbug on Facebook got 3700 views because they shared it on their page and their fan-base is massive.
I have quite an inclusive and positive philosophy. I try and record everyone, sometimes just once, even if I don't particularly like what they are doing. I don't like bagpipe music, but I know others do, so I record 20-30secs as I reckon that's enough.
I'm not sure how this is going to develop in the future. It is my intention to go to some gigs, but it will have to suit my old lady life. I can barely hack a midweek night out and I'm not going to travel anywhere. I have, on a couple of occasions, gone out deliberately to see a busker if they post that they'll be playing that day. I now almost always listen to an entire song and have a chat while I give them money. I have considered doing a logo for the account which I could put on a T-shirt even if it's just for me. I had idly fantasised about organising an event, but I don't think I have the heart for that as I know exactly how much work would be involved. I think that would kill the enjoyment for me.
On June 12th 2018 I started the @buskersofglasgow Instagram account. The first video I posted was the one I had recorded of Oisin playing Budapest by George Ezra. June that year was glorious for weather and every lunchtime brought a whole new set of buskers. And all of them (with a couple of exceptions) were amazing. There was such a variety of styles and genres too. It was like walking through a free music festival everyday. I felt it needed to be shared with the wider world and more specifically my Facebook friends who weren't in Glasgow. And just as importantly it gave me a reason to go out at lunchtime and get my exercise.
Because I had been trying to lose weight I hadn't realised how much my weight was affecting my self confidence. I used to make the recording, make a donation and then move on quickly and somewhat self-consciously. I'm not sure when the next phase started, but one day I waited till the end of the song and spoke to the busker afterwards. Actually I think it was Liam Doyle, as he had gathered an audience of adoring school girls by playing Wild Mountain Thyme. I had such a good conversation with Liam about music and memory and how music has a dedicated part in your brain and your soul. That brought about a change. After that I spoke to almost every busker sometimes just to get an Instagram handle to tag them in the video, mostly to tell them that I loved their work. I think I had realised too that they recognised me and because I was feeling more confident about myself, I felt it was alright to impose myself on them.
After I had been off for a fortnight after my operation for breast cancer (false-positive) Mary Jane said she was pleased to see me back. She'd noticed I'd been gone. So I told her why I had been away and that was a turning point too. I had a different outlook on life and having a brush with potentially serious illness made me realise that there was no time to waste. I may be having a mid-life crisis, but so what if I am.
There were some buskers I saw almost everyday and I now think of as friends. They recognise me, they know my name and I sometimes get a hug. Mary Jane invited me on a buskers night out at Christmas Time and I decided not to go. For lots of reasons some of which are still self-consciousness, and the fact that I'm old and it was a school night. But it was so nice of her to invite me and after that I felt I belonged a bit and a bit less shy.
Now we're coming back into tourist season again there will be more buskers coming from all over the world and I'll continue to post them. Some people have started to ask me how the busking scene works and even if they can buy CDs of some of the artists. I now ask the chuggers to follow me on Istagram too which I find hilarious.
Recently I had a stroke of luck and a cascade of events. Cheggy of The Rain Experiment followed me and shared one of my posts on his story. [Not every busker that I record and feature follows me, even though I tell them my handle and ask politely if they want to and tell them how much it would mean to me if they did]. That post got picked up by @walkingthroughGlasgow and @monochrome_scotland and they both gave me a shout out and overnight my following went up by over 200. Currently I have over 700 followers which is absolutely amazing. One of my videos of Sara N Junbug on Facebook got 3700 views because they shared it on their page and their fan-base is massive.
I have quite an inclusive and positive philosophy. I try and record everyone, sometimes just once, even if I don't particularly like what they are doing. I don't like bagpipe music, but I know others do, so I record 20-30secs as I reckon that's enough.
I'm not sure how this is going to develop in the future. It is my intention to go to some gigs, but it will have to suit my old lady life. I can barely hack a midweek night out and I'm not going to travel anywhere. I have, on a couple of occasions, gone out deliberately to see a busker if they post that they'll be playing that day. I now almost always listen to an entire song and have a chat while I give them money. I have considered doing a logo for the account which I could put on a T-shirt even if it's just for me. I had idly fantasised about organising an event, but I don't think I have the heart for that as I know exactly how much work would be involved. I think that would kill the enjoyment for me.
