Teenage buskers, Susan Boyle and You

by Minim Pro @ 2010-08-09
I passed a boy busking in the street the other day. He couldn't have been more than about 12 or 13 and I suspect he was quite small for his age. He sat on a milk crate with a tiny amp knocking out classic rock riffs on a Gibson Les Paul copy that looked far too big for him.

He seemed to be doing pretty well too. There was a crowd of maybe 20-30 people around him and several people walked up and put money in his tin as I went by: not in the shuffling, embarrassed way that people usually give to buskers in this country, but with almost a proud conviction in what they were doing, that they were right to reward this young talent.

From a purely musical point of view he wasn't too bad. There was the odd flubbed note here or there and certainly some timing issues but he undoubtedly had potential. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but think that if he were an adult, he wouldn't be drawing that kind of crowd.

A child playing fairly convincing rock guitar on an instrument that looks too big for him to handle is remarkable; a grown man playing exactly the same things in the same way is pretty commonplace. Please don't think I'm being mean or snarky about the young man and what he was doing. He certainly had ability and I was hugely impressed that he had the guts to get out there and play in front of others - I certainly didn't have that kind of confidence at his age.

Nevertheless, what this encounter did remind me of is the overwhelming power of context in music. The boy was attracting attention and recognition because it's unusual for a kid his age to be able to play like that, especially in public.

Similarly, when you look at some of the people made famous by reality TV such as Susan Boyle or Paul Potts, they may not be remarkable in strictly musical terms, but their musicality is remarkable in the context of the apparently unremarkable lives they have been living until they are 'discovered' by the show. In other words, it is their stories that are remarkable.

Complete on  >>  http://playjazz.blog.co.uk/2010/08/09/teenage-buskers-susan-boyle-and-you-9151335/