By CARY BAKER (Jawbone Press)
By Eleni P. Austin
When music publicist extraordinaire Cary Baker, along with his wife, artist Sharon, retired to the desert a couple of years ago, friends wondered if this tenacious scribe would become a man of leisure, bingeing Real Housewives franchises and playing an occasional round of golf.
Before they escaped the smoggy sprawl of Los Angeles, the Chicago native carved out a storied career in the music business, initially working for renowned labels like I.R.S. (R.E.M., Go-Go’s, The Alarm, Concrete Blonde) and Capitol Records (Bonnie Raitt, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner).
By the turn of the 21st century, Cary and Sharon opened their own boutique PR firm, Conqueroo. The official slogan was “Music publicity since 6:30 this morning.” Their client roster included Van Dyke Parks, Peter Case, Marshall Crenshaw, The Muffs, Colin Hay, The Flesh Eaters, James McMurtry, The Hoodoo Gurus and The Rave-Up’s. Now Cary has written his first book, Down On The Corner Adventures In Busking & Street Singing.
The term “busking,” essentially singing for your supper, By playing music on street corners, has its roots in Italian and Spanish. But according to this book, “one of the earliest recorded instances of street singing is in ancient Greece. (I tell ya, we Greeks invented everything, well, at least everything cool!)
Here in America, even Benjamin Franklin tried his hand at busking. Cary works his way through the 20th century, each chapter throws the spotlight on different genres or artists. Pre & Post-War Bluesmen, protesting Folkies and Big Easy Jazz musicians.
Plenty of well-known musicians got their start in the street. Artists like Mary Lou Lord and Tim Easton continue to ply their trade out on the corner. The Violent Femmes were famously discovered by The Pretenders as they busked in front of the Milwaukee venue the band was playing back in the early ‘80s.
Peter Case earned his keep on the streets of San Francisco in the mid ‘70s before forming The Nerves, then The Plimsouls and later, embarking on a critically acclaimed solo career.
Cary shares anecdotes and origin stories from Old Crow Medicine Show, Poi Dog Pondering and the late rowdy raconteur Mojo Nixon. He also checks in with heavy-hitters like Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Madeleine Peyroux and Glen Hansard. He navigates a course from coast to coast, as well as the U.K and Europe. It’s a thoroughly engaging read.
Recently, Violent Femmes bassist offered an interesting perspective on busking in the 21st century: “Musicians face myriad performance opportunities in the course of their careers. Concert halls, Nightclubs. Weddings. TV. Competitions. Dances. The most misunderstood and maligned performance format is busking. Many people and even entire municipalities look upon busking as begging, a nuisance, noise pollution. But in fact, it can be a joy for both musicians and listeners, if it’s done properly. Unfortunately, it seldom is.
Artists make extravagant noise about their pursuit of freedom. Busking is the epitome of unshackled freedom. Imagine: a musician unencumbered by technology, playing, or singing anywhere they can fit, moving on when boredom or the cops intervene, changing musical direction at will. Sounds fun, right?
