"Giving Humans a Good Name"

Today’s busking was really close to home.  Literally.  Setting up in Amherst broke a precedent of keeping some distance between my upbringing and my current career, and boy am I glad it did.  This was one of my favorite days busking.  New places are so refreshing, even if they're just across the river from regular places.  Some people had seen me in Northampton or at the Winter Market, but otherwise I saw new faces, new reactions, and a new landscape.  I had the pretty brick town hall behind me, the sadly-abandoned-but-still-cherished Jeffrey Amherst Books in front of me, and They Might Be Giants' esteemed mass of incandescent gas/gigantic nuclear furnace (the sun, yeah) above me.  Forgetting that faces and shoulders aren't the only things that burn, I'm quite pink.

I managed to get a few of the technical difficulties under control before heading out, and Flaca mostly worked.  But then she didn’t.  The thread winding the thin cord to the thick came unraveled, so I had an extra ten or so inches of string that really confused me.  Once I noticed and fixed that, the upper pulley fell out so I had to empty the box, turn it upside-down, and hammer it back into place using a screwdriver.

Despite this setback, it was a lovely day which even made me question my plan to leave the Valley.  Next door to the Farmer's Market there was a Sustainability Fair, from which people were leaving with reusable canvas bags full of energy saving lightbulbs, anti-Vermont Yankee pins, and "Eat More Kale" stickers.  (Note: I tried desperately to find an "Eat More Kale" sticker at the fair, but struck out).  Children walked by eating the market popsicles I used to eat (although I can no longer have bananas, which was my favorite), and a high school classmate I ran into helped me remember the good ol' days when those popsicles cost fifty cents.

As I ran into even more people that I have known in my life than I do in Northampton, from neighbors to teachers to camp counselors, I found myself reminiscing not about the Valley as a whole, but about Amherst.  Where only the "H" is silent.  (Damn, that would be a good name for this post, too!)

Saturday, April 27, 2013

1. “Twin Peaks” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” are both songs that have gotten way more attention in Europe than in the U.S. “Twin Peaks” got its glory last weekend, and the latter did today.  One young man called “Don’t Stop Me Now” his “favorite song ever,” and another guy said, “Thanks for the Queen!”  I guess Amherst is cooler than I thought!  No one recognized TP, though.  Folk did sing along with “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and “Ruby Tuesday.”

2. A man told me about a band that plays every Tuesday night at a bar in Brooklyn, on 9^th and 6^th Avenue, called “Barbes.”  The band is called “Slavic Soul Party” and combines traditional Slavic music with like funk.  New York friends, you should go and report back!

3. That same guy recognized “Werewolves of London” and had me play it on someone’s answering machine.  Cooool.

4. Some people informed me of their friend/daughter’s very popular Youtube video: a cello quartet known as “Break of Reality” (I think) playing the Game of Thrones theme song.  I’ll have to check it out, and definitely learn that song!

5. One lady saw my student loans sign, and added “One Squeeze at a Time.”  I love that.  It would have been the title of today’s post if something else wasn’t, so I’ll have to remember it for another.

6. I had an annoying interaction with a man.  He came by as I was repairing the setup, and offered to help.  That’s nice, but he couldn’t have helped.  So after I refused his offer he hovered anyway, blocking my light, and made outdated suggestions on how to improve the setup.  I say “outdated” because he suggested things that I used to do but have since improved, like using fishing line for string and eyelets instead of pulleys.  Ahhhh!

7. A lady said, “You’re giving humans a good name!”  I could have dropped everything in hugged her.  Of all the compliments I’ve gotten, this is the one that made me feel the most appreciated and proud.  I mean, you don’t do much better than that.  In the low moments, I will remember her and remind myself of that.  This was especially good because I was once told, “You’re giving Scotland a bad name” or words to that effect.  Glad they’ve canceled out.  Thank you, mystery lady!!

Also, she asked if I’ve read Julius Caesar.  I haven’t, but she said that my Flaca reminds me of her doll of Sinna (?) the jester (?) from JC.  Cool!

8. I had my first celebrity run-in while busking, if you can call it that!  Not quite as good as Stevie Wonder walking by while I play one of his songs or the like, but I met….Dean!  You know, Dean’s Beans Dean!  He’s super friendly, and a patron of the arts.  Especially because one of his daughters is in music school.  Supposedly he saw me and said, “I’m going to give her a dollar” and his wife said, “She’s a musician, give her five dollars!”  So he did.  It turns out Dean’s Queen (heh) is a Clarkie as well!  And a psych major, if you can believe that.  Really nice people.

9. My new favorite moment ever: I was playing the Tetris theme song and I realized a lady was singing along.  In Russian.  You see, the Tetris theme song is really a Russian folk song.  And so I kept playing and this lady with a beautiful voice kept singing along, with her husband correcting the occasional word.  Wow!  They asked if I know any other Russian songs, and I said I didn’t.  They asked how I knew that one, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them it’s the Tetris song.  So I said I had learned it and liked it and learned it by ear.  The woman says she likes to learn songs by ear, too.  So awesome.  The husband maintains a web database of Russian songs at www.Russian-rekords.com

10. Someone told me about another popular Youtube video, featuring a female ventriloquist/puppeteer/comedian who manipulates people’s faces somehow.  Like random audience participants.  I’ll have to look it up!

11. Ran into an old elementary school music teacher, which is always fun!  I was pleased that she recognized me.  It turns out she had come across my Downton Abbey Youtube video, and requested I play it.  This prompted a conversation about Matthew with a couple of passersby.  Boo-hoo. 

12. Someone promised to bring me a piano key belt next weekend!

13. I played “Ring of Fire” and someone thought it was in a weird time signature, like seven.  Uh-oh, guess I should work on my timing.

14. A super cute vendor who I know from the Winter Market gave me a red tulip. <3

15. Lastly, as I was packing up, a lady gave me a tenner.  Then another person did.  Sorry Northampton; I LOVE AMHERST!

I was going to head into Northampton for the afternoon, as I usually do, but I decided not to.  I was done for the day.  And it was such a lovely day, I wanted to end on that note, rather than a turf war if that's what awaited me across the Calvin Coolidge Bridge.  I only have one more Saturday in town, and I'm definitely going to spend the morning in Amherst.  I'm really going to miss this place.