by Mike Ritchie

A ROLL call of top artists who have busked on the streets of our major cities is impressive – Fran Healy of Travis, award-winning Emeli Sandé and Keane’s Tom Chaplin are among them.

And it’s coming up for 45 years since Canadian singer/songwriter Neil Young famously busked outside Glasgow’s Central Station prior to a gig at The Apollo.

He performed one song only as people passed by and what his takings were, if any, is anyone’s guess.

But, today, busking in Glasgow has never been tougher due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the on-going restrictions covering the opening of offices, bars, restaurants and shops.

With venues closed, gigs and festivals cancelled, live music has been all but silenced, though, buskers still brave the weather to try to earn money.

A podcast now available has probed the current scene in Glasgow and its interviews with regular buskers revealing increased competition, mixed public reaction and their travels to other cities and towns in Scotland where their presence was not welcome – but busker wars have been avoided.

Nineteen-year-old, Matthew Gibb, who started busking at the age of 12 outside Braehead Shopping Centre, described a recent visit to Dundee with two other Glasgow-based buskers.

“Three of us went there one day and grabbed spots – there are three Council-recognised pitches in Dundee about 100 metres apart,” said Matthew, a student on a commercial music course.

“I was told it was going to be busy, so it was lucky we got spots which were the best ones.

“This left a few of the local Dundee buskers pretty disgruntled to the point where they tried to bully us off the spots. They really didn’t get too far with it.”

Matthew, who co-produced and presented a weekly, two-hour jam session for volunteer-led Celtic Music Radio where buskers came in out of the cold to perform, said his approach to music, including busking, has had to change.

“I’m in a bit of a void at the moment because I’m a student so I’m ineligible for a lot of the government funding. I’ve had to work off my own back for the entire lockdown and I’ve picked up another job delivering food that’s tided me over to this point. It’s a bit of shame considering how much the arts contribute to modern day society.”

Fellow Glasgow busker, Sara Rae, said the city had always been vibrant for street music but the current attitude to buskers is a conflicting one.

“Half the population is chuffed to bits to hear live music because all gigs have been cancelled,” said Sara, who is also a member of the pop/alt band Sara 'N' Junbug.

“But there’s a percentage who are moaning and groaning about a danger that we’ll spread Covid, and they are worried about putting change down for us.”

Rising at the crack of dawn to secure a spot in Glasgow’s Style Mile, including Buchanan Street, is no longer a key part of a busker’s regime.

“It is very competitive at the moment – it’s harder to get a spot and the public is giving a lot less money,” said Sara who was one of the buskers selected to play with Emeli Sandé and the Scottish Symphony Orchestra for the station’s Street Symphony TV series last year.

“I’ve driven, within the limits, to other Scottish towns to busk just because there are more buskers going around in Glasgow,” said Sara.

On the topic of buskers using card machines instead of hats and instrument cases for peoples’ loose change, Sara isn’t enamoured with the idea.

“I like the thought of old-style busking when people gave us loose change. Card readers and bank accounts have too many complications for me.”

One person who is acutely concerned for the city buskers and one of their greatest advocates is Carolyn Sleith, whose Buskers of Glasgow social media platforms help promote the diverse music on the city’s streets by posting, daily, live recordings and recorded sessions. And she is getting ready for the third online Busker Fest that takes place on December 5 and 6.

“We’ll have 18 acts lined up over the two days and the PayPal donations will be split equally among them all,” said Carolyn. “We had similar events in April and July and they were really successful.”

Carolyn says she is saddened by the effect the pandemic has had.

“There are no tourists, no regular workers, non-essential shops are closed so, obviously, the audience for the fantastic acts we have on the streets has dropped off,” said Carolyn, whose films and unpaid work on behalf of the busking community are recognised as having changed the face of Glasgow’s independent music scene for the better.

“The Higher Frequency” Youth Music podcast is titled ‘Tracing Scenes – How COVID-19 has affected the UK music scene’ and its host is former busker and singer/songwriter, Kara Conway. Kara, who has an EP out at the moment titled ‘This Life’ and also hosts a Sunday morning radio show on Celtic Music Radio, said: “It was interesting looking into this and to get the buskers’ different perspectives, though there’s no definite conclusion as to what the future holds.”

This view is echoed by Sara Rae, whose band is still on the festival lists for the likes of TRNSMT next year.

“It’s competitive and tough at the moment and I think that busking will always change with some people leaving and others coming in. But I really can’t predict what’s going to happen.”