I caught this guy on one of my last days in santa cruz.  I listened to him play a bunch of fantastic songs, alternatingly earnest and clever (just like one would hope from an ukulele). 

It’s much, much harder to document street music in santa cruz when you don’t live in santa cruz.  Since I moved to oakland in august, I’ve only been down once.  I’m thinking of widening the scope of the blog to include BART stations, which seems to be the primary performance space in the bay area. 

Anyway, here’s Jordan, playing old timey guitar.  The recent renewal of interest in old time music has been one of my favorite cultural developments of the last decade.  I guess it’s all part of the american search for authenticity, an interest in music that predates focus groups.  it’s also a welcome change from appropriating from other countries - colonize time, not space.

ACCORDIONS.  that is all.

(The gain on this track is super low, because I neglected to pay attention to the levels because ACCORDIONS)

I’ve had a request!  A REQUEST.  that means people outside my immediate family are reading this, which comes as an immense surprise to me.

Someone on youtube suggested I upload more videos from the Attaboys, who if you will remember, and you won’t, were the first video I had on this blog.  So here!  In true fashion, they are playing a classic rock classic, and in true santa cruz fashion some wonderful passerby decided that what folk music is REALLY lacking is sexy backup dancers.

I’ve uploaded one video from this concert already, but I thought I’d bring this one in too.  Because seriously: Dan Potthast.  Outdoor ska music.  And it’s such a fantastic song!

It’s super wobbly footage, but that’s because I was trying to stabilize the camera WHILE FURIOUSLY SKANKING.  Can you blame me?

a good two thirds of street musicians are guys playing guitar - crusty homeless guys, bros in flip flops, gutterpunks etc.  I’ve tried to steer clear of these (occasionally talented) guys, with limited success, since they don’t tend to be quite so interesting.

Taj, I will make an exception for based on two criteria:  his undebatable hotness, and his song choice.  When I happened upon him, he was finishing up Champagne Supernova (or was it Wonderwall?), which led nicely into this.  I dunno what it is about 90s music, maybe it’s nostalgia for a time when men were angsty sensitive men and women were angsty sensitive women.  

I usually ask permission before filming, and make clear that I’m planning on “publishing” the video on this tiny corner of the internet.  but with this bloke, I didn’t feel like I could comfortably bring up the subject without disturbing his deep sitar trance and all its microtonal glory without being gauche.  I also decided on against including the entirety of the piece he played, what with it being long in the way that only ragas are long.  If you happen to be the curly sitarist in question and would prefer that I take it down, I’d be happy to.

Sam Barth, who has been busking around the area for 30 years, is exactly the lovely sort of music for strolling on a pleasant sunny day.  it’s sweet and pure, doesn’t intrude on one’s experience of the world but adds to it.  I also had a fantastic interview with him, which I may post later.

Folkpunk is a genre of music, dating back to the pogues and billy bragg (and through them, arguably, to the clash), in which traditional instruments are combined with the punk ethos - energetic, simple and intense music with lyrics that are often political and/or personal.  Gogol bordello, Jason webley, blackbird raum stand out as contemporary examples.

Intergalactic smugglers occupy this niche quite neatly, with the banjo, washboard and upright bass accompanying almost-emo vocals (unfortunately drowned out by the washboard until he had the good sense to move further away from the mic), lyrics drawn from catcher in the rye.

Also, I need to buy a fucking tripod this video is awful.

ok, so we’ve covered considerable cultural territory in this blog:  old hippies, anarcho-primitivist hippies, old-timey taoist hippies, 3rd wave rudeboys, and…cellists.  What’s missing?  Oh that’s right.  hipsters.

I know that word is used as a slur, but let’s be civil here.  this is, after all, tumblr. 

Ian is a credit to his skinny-jeaned confraternity of indie-rock listeners.  He plays ukulele, mostly beirut covers, and sings with a meloy-esque blend of passion and detachment.  This is a song he wrote, based on flowers for algernon by daniel keyes.