Trippy Tales

Love.

One of the things I love most about busking is that something funny happens pretty much every time I hit there streets. This busking trip was no exception. Please find a selection of amusing anecdotes below:

• Copenhagen, Denmark 10am: A charming homeless man unfurled his sleeping bag about 2 metres in front of where I was playing, cracked a beer and was ready to enjoy the show. He wasn't good for business so I apologetically asked him to move back, just a bit. He looked at me with puppy dog eyes, dropped his head and dragged his sleeping bag away. I felt terrible.

• Kingston, Canada: A mother walked by with her daughter while I was playing and mouthed to me 'do you take corn?' I nodded enthusiastically. "Go on honey, give the lady some organic corn" she said to the little girl. Mmmmmmmm corn. 

• Gothenburg, Sweden: four Australians came from different parts of the street after I played "I still call Australia home". 

• New York, USA: Befriended a bubble blower in Central Park. Smoked weed out of a petrol hose.

• Bergen, Norway: A lady cried and told me her life story after "I still call Australia home"

• Perugia, Italy: I got taken out to dinner by a lovely Italian gentleman. The language barrier made things difficult. It ended up feeling like a cross between a first date and an English/Italian lesson.

• London, England: A drunken busk outside a bar led to a man dropping coins from his apartment a few floors up.

• Bergen, Norway: A bus driver stops his bus en route, gets off and hands me a 50krone note ($9ish). Passengers are confused.

• Leeds, England: After playing "Oh when the saints", I heard a trumpet play "Oh when the saints". I couldn't see the musician in question, but could tell the sound was coming from the apartment block a little ways down the street. I started playing the saints again. This time the trumpeter joined in and we played together in harmony.

• Edinburgh, Scotland: A woman gave me a bag of change she had collected from all the people in her office who had been listening to my sweet, sweet music.

• Paris, France: I played the wedding march for a bride and groom. They were having their wedding photos taken which I now feature in.

• Hamburg, Germany: Germany won their first match in the euro cup, so I went with my Hamburger friends to celebrate. The streets were packed with people. I found an electricity box to stand on and pulled out my trombone. Before I knew it I had a massive crowd of drunks  looking up at me. I mimed thirst. 10 or so people held out their beers for me. Rockstar moment.

• San Francisco, USA: I didn't realise that there would be a naked convention going on the day I decided to busk in the Castro. About 100 naked people across the road from me were…… were…… well I'm not sure what they were doing. Lets just say I wasn't the only one with a boner that day.

Busking in the UK

A random blowing my horn in Kensington Gardens

I spent the last month in the UK, and I have to say despite warm beer, foggy days and whining Brits, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The busking was up and down. The 40,000 police bought into London during the Olympics didn’t help the situation much.

The police in London intimidated me a lot more than usual. I found myself being a lot more conservative than usual. One day I was playing in St James Park near Buckingham Palace. My set was going quite well until I saw two cops nearby. They started walking towards me. I held my nerve and kept playing. They were only 10 metres away from me now, one reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of coins and threw them in my case. Perhaps they’re not so scary after all.

I was more relaxed heading up north. Manchester bought loads of compliments and very little money while Leeds ended with an impromptu jam session with a trumpet player in an apartment 10 floors above me.

Grimsby was the real surprise though. Known for its fisherman, heroine addicts and teenage mothers, I was surprised to find it one of my most lucrative spots in the UK.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival was incredibly, a little too incredible. With 1,000’s of world class acts, I was way out of my league.

In Glasgow, it rained.