Troubadour Collective

I met Joanthan on Laguna Beach, like on the beach! It was a beautiful area and he setup in a perfect spot. He was a little shook as he's just been harassed by one of the regulars in the area. He took it in stride and ripped through 4 tunes!

00:00 - Rock and a Hard Place

03:01 - Fast Car

07:17 - Simple Man

12:28 - Savin' Me

Our travels take us West to Laguna Beach, California where I met up with Warren. He was warming up for a performance that night as one half of Keith & Warren. He is a popular fixture with one local stopping to tell me how much she appreciates his playing and how good he is. I couldn't argue, she was right on both accounts. It's one of the shorter episodes but I was more than happy to capture what I was able to. I hope to travel back to Laguna Beach soon to capture a full Keith & Warren performance. A special thanks to Warren.

I ran into Louis the day before this taping and asked if he would be willing to record. He felt like his strings were being "lazy" and he wasn't sure when he'd have time to get more. I threw my back pack down and handed him a brand new set of house strings from South Austin Music and asked if we could meet up the next day. It turned out Louis loved the strings and we met up the next day in Union Square! I really liked this performance. I love the distortion on the vocals, I love the tripod mic stand, and Louis gives a raw and emotional performance. Enjoy!

00:00 - You Do Something to Me

04:19 - Fall at Your Feet

07:49 - Little WIng

10:50 - Don't Look Back in Anger

14:51 - Creep

Episode 27 takes us south to Lower Manhattan and Washington Square Park. This is where is met up with Evan, a very well known busker in the area. He, and a few of his friends, put on a lively performance and I felt fortunate to get to be there. I was in the area for work and a couple days later a co worker, who had gone in to the city the night before, walked up to me and said I had to see this video of a busker he'd recorded. It was Evan.

00:00 - Reminiscing

03:17 - Nothing from Nothing

05:29 - Instrumental

07:09 - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

On my way out of the park I came across Ralph hanging out on The Mall. Ralph is Ralph Williams, a long time fixture in Central Park, along with his tenor saxophone. He moved to the city to be part of it's jazz scene, inspired by artists like Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Dexer Gordon. According to numerous articles and interviews available on the web he has become a scene all by himself. He's here for a good time, not a long time, enjoy!

Between The Mall and Bethesda Terrace/Fountain in Central Park is a walkway that takes you under Terrace Dr. known as Bethesda Arcade. It is a gorgeous space featuring 49 panels of tiles from the Minton Tile Company. It is one of the only places where their tiles can be found on the ceiling rather than the floor. The scenery and acoustics were the perfect host for Carlos König and his classical guitar. His music suits the environment perfectly and creates a whole vibe that needs to be experienced to truly appreciate it. Carlos is a regular fixture at Bethesda Arcade and it well worth the trip into the park to see. Carlos is also a popular Salsa dance instructor in the park as well!

If you've never heard the sound of a saw being played it is unmistakable. Think a large wood saw with the teeth filed off and played with a bow like a violin or cello. Imagine my surprise coming across someone playing a saw in the Union Square subway station. I was headed to Union Square Park and I as soon as I hit the platform I heard the hauntingly beautiful sound that a saw makes. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I first laid eyes on Natalia @SawLady Paruz. While I have seen one saw played in this style before, I had never seen anyone with the handle on the end of the blade, that gave Natalia more control of the sound. Enjoy one of the most unique performances I've captured and make sure to be on the lookout for Natalia around the NYC Subway system! She is an official artist with Music Under New York (MUNY) which is a program run by the MTA Arts & Design program. Artist must apply, be accepted, and then are scheduled to perform at certain locations and times.

I met Luis in the Times Square subway station in Manhattan where he was entertaining thousands of New Yorkers as they made their way on a Wednesday night. He was belting out some hits and dancing along with the people. New York has an energy that is unique to the city and Luis is definitely one of the people adding to that vibe.

00:00 - My Way

02:09 - Pirates of the Caribbean

04:54 - The Simpson's Theme

06:45 - Pink Panther

09:51 - In the Mood

13:13 - The Glory Days

15:37 - Mamma Mia 18:06 - Let it Go

22:01 - Hedwig's Theme

26:31 - Venezuela

In the shadows of Coors Field in downtown Denver is a "micro-district" known as Dairy Block. There is this really neat alley that runs between the buildings and that is where I found Grant strumming along. He recorded 4 original songs that sounded so familiar. After recording, I didn't ask him what songs he'd performed because I was sure I'd heard them before. It wasn't until I started editing the episode I realized they were originals! I have to say I am impressed with the song writing coming out of Denver.

The mural in the video is called "An Ode to the Eyes" and was painted by Nicholas Napoletano (@napoletanoart).

00:00 - Another Day, Another Dollar

06:27 - Through the Breeze

10:14 - Rivers You Must Cross

15:49 - Like a Fountain

I met MIke ( @painwavesband ) on the 16th Street Mall in Denver. He was busking outside a 7-11 off Champa and sounded great. He recorded two originals and one verse of a third. He's a talented young man and worth a listen if you find yourself hanging out in Denver.