Busking

Today a dedicated friend of mine traversed with me to downtown Denver, and we decided to be street musicians for the afternoon.  There was a troupe of students going to the museum for an art exhibit, so we hitched a ride in the van and picked a relatively busy street to serenade the passers-by and see if we could make some tips while we were at it!  [I found out after performing that this is in fact referred to as "busking," though Wikipedia says we are also minstrels or troubadours - Street Performing]

We had an acoustic guitar, a ukelele, our voices, and musical knowledge.  And that's all we needed.

Song selections included "Everybody" by Ingrid Michaelson, "Better" by Regina Spektor, "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, and "Over the Rainbow" because that's basically the song the ukelele was created for.

We met several new acquaintances, some familiar with YWAM, others familiar with the local coffeehouse/open mic scene.  We were asked for our phone numbers once, if we can play any rock n roll, and whether or not we smoke weed.  We responded "no" to all three inquiries.

After playing for some time, we decided as a band that it was time for our first break, so we headed across the street to a local coffee shop for refreshments and to use the loo.  We walked into the shop where the workers could clearly see us across the street all afternoon in our plaid shirts, instruments in tow, and me carrying my lunch sack in a brown paper bag.  Due to fatigue, I did not think everything through and asked the location of the restrooms prior to ordering anything, to which the barista replied,

"They're only for paying customers."

To which I replied,

"I'll have an Americano."

Apparently we looked convincingly needy.  That must be the reason we made exactly $11.99.

Well, actually it was supposed to be an even $12.00, but an overly-enthusiastic donor decided to throw a fistful of change down, causing a single penny to fall onto the sidewalk.  I didn't pick up the penny because I thought my friend had picked it up and she thought the same.

But the greatest treasure of all the outing - We were evangelized.

Oh yeah.  One guy dropped a false $1,000,000 bill into my guitar case, complete with information on "The million dollar question" in life - Will you go to heaven when you die?!?  Below are images of the "bill" and my friend reading the back aloud to me over my Americano.

We're just going to ignore all the theologically incorrect things on this piece of paper and marvel at the fact that this actually happened.  This is real life.




Well, friends, that was my afternoon!  What did you do today?  What songs would you want to hear us perform in the future?  How would you answer the "million dollar question?" ;)