Street Musicians Research

   When I’m walking around downtown I always see people sitting and standing on little corners, singing songs or playing instruments. Many people look at them as being homeless, or just doing this for money, but I look at them differently. I look at them as if they are normal people, wanting to express their artistic talents to the world. I wanted to show people that these aren’t just homeless people who want money, even though some are homeless. Rather, these are people who want to teach the world lesson, they want to bring people together, and they all have stories. I decided to display the stories of different street musicians that really caught my attention.

street musicians have a story, and that they’re people that think outside the box. Just like the average person that goes to work and make money. This is his job, his way of making a living for himself. He had trouble getting a “real” job, because he was disabled and in a wheel chair. His way of making money was something that not all people have the courage or strength to do. To actually stand out in the cold, and to not be guaranteed you’ll have enough money at the end of the day for even buying food. He still comes out and plays his instrument, and sits in the cold, and has the courage to express is art. Even though he didn’t really talk and he didn’t really say anything about the music he was playing, the few words that he did say helped get a really relevant point across for my project. 

         Through all my research and interviewing, I learned that all my opinions about street musicians was true. Not all of them are just homeless, some of them are just people trying to express their thoughts to the world. They’re people who want to use their talents, to help others understand, and to help give themselves and others a voice. There are some that actually do this for a living; they use this as their life career.  I also learned that being a street musician is not easy at all, and takes a lot of courage, strength, and faith. To be able to stand out in the cold weather all day, and not be guaranteed that you’ll make money, or even that you’ll be successful, takes faith and strength. To be able to go out into the world, and be able to perform in front of a lot of people, strangers you’ve never seen, or maybe will judge you, takes courage.