Hi, my name is Rahi High. I’m not a busker, but I played one on T.V. for the past 5 years. Well kinda… If you happened to catch Much Music in the evenings over the last few years, I was the brotha singing on the corner with the purple pants and the wild Hendrix-like afro, who they’d cut to before and after commercial breaks to show how cool of a city T.O. is to the good folks living in places like Kugluktuk, Nunavut.

When I was doing it, I gotta lotta love for a busker… maybe because people knew that I really wasn’t a busker – it was just a phase that I had to go through for my musical evolution (like Joni Mitchell and Sam Cooke before me). Street performing was my Apollo and chitlin circuit, where I cut my teeth and learned how to get inside of a song. It also taught me how to hold an audience (you got one complimentary red light to hook them) and how not to think, which is the most important part of creating music.

Street performing was my Apollo and chitlin circuit, where I cut my teeth and learned how to get inside of a song. It also taught me how to hold an audience…

I predict – and I hope I’m wrong here – but I think as things get tighter and more jobs leave North America, people with and without talent will be attracted to street performing as a way to make money. Huge mistake! I have friends who sound as professional as anything that’s ever been on the radio, who can’t even make bus fair home when they’ve tried. Because I made it look easier than it was, I think I inspired many musicians to take to the streets. They’d watch me sell 30, 35 CDs in a few hours and decide to take the corner next Saturday… only to find no love. Zero! Almost Hate. You’ve gotta get a thick skin to busk. Get into the habit of not taking anything personally – even when they tell you you can walk on water and turn water into wine – let that bounce off as well and get back inside of the song.

I’d get haters too. Not to air dirty laundry, but about 90% of my haters were black folks who were embarrassed that somebody who looked like them was panhandling. And making all that noise! But for every hater, I’d get 10 lovers to balance it out. The downside is that for every lover (awake person) there’d be 99 zombies, who couldn’t even hear the music because it sounded so unlike what was on American Idol last night. My stats stacked up something like this: if 1,000 pedestrians would pass me in an hour period on Queen Street, I’d get 1 hater, 10 awake people, and about 989 zombies. Depending on where I was mentally – if I was focusing on the message in the song, or the love vibe or the little children in front of me (who are like 99% awake and 1% zombied), I could telepathically attract more awake music lovers to walk past me instead of taking a different route home. When I focused on the money (rent), or blamed the zombies for being asleep, I’d push people away and ironically make less money. This is one sin that I was guilty of.

Here’s a list of things to remember if you decide to go out:

Never play an okay song: Play only great songs. If you can’t write great tunes, find some covers, especially some of the unknown diamonds.

Don’t do it for the money: If you have a CD or yours that you feel strongly about, it’s best to ditch the guitar case. My all time record was last summer, when I had no tip jar out. Funny thing is that the same people who’d walk past me if I had my case out, insist on leaving loonies and twoonies on my table when they don’t see a tip jar. But whether or not you have a tip jar or CDs, keep getting into the story you’re relaying.

Do it professionally: Get the T.O. permit ($38 for 4 years). Get an amplifier (which is against the rules on the permit, but necessary if you wanna be heard – Long & McQuade rents them for $20 per month). Dress in clean clothes (you’ll be judged if you don’t and it’ll cost you CD sales). And don’t go into the corner, go right into the center and show heart.

Start with some start-up: Modern music isn’t really sold because of the quality of the music. It’s sold because of cool… success is always cool. And there ‘s nothing cool about a guy singing with 26 cents in his case. In fact, I may take pity on him and give him some more change. Maybe another 26 cents, he likes nickels and pennies… But if I look down and only see loonies and twoonies, maybe a $5 I think, “This guy’s alright… maybe I should grab a CD incase I don’t see him again.” When it comes time to tip, I’m not gonna insult you with quarters. Try this combo: 7 twoonies, 6 Loonies and a 5 dollar bill ($25).

And lastly, don’t judge the zombies for being zombified: They’re supposed to be. Someone spent a lot of money to make them drowsy over the years and decades. Just keep blessing them, and you’ll win a few over.