tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50785426039197855282012-02-15T22:42:48.175-08:00Imagine spending a year underground... That's what I'm doing (sort of). For the next year I'll be playing my vibraphone regularly in the New York City subway system and this blog acts as a dynamic account of the experience (this blog can also be found on the facebook group "Subway Vibes"). I go into the stations to play at least once a week so check back to read about all the wild things that happen and to revel in the life epiphanies that reveal themselves through.... Subway VibesGoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.comBlogger71100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078542603919785528.post-39198877309902175482009-02-22T08:26:00.000-08:002009-02-22T08:29:07.992-08:00

Jeff & I recently took our subway act to the stage! We played this concert at Galapagos in Brooklyn. This is a video of a subway performance!

GoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078542603919785528.post-56694016806497316342009-02-05T11:18:00.000-08:002009-02-05T11:21:07.717-08:00

The plan was to meet Jeff on the 6 Uptown line. It’s always nice to busk ('busking" is a verb for "street performing") with someone, especially if you both have large, non-portable instruments, so that you can take bathroom breaks & coffee breaks while the other person stays with the gear. I’ve also noticed that fewer [crazy] people try to talk to me when I’m not alone. After randomly meeting Rat

GoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078542603919785528.post-50315813361868896762009-02-04T13:07:00.000-08:002009-02-04T18:55:39.540-08:00

Many moons ago, in the land of Charlottesville, Virginia, I played vibraphone and Vietnamese xylophone (“T’Rung”) in a band called "Julia and the Rat Snax." We specialized in Klezmer and popular dance band music from the 1920s-1940s. The lead accordion player, Lisa (also known as “Rat”), and I met after I had spent afternoons passing her by on Charlottesville’s downtown mall as she played the

GoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078542603919785528.post-23354557733150592442009-01-29T10:23:00.000-08:002009-02-04T18:57:57.243-08:00

On this outing I teamed up with Jeff, a metal drummer and my neighbor. He’s been playing in the subways by himself, usually late at night. Our schedules coalesced and we decided to hit the underground together as a duo. We met up with Eddie, an outspoken guitar player who helped us move the drum set and vibraphone from various locations in the Bronx and Brooklyn to the Union Square station. Alas,

GoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078542603919785528.post-5070120432472072222009-01-29T10:22:00.000-08:002009-02-04T18:59:35.457-08:00

On New Years Day at the Times Square subway station I passed a fellow busker, a wild-haired 80 year old man, the type of fellow with a twinkle in his eye and ever loose dentures jiggling inside his mouth, who sat cloaked in a turtle neck and warm black jacket in front of a small electric piano. He had the “demo” setting ablast with high energy polka drum beats and his left hand controlled the

GoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078542603919785528.post-33004323535967751312009-01-29T10:20:00.000-08:002009-02-04T19:01:14.916-08:00

They don’t have bathrooms on the subway platforms, and I couldn’t leave my bulky instrument alone for a trip above ground to the nearest coffee shop nor could I carry it with me. The subway elevators seem to be the location of choice for the people who actually live down there, but that’s not really my style. Luckily, I had my Chief of Security around to keep an eye on the vibes while I made a

GoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078542603919785528.post-36446413818317515282009-01-29T10:17:00.000-08:002009-02-04T19:02:27.919-08:00

You might think, "If I were going to play in the subway, I would go where the most people will see me and therefore have the largest possible audience." That's what I thought. I stopped to play directly in the middle of the mezzanine hallway where hundreds of people whizzed by at rapid paces as they raced from the entrance to catch their train. I had 100% of everyone's ear, and yet, they raced

GoodVibeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10218669375683659604noreply@blogger.com0