A NYC subway musician and musical saw player tells what happens when she plays in the subway

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• 59th street & Lexington
• busking
• Herald Square
• Music Under New York
• musical saw
• Shuttle
• St. George Ferry Terminal
• Times Square
• Uncategorized
• Union Square
• Whitehall Ferry Terminal

Getting up the four flights of stairs to the subway platform was hard for me today because I am recovering from having strained a muscle in my back. I was hoping somebody would offer to help me bring my busking gear up the stairs, but everybody just walked on past me

While on the train, three MTA track repair workers entered the car I was in. One of them asked me: “Are you going to play at 59th street?” I told him that today I am playing at Times Square. He asked me how my CD sales are going. The other MTA guy said: “Today is a nice day for busking”. The 3rd guy has never seen me play. Talking with these guys put me in a good mood. I needed that after the hardship of climbing the stairs.

There was a sax player at the 59th street station. I remember the days when the majority of subway buskers were sax players. Then there got to be too many of them and they started to do really bad because people were tired of the sound (which was practically at every subway station). So sax players stopped busking in the subway and for a while there were no sax players in the subway at all. Now they are back, in moderation.

A guy collecting donations on the train for the homeless greeted me as he passed by me. I felt honored to be recognized.

An older couple bought my CD and the guy told me that he hasn’t heard musical saw playing since he was a kid. Evangelists in Nebraska and Kansas used to play the musical saw back then, he said.

The girl who used to be a pickpocket was transferring from the 1/2/3 trains to the 4/5/6 trains. She told me the police threw her off the train (she panhandles). She is planning to file a complaint against the cops. She walks the trains begging, telling people that she is a single mother with two kids… it makes for a good story.

Photographer: hoimoi

The guy who restores old bars (as in drinking spots) came to say ‘hi’. He told me the police gave his neighbors a visit this morning, looking for somebody. I told him “as long as they were not looking for you!”
He is on his way to sort out the paperwork for shipping a restored bar to Greenpoint.

A cop came to tell me that he’s never heard the musical saw before and he asked me how long I’ve been playing. He was nice.

The X-pickpocket girl walked by me again and told me about a transvestite guy who panhandles on the trains. He is collecting money for a sex change operation. He was just arrested by some police officers who called him demeaning names as they were arresting him. I never know how much of this girl’s stories is true and how much she makes up… She said the transvestite called her from jail and told her that they put him with men (he expected to be put with women).

The cop who talked with me before saluted to me as he left his shift with some other cops.

Somebody put a Falun Dafa fbrochure in my donations box.
Someone put a small booklet of the visual artist Mladen Stropnik in my donations box.

At 3pm Andy Friedberg, the jazz guitarist also known as “New York Express”, came for his permitted spot. He told me that his cut-off temperature for playing in the subway is 40 degrees. Mine is 35.

Geo Suquillo (who usually plays solo guitar in the subway) was playing with Edgar of Raices Group (Andean music) at the Music Under New York busking spot by the record store. Geo was in Ecuador since Christmas. He said it was a nice place to recharge his batteries.

Clovia, the homeless lady who always carries a guitar with her, was dressed beautifully in an all coordinated ensemble she painted in her famous dots pattern. She told me that the free apartment offered her didn’t work out - the guy wanted something she couldn’t give him…
She won $2,500 in the lottery and bought herself all the stuff she ever wanted and it all got stolen, except for a DVD player. She is now on her way to buy cords for it, to replace the stolen ones, so that she could watch movies. She also has three cell phones - one was given to her, one she bought and when she thought she lost it she bought another one, then found the old one.

On the train home a group of Nortenos were playing.

As I got to the Music Under New York busking spot at Union Square there was a guy sleeping on the right hand side bench. He had a guitar lying next to him. On the left bench there was a lady with very swollen legs, also sleeping.

At 12:15 the Chinese erhu player started playing on the platform below and he was really loud. He forced me to turn up my volume in order to be heard above his sound.

Arnold, the messenger came to say ‘hi’. He was afraid he’ll catch a cold because he is in and out of the subway - it’s hot in the subway and cold outside.

Photographer: Jenni Gehlbach

I noticed many people passing by me were holding Mickey Mouse shaped balloons in red, pink, yellow and blue colors. There must be some kind of a promotion going on outside.

I asked the sanitation lady if she has to work tomorrow (Thanksgiving Day). She said she does. I told her I will be playing in the subway tomorrow, too.

Heth, the guitar player, went by. He was supposed to play on 8th Avenue but there is construction going on there. He went to all the different busking spots, hoping to find an alternate spot, but they were all taken! Everybody is out, playing!

Photographer: © Shawn Grimes

At 1:58 the Chinese erhu player left. I felt such a relief and happiness. I was glad I survived his setting up on me and that I didn’t give up.

A guy shook my hand and said: “Oh, now I got the power!”

A lady named Debbie told me she used to play clarinet and now she plays harmonica. She wants to learn to play the musical saw. She said she can’t sight read but she has a good ear. She wanted to know what brand of saw to get.

Shogu, the guitar player from Japan, went by and Lester, the harmonica player, also went by. A girl from Yeshiva University told me that she just interviewed Moses, the other musical saw player, at Grand Central Station, Geo Suquillo, the electric guitar player from Ecuador, at Times Square and Yily Nelson, Spanish guitarist from the Dominican Republic, at 34th street - for a student paper. Everybody is out, playing!

The sanitation lady came over especially to tell me that she just heard that there is a bomb threat in the subway for between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “So, stay out of the subway during this time if you can” she said. We both knew that that ain’t gonna happen - both she and I will be in the subway almost daily for the next month.

A nice lady helped me carry my busking cart up the stairs at the subway station, even though she herself had a load of bags to carry. Some people are so kind!

There were three Nortenos on the train, playing bass guitar, regular guitar and accordion. They were wearing white straw hats that had the word ‘Rodeo’ printed on them.

Ron Gibbs, a jazz guitar player, was at the Music Under New York spot at the Times Square subway station. As he packed up his busking gear and I set up mine we talked about the importance of making eye contact with the audience while busking.

The homeless man with curly hair who likes to travel said ‘hi’. He had a bad smell today but was cheerful as always.

A guy named Paul told me that he worked on the movie “Dummy” with actor Adrien Brody and me

The MTA track inspector was wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Michigan Dad’. I asked him if he is from Michigan - turnes out his son is studying there. Even though this guy is only in his 40’s, he has a 23 year old daughter and he has grandchildren. “Things happen… ” he said. I told him this is really lucky for his kids and grandchildren to have such a young father/grandfather.

The record store owner told me that he calls the cops on the hip-hop dancers. One cop confiscated money and equipment from the dancers and gave them a summons.
He also told me that he learned to identify people’s accents from working at the store.

The acrobat with no legs who travels in a wheel chair set up on the other side of the store. His interesting skill of playing a harmonica while balancing on one arm catches people’s attention. He spends time both in NYC and in Santa Monica, CA.

Cesar, the keyboard player/singer, told me he got a ticket for $50 two weeks ago, for playing on the platform with an amp. He moved to the Far Rockaway and was now on his way to give his 80 year old mother his shopping cart. “It takes her two hours just to go to the store to buy sugar. I got to take care of her now”, he said.

Geovanni Suquillo, the guitar player, had the permit for 3pm at the spot. He told me he had a problem with undercover cops at 14th street last Thursday evening. They claimed he was not allowed amplification on the mezzanine (which is absolutely not true). He showed them his permit and they said “just keep it down”…

Below on the platform the older Chinese dulcimer player who never says ‘hi’ was packing up his busking gear. He doesn’t seem to play too long in one spot - maybe two hours and he packs up.

Like many New Yorkers, I know the exact spot on the subway platform to wait for the train, so that when I get to my destination station I will exit the train exactly where the elevator/stairs out are. I usually wait at that spot, but today was so hot that I decided to wait at the end of the shaded area on the platform of the elevated train instead.
When the train arrived, I and other passengers quickly walked to the spot where we all wanted to get on the train from. The train didn’t stop… it just whisked by, leaving us all dismayed on the platform.
A girl in a blue hat asked me if this happens often.
Saw Lady: “I’m too lazy to go back to the shade”.
Girl: “It’s so hot, though”.
Saw Lady: “You know the moment we get to the shade the train will arrive and we’ll have to walk right back”.
Girl: “I’m gonna give it a try, to see if it makes the train come sooner”.
As soon as she reached the shadow - the train arrived. The girl walked back.
Saw Lady: “it worked!”
Girl: “Like magic”

When I arrived at the Music Under New York spot at Union Square, Geo was playing his guitar at the spot. He told me that when he got to the spot this morning, he played two songs and a string broke off on his guitar. I told him I once broke a saw playing at 53rd street.

A woman with very long hair told me she doesn’t have much $ but she makes sandwiches and walks around the city giving sadwitches to homeless people. She asked me if I’m hungry. I told her that I just had breakfast. “I hope you are blessed today” the woman said to me.

Guy: “Last time I saw you it was my stuffed animal’s birthday, remember?” I did remember (how could I forget such a thing?!).
Guy: “Today is my birthday”.
Saw Lady: “Every time you see me it’s somebody’s birthday.”

Delfin Tardio, the singer/guitar player, was looking for a spot. “Why are there so many police around you?” he asked.
Saw Lady: “I guess I look suspicious :)”
Delfin: “Maybe they are guarding you. Do you feel safe? :)”

“The Fellows”, Bo, Chill and a new singing partner - John, were making their rounds singing on the trains. Romero is no longer with them, they said.
Saw Lady: “Romero branched out”
John, the new guy: “and I branched in”.
Chill: “We gave Romero (or, ‘Romeo’, as Chill calls him) the pink-slip because he didn’t show up twice. We can’t work like that.”
Then they all burst into the song “Pretty Little Girl” in my honor, as they so often do when they see me.

A guy named Rafael told me the tip handle of the musical saw looks like a fish.
Three policemen escorted a guy with his hands handcuffed behind his back.

Joe, the homeless man with a hook arm, told me he was in a shelter in Queens. He got a fireman’s shirt and looked very nice. He was on his way to Washington Square. I played ‘Over the Rainbow’ for Joe, as I know it is his favorite song.

A guy told me his mother used to play the musical saw 30 years ago in Harlem. She also played the harp, but just for friends - not professionally. She used to play “Over the Rainbow”, too, he said.

Joe told me that he got banned for life from the Virgin Record store upstairs, because he was caught on camera drinking. He liked to go into that store to listen to Johnny Cash. He then had to do 18 hours of community service. He was also caught once smoking in the subway, but the cop only told him not to do it anymore.
Today he found a 1/2 pack of cigarettes. He said it must have belonged to somebody who wanted to quit smoking and threw it away with disgust.
Joe is 52 years old. He doesn’t do drugs. He drinks. He said he remembers that he owes me $3. He is a good guy.

On the train home two Nortenos in black hats were playing guitar and acordion.

As I reached the subway station, on my way to playing in the subway, a lady looked at me and said “I saw you on channel 13!”. That’s so nice.
When I got to the Times Square subway station there were two hoofers (tap dancers) on the platform. Each one of them had their individual tap-board. It reminded me of when I used to do that - tap dance on street corners. That was my official beginnings as a busker.

As I started to play at the Music Under New York spot on the mezzanine by the record store, the store owner came out of the store, walked towards me and said “why so loud?!” Then immediately he said “I’m joking”.
He told me that he had contacted the people mentioned in the ‘Village Voice‘ article I gave him about ‘Fania’, the record label he likes.
He said he only came out of the store to say ‘hi’ to me. I lowered my volume even though he didn’t ask me to. It’s nice that he likes me, despite the fact that he hates it when musicians busk next to his store.

A guy greeted me, saying “you haven’t been around lately”. I explained that I had a gig at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. “Welcome back!” he said.

A guy carrying a cello on his back said ‘hi’.
Romero and his two friends who sing on the trains said ‘hi’. I noticed Romero wasn’t wearing his hat. He said he doesn’t wear it in the summer.

A Chinese guy carrying a triangular zither was on his way to playing on the1/2/3 platform.

Two folks asked me to hold a sign that said “Welcome to Mathatan” (this is not a spelling mistake). Their friend, who’s name is ‘Mat’, is moving from Seattle to Manhattan and they are taking photos of things that are only in Manhattan, as a welcome present for him.

At 1:45 Romero the singer passed me on his way back. He was done singing with the morning trio he works with and was now on his way to catch up with the afternoon trio he sings with. “You work so hard” I told him. “I’m in demand ” he answered.

A guy told me he read about me because he did a paper for college, about subway musicians. “How did you do on your paper?” I asked. “I aced it” he said.

An MTA worker told me that he starts working at 7AM. I told him I’ll be on TV tomorrow and he said he will watch.

The record store owner came to tell me that they have to raise their sound system’s volume because they can hear me along with their music inside the store. I told him that I can hear their music also along with my music…

Geo (Geovanni Suquillo) the guitar player arrived for his permitted time slot after me. He told me that a musician from Bolivia told him that the Andean group was playing upstairs on Broadway. They were playing a Beatles cover song. A limousine stopped on the street behind them. A lady in dark glasses came out of the limo, went to their donations box and put $300 there. She got back in the limo and drove away.
It was Yoko Ono.

Geo also told me how he was playing in the subway in Queens when he heard shots. Then he saw the crowd running. Police and a lot of men wearing black suits (FBI?) came, so he stopped playing and went to see what happened. He saw the police putting tape around an area with a dead person on the floor. He didn’t resume playing after that…

As I was talking with Geo, Heth (guitar player who plays in the subway with his brother, Jed) walked by on his way to playing at 8th Avenue. He told me that the police is not giving busking permits for street corners at 60th street and Lexington Avenue any more. Also, they are only giving permits to 3 spots on Broadway these days. They are shutting down busking spots. Heth said he is going to fight it with the help of some 1st amendment rights organizations.

Ming-Jun, the cello player, also came by, on his way to playing on the platform.
I was finished packing up and Geo was ready to start playing. He was wearing the yellow shirt of the Ecuador soccer team - he told me that he is rooting for Ecuador’s soccer team - they have a game against Columbia coming up for the world cup which will be in 2012 in South Africa.

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"Amazing and quite musical in the expressiveness she was able to get from a tableful of bells. Brava!"
William Bolcom, Pulitzer Prize winning composer

ALSO.... Please check out my MP3 page where you can listen to me playing the musical saw. You can also download my music there.
Also please check out my website www.SawLady.com

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