Time for a little Monday morning a cappella. Here’s vocalist Rhoda Weaver performing her version of the classic Bill Withers song “Ain’t No Sunshine” a few weeks ago on the corner of Patton Avenue and S. Lexington.
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You go girl!
That was FIERCE!
Is it just a coincidence that the only singers profiled in this section worth a damn have been of the african-american persuasion?
Them white folks might want to spend more time on their vocals, and less on their affectations and outfits.
Walked past Friday night (late for something), so struck with the beauty of her singing.
Is it any coincidence that the only rap music posted on the forums is from a poster who obviously loves it and can tell the difference between sh** and shinola but can’t write, play or post anything of their own? Just saying do it your own self before passing judgement. Read on for more positive encouragement for busker types. Agreed about goofy hairdos and fake busking names while entertaining as replacements for raconteurship.
That aside, good singin’ is good singin’ and if you have to assign a color barrier to it, well don’t listen to any brothas or sistas who play classical music as it “belongs” to whitey Europeans and they can’t ever know how to play it right. Obvious sarcasm. Not affiliated with any politcal party by the way for purposes of music critique.
The only thing I really enjoy about meeting buskers (an Australian term) is that you never know what you’ll find. It might be doofus scenester with a cute haircut or maybe a woman who can stand on her own without instruments and sing the living sh** out of a song.
Always carry single bills when walking through downtown Asheville. You might find something you like.
P.S. I call gotcha for Steve S. recording Now You See Them’s Bele Chere Show. I saw you in a picture and now know what your rig looks like. Vive le compact recording device for street travel. I’m saving up for a similar device.
I only wish I had one of Steve S.’s audio “traps” for having to sit in the Charlotte airport every time I travel from here by plane. There’s a grand piano located in the main atrium (separating all the Concourse A, B, C, D and E) gates and I’ve sat in the rocking chair lounge there and heard some soulful MFers who are just killing time before catching a flight.
I live in Asheville, but where else can you find piano players who bang out everything from Art Tatum to Sun Ra to the guy from Journey to Sam and Dave to Carl Stalling ala the Bugs Bunny cartoon around the 1940s. I’d love to see a film crew capture some busking prowess there and post it here. It’s still kind of local.
does anyone ever know what the heck boatrocker is talking about?
“Is it just a coincidence that the only singers profiled in this section worth a damn have been of the african-american persuasion?
Them white folks might want to spend more time on their vocals,……………………..”
I though Baby Cowboy was quite good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrafFLzSQqY
ms dial, i was referring specifically to the busk break featurees.
were they featured?
“I call gotcha for Steve S. recording Now You See Them’s Bele Chere Show. I saw you in a picture and now know what your rig looks like. Vive le compact recording device for street travel. I’m saving up for a similar device.”
It’s not exactly a secret. It’s just a Kodak zi8 and a Zoom H4n mounted to a modified lighting bracket so I can have a hand free to push buttons and adjust sound levels. I’m thinking about adding a monopod for stability.
I believe they were…Mr winking pyramid. <:-)
After posing the question to Steve S. about the specific equipment used to record the busk break thing, it was a nice treat to see it in action via photgraph. Yeah, I’m still saving up for a similar device. Give me a few decades an I’ll let you know how it works out.
Still laughing at Caleb’s lack of comprehension of a rebuttal dealing with his asinine assumption that white folks lack proper singing skills to sing on the streets. Some buskers featured here have had better pipes than others sure, while some have relied on monikers and cute clothes, but keep scratching your head if you can’t understand that color doesn’t equal singing ability. I’d hate to have to bring up Milli Vanilli.
Actually, boaty, its British, and probably comes from a Spanish root ‘buscar’.
I think I probably found the same site you reference that mentions buscar (to seek) from the Latin buskin-cool read nonetheless. Even so, be sure to check out the newer Busk Break features this week to see some white folks who can sing too. This is easily my second favorite section of the Xpress next to The Disclaimer.