Street playin' man

BEING a street musician, says guitarist and busker Steve Smith cheerfully, is one of the oldest professions in the world. Not quite the oldest - we all know what that is - but certainly a way of living that has a long and honourable tradition. As much so in York as anywhere.

At least since Roman times, Steve insists, buskers, story-tellers and musicians have been on the city's streets. In some ways, perhaps because they used to travel a lot, they were the ancient equivalent of news vendors.

"People used to come to them to learn what was going on in the rest of the country," the 36-year-old musician says.

Certainly in modern York the street musicians are part of what makes the city special - especially in the summer. Guitarists, harpists, pianists, Russian folk musicians, brass bands and 1920s dance orchestras; the chances are if you walk through the centre of York on a summer's day you'll hear the sound of one if not all of these drifting towards you along an ancient street.

But who are the people behind the music? And why do they do what they do? We decided to find out.

Steve Smith

"Busker" Steve jokes that he plays to more than 1,000 people a day. "It's just that they are one at a time!" he says.

The 36-year-old from Tang Hall, York, is instantly recognisable as the guitarist in the funny hat - it's a Sahara hat, he says, with dignity - and the cardboard sign which reads: "I am not homeless, not hungry, not on drugs and not depressed. I am a full-time York street musician."

Why does he feel the need for that sign? It is to make the distinction, he says, between somebody like himself who is a bona-fide musician, and those who think because they can squeeze an out-of-tune note out of a penny whistle it makes them a street entertainer. "It does not," he says firmly.

He himself has been playing the guitar since he was seven - and working more or less full time as a street musician for six years. "I pay my tax and national insurance!" he says.

Steve, usually to be found in Stonegate, plays everything from rock'n' roll to blues and folk - usually covers of well-known songs. "I call myself a bit of a tart, because I do what people want," he says. "I do write my own stuff, but don't busk it much. You've got to attract people."

Busking certainly beats his previous job, he says. He did seven years in the Army, then went into hotel and catering management. He worked at some big hotels - including the Grosvenor in London. But it was no life.

"The thing about hotel and restaurant administration is that it is a lot of hard work and pressure for very little money," he says.

"Waiters are extraordinarily talented and very patient people - and they demonstrate a lot more patience than they are given." He was working something like 80 hours a week towards the end for a meagre £11,000, he says. "I had just had enough." He went to the south of France, where he combined bar work and busking. When he came back to Britain decided he'd try to make a go of it.

He busks all year round - though naturally, he makes most of his money in the summer. In winter, he sometimes ekes out what he makes busking by working in a restaurant. He even once did a stint as a store detective.

He has a girlfriend, but no children - and doesn't really have any long-term plans at the moment. He is studying psychology part-time at college. "But I don't really know where I'm going."

Mostly he enjoys the life: and he has some good tales to tell. "Two years ago, I had a chap who came up, stood and watched me for about 20 minutes, put a £5 note down and said 'that was good'," he recalls.

"He came back an hour later and said he'd lost his wallet, he had no money, and could he have his £5 back? So of course I said yes." The story, however, has a happy ending. "He came back the following day and gave me £10!"

The Imperial Young Gentleman's Dance Orchestra

If you were lucky enough to have been in Coppergate recently you couldn't fail to have been impressed by the high energy dance jazz sound emanating from the six young men who comprise the Imperial Young Gentleman's Dance Orchestra. Even weary punters queuing outside Jorvik were swaying and tapping their feet in time to the lively swing.

But who are they? Students or recent graduates of Leeds College of Music, says vocalist, trombonist and reluctant band leader Andy Hillier.

Andy and his band-mates - Andy Veal on trumpet and kettle, Damian Cook on clarinet, Xuan Lindenmeyer on sousaphone (a huge, mushrooming instrument a little like a musical umbrella), Gareth Parry on banjo and Phil Steel on percussion - are dedicated to keeping alive the spirit of New Orleans and 1920s dance jazz.

They recently won the Yorkshire busking festival at Ripon - and by this time next year, says Andy, intend to be full-time pros.

In the meantime, though, busking - plus dates at functions and events - is a good way to keep the wolf from the door.

The street is a great place to perform, Andy says. "It's not a ready-made audience, which means people listen because they want to. So it is a great way to spend a summer."

Svetlana and

Vladimir Zahar

On a couple of occasions recently, shoppers who turned into Stonegate will have been greeted by the sound of classical melodies such as the Ave Maria played with a haunting Russian lilt.

The musicians responsible are husband-and-wife pairing Svetlana and Vladimir Zahar.

Classically trained at the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatoire in St Petersburg, for ten years they have spent every summer travelling the great cities of Europe; sleeping in a camper van and playing concerts when they can get them and busking when they can't.

"Ten years ago it was a quite bad economic situation in Russia," explains 34-year-old Svetlana, "and we could not find a good way to make money for our families."

Svetlana plays the piano and cello, and is a trained conductor as well. But when performing in the street she plays the Domra, which looks a little like a Russian banjo. Vladimir, who's 35, plays the Bajan, a kind of Russian accordion.

They enjoy playing to audiences in the street, but Svetlana admits that as they get older the life becomes increasingly difficult - especially with their two children, a daughter aged five and son aged nine, getting older. Each autumn they return to Russia so their children can go to school. "But in Russia, as a musician you cannot make any money," says Svetlana.

To book the Imperial Young Gentleman's Dance Orchestra for a gig, call Andy Hillier on 07814 016486.

Updated: 11:41 Friday, August 23, 2002