Busking Nationally

[6stringbrothers]

Hi everybody,

My brother and I are driving from New England to Oregon, then down the west coast and back east. We are going to be busking in 12-15 cities for a few days at each city. We are hoping to earn enough money each stop to make it around the country.
From experience or word of mouth, how strictly do most cities enforce busking regulations (i.e. holding a permit specific to that city)? Is it something we should be concerned with, or do you think that we won't have any problems as long as we are respectful of the area and the people?

We really appreciate any feedback about this, or any other comments that might be helpful to us along the way.

Thanks!

[Isabella]

If you are white, clean cut, respectful, and don't smell like pot/incense/European, it's probably a safe bet to find a good spot and set up, checking with any business owners around to see if they'll be OK with you being there. If approached by police, you can say 'sorry' and move along. But if you have a cell phone and spend half an hour on the internet looking up phone numbers, you can probably find out the actual rules for most places you go before you get there, and that might increase your profits and your pleasure. Good luck!

[6stringbrothers]

Thanks for the helpful response!

[Peter]

Check the Library here, Rex Boyd has an article titled "How To Find a Place to Street Perform" which is EXCELLENT and give all the info you need. BTW Every time I go on vacation I busk my way to and from the destination, Wife & I went to her face & body painting convention in Orlando FL, hotel was $110 a night group rate. She conventioned I busked for 7 days. We got home with $1000 more than we spent for the week.

Doesn't always work that way but it did that trip!!