By: John Wyatt, a retired teacher living in Greenville.
This is a contributor-submitted Voices piece. Want to join the conversation? We invite you to write for us. Learn how to share your voice here.
We used to say all we needed for our home after retirement was a good walking town with a good library and a good nearby grocery. While exploring many great towns and cities across the U.S., our thoughts kept returning to Greenville. The beautiful downtown, the friendly people, the variety of entertainment and especially the street music drew us back.
In addition to numerous music events throughout the summer, Greenville welcomes those of us who just want to play our music any day of the week on the street. We are the buskers. Not all municipalities welcome street performers, but Greenville has an enviable warm air of acceptance.
In order to perform on the street here, musicians must register for a license every year + display it while playing. The cost is $50 for each participant in addition to the cost of a background check. There are a number of rules to follow including no AC powered amplification; use of city electricity is not permitted. Battery powered amps are usually approved with restrictions on volume. Certain areas are off limits, and performers can not sell CDs or other items. The city has all the street performer information available on their website at greenvillesc.gov.
Since there can be a considerable investment in specialized equipment and time and skill development, no one is getting rich on the street. Love of performing and the music itself is the big draw. It isn’t expected, but when pedestrians are appreciative and kick in some change, or a few dollars and sometimes more, it is definitely welcomed.
The performers are young, old, and in between. There are guitar players, singer/songwriters, violinists, keyboard players, sax and flute players, solo singers with a backing tape, bluegrass groups, accordion players, banjo soloists, and others. Most are pretty darned good. Some are covering songs they think will be popular, some are doing their original material. They may be playing to augment their income, to upgrade their live performance skills, or just for the joy of music.
The latter is the case for my wife and me. When we first came to Greenville, we started playing local open mic nights, which led to playing on the street. We load up our wagons with guitar and bass, mics and our battery amps + head for one of two or three favorite spots within walking distance. We love it when people passing by smile, dance or sing along.
As the weather improves with the season, look for us and many more like us on Greenville’s Main Street. We are grateful that Greenville welcomes us as performers and allows us to continue to contribute to the character of our beautiful and vibrant downtown through music.
