It has been just over a week since I moved to NYC, in hopes of making a living from street performing and teaching music lessons. I moved from Orlando, FL, where I had made something of a reputation for myself. I would often walk up to the busy corner of Central and Orange to find a musician or two and before I could even speak a word to them, they would say with respectful apology, “We were just on our way, you can have your spot.” I performed late nights on the streets of Orlando to the drunks, the police, the proselytizers and the homeless for about six months, starting in November last year. When fights broke out, I would sing “All You Need is Love” and when groups in their mid-twenties would walk past, I’d bust out 90′s classics by Third Eye Blind or the Cranberries.

Busking seemed to be a profitable endeavor at first, I was averaging around twenty dollars a night (though I was told by some fellow musicians that I would fare much better in larger cities like NYC or San Francisco). As time wore on and the economy worsened, I found that the morale of the Orlando night scene was decreasing lower and lower ‚Äì and that there was a reciprocal relationship between the low morale and the amount I would make on any given night. Rather than “keep it up” or “great job”, I was hearing “give it up” and “get a job”; I had people insult me, throw things at me, spit in my case; they would toss garbage rather than change into my case. After a long period of meager earnings, excessive verbal and emotional abuse, I determined that downtown Orlando was no longer a healthy environment for me to perform.

I discontinued my weekend outings and got to work on music of my own. I recorded and released a debut solo CD, which was immediately followed by a five week tour to Seattle, WA. I played in a dozen different cities, slept on at least as many living room couches, and made countless new friends and acquaintances. I had been planning on moving to NYC for about two years, not necessarily knowing how I would pay my bills; but after putting all the work into releasing my CD and touring (all done totally DIY), I had a renewed confidence in myself and my musical abilities. I knew that I could make it in NYC as a street performer and music instructor.

I’ve been in NYC for a week now and have hardly worked up the nerve to get out there and make my statement, to this city and to the world. The questions are looming: will NYC treat me any better than Orlando did? Will the cops harass me? Will I be able to pay my bills?

Only time will tell ‚Äì at which point I’ll have the answers to these questions. I get started next week, so stay tuned. Peace.

myspace.com/giosafari