Street Music Culture in America

Lead Editor: Princess Raymond; Deputy Editor: Rayiah Ross

Street music is a huge phenomenon in many places in the world. New York City is known for having talented artists from all walks of life, sharing their talent without us by getting out there in the streets and displaying it for the world to see. But New York City isn’t the only place where street music is booming, it’s everywhere! This post explores the various ways music is being shared in streets from cities from various cities.

Street Music
Tess Schumacher reporting from New York City, New York

Street music is an incredible part of New York City culture. It brings personality, and excitement to the city streets, and even subway platforms and trains night and day. Whether it be someone playing an instrument, singing, or dancing to a song, it is all equally fascinating and entertaining to witness. As a native New Yorker, seeing street music is an everyday phenomenon. I feel rather lucky to be able to experience such a unique culture daily. I love seeing the faces of tourists witnessing such things for the first time when they visit. In my two images below, you can see two different alternative dancers who I witnessed performing on the subway. The woman was doing an almost robotic style dance with rigid movements and perfectly timed moves, and the man was doing contortionist style movements such as popping his arm out of the socket and twisting it all the way around. It was almost hard to watch, but I couldn’t look away at the same time. It was thrilling to be sitting so close to such a performance. There were moments when I was sure I was going to be accidentally whacked by one of the dancers, but luckily I wasn’t. The fact that they were so precise with their choreography, especially while the train was moving, is incredible. Doing performances like this in front of random people is definitely a good way to gain recognition and earn good tips I can imagine. I fully support street music and performances and I can’t wait to see what I’m lucky enough to witness next.

Central Park’s Great Lawn Hosts Global Citizen Live 2021
By Gabrielle Fiorella Reporting Live From Manhattan, New York

The app, Global Citizen, where we had to obtain the tickets, had me on an emotional rollercoaster from the start of trying to win them! There were 3 drawings for winners and after receiving a rejection email the first time, the second time I entered I finally won two tickets. The lineup was so enticing from the start, not to mention the concert, in general, was for a really important cause. The weather was just perfect and the fact that it was outside in the wide-open space of the Great Lawn, we felt more comfortable. The performances included those of Cyndi Lauper, Alessia Cara, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Lizzo, Billie Eilish & the band that took the cake for me for best performance and set, Coldplay. Everyone put on a great show but Coldplay was number 1. As the night grew darker and more performances had come and gone, the crowd grew anxious for Billie Eilish, mainly because I had overheard various conversations of people saying that they only came to see Lizzo and Billie and once Billie had performed, they would leave. This shocked me because Coldplay hadn’t performed yet, but then I realized, not many people think of Coldplay as mainstream artists like Billie and Lizzo, even though Coldplay has been around longer. By the time all the other performances had come and gone, I was waiting in anticipation for Coldplay to come to the stage. The lights suddenly dimmed and the bracelets we were given when we arrived at the concert began flashing and blinking different colors. I had a slight suspicion that this is what they would do and I was so glad to be right because it was amazing. The lights flashing from the bracelets were coordinated with every song they sang. Tears, laughter, happiness and melancholy were all emotions I felt listening to their set. A while later, once the concert had ended, we left with so much happiness and satisfaction that we had just seen Coldplay. It was one of the absolute best and ethereal nights I have had in a while. I am already really looking forward to next year!

Averee Nelson Reporting from New York, New York

In New York City, everyone is walking to the beat of their own drum, and also to the added instrumentals from whatever shuffle mix they have queued up on Spotify or music being played on the street. The sounds of the city are always present. In my experience, some days I will hop on the subway and be pleasantly surprised by a band or I will have plans to see a musician perform somewhere in Manhattan. There is always an opportunity to get your daily dose of music around here. The Global Citizen annual concert was the highlight of my weekend. Not only was I able to support a great cause to create sustainable changes on our planet to combat climate change, but I was also able to see some of my favorite artists perform in support of this event. This was my first concert since the beginning of the pandemic and I did not realize how much I had missed live music and concert culture. I felt overwhelmed walking into the venue, seeing upwards of 20,000 people coming together on the Great Lawn in Central Park. I could barely see the stage because of the massive crowd of people sprawled across the lawn. Groups of people gathered on picnic blankets and were enjoying the beautiful weather and the guest speakers and performances. Others were clustered together dancing and chatting away. A highlight of the day was when Lizzo performed and took a chance to address the state of our planet. ​​“They want me to talk to y’all about climate change, but I feel like I don’t have to talk to you. We can see it,” she said. I felt a sense of unity wash over me. With a performance as massive as this, it left me in awe of how the power of music mixed with social justice can bring so many people into one spot. Just a year ago, a live performance like this was impossible — it wasn’t even a thought on most of our minds. After the concert, I can say that we can see the other side of this pandemic on our horizon.

Olivia Pietruszewski Reporting from Weymouth, Massachusetts

Living in the suburbs, finding an interesting music scene is not always the easiest thing. In order to discover new and exciting artists, I had to travel outside of the suburbs into a more city-like atmosphere. I went a few towns over to Quincy, Massachusetts which is a few miles just south of Boston. At a small, late-night crowd bar called The Craic, they had a series of musical guests performing a set of original music and covers throughout a Friday night. What stuck out most to me about this bar is its diverse crowd. There were people young and old from all different backgrounds. The musical guests varied across genders, ages, skill sets, and genres. The loud music may have made it impossible to have a conversation at the bar, but it also made it so that you can sing along as loud as you want without fear or judgment from others. It seemed as though everyone in the bar was getting lost in the music, allowing it to take them out of their realities and send them into this moment, surrounded by friends and strangers and strangers who became friends. My very favorite part of the night was as time went by, the musical guests needed a break from switching back and forth at the microphone. In order to give themselves that break, they invited people up to do some karaoke. From Lil Wayne to Johnny Cash, bar patrons grabbed the microphone and performed like it was their job.

Music Brings Us Together
Reporting live from NY, New York

New York is a breeding ground for artists and musicians. The show never stops with performances in the subway station, in the park, and anywhere else you can possibly think of. My favorite New York experience with music was actually in Central Park with a man playing the saxophone. It’s weird because obviously people play these instruments and dedicate their lives to them, but seeing it in person feels different. Back home in California, most of my live music experiences were from concerts or street experiences where someone set up a performance at a shopping center. While there were plenty of street performances, my memory of most of them was that they were pretty appropriate for their setting. New York isn’t like that at all though. I never know when I’m going to hear music. Sometimes it’s even someone obnoxiously playing it on their phone when walking into my store. And love listening to music, but hearing someone play live is an experience beyond explanation. Live performances also bring us all together and since the pandemic, togetherness is much overdue. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve had endless concerts that have been put on including a global citizen concert that I’m sure more of Manhattan attended than ever before in the light of the Pandemic. The power of music is extraordinary and I’ve never experienced it the same way anywhere else.

Shout!
By: Kemi Watson

Around the corner of the Kaufman, Theater Center hosts a plethora of restaurants and bars, and in the crevices of Steinway Street, you will encounter a Karaoke Bar called SHOUT. Shout surprisingly had a good crowd full of giddy people wanting to sing songs. I heard hard-rock music’s roaring sound as I approached the palace, and I was instantly captivated. Being a professional and avid singer myself, I could not resist the temptation to dominate the mic. I cornered the bartender and asked, “Where do I sign up!”, he smiled and handed me a card and a pen and said, “Sign away.” The thrill of looking through the music book full of songs was rising. I eventually settled on The Cranberries “Zombie” song. As I took the mic, the words came out of me with ease, and my vocal ability was subpar. I am happy to say that the crowd was satisfied. New York is a place where karaoke is accepted and can run all night.

…This Summer In Pershing Square
Hannah Corbett Reporting Live from NYC

Picture this…You’ve just walked out of Grand Central Terminal into the busy streets. You’re just a tourist for the evening in your own city and have nothing planned but to enjoy the magic of Manhattan, then you hear it. Captivating, lively, spontaneous saxophones off in the distance but near. You find your way across the crosswalk to Pershing Square, accompanied by a crowd of red umbrellas with glasses clinking and happy hour chatter found underneath. There are tiny round tables that appear free to sit at, so you take one, unable to walk away from the melody. Now, this isn’t just a picture-perfect scenario, I lived it last Tuesday evening. I stumbled upon an R&B/Soul band performing, that I just couldn’t walk away from. At first, I thought it was only a band of street performers until I walked past their set up heading home. This summer, Pershing Square offered a free concert series on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at cocktail hour called Pershing Square Sounds. I had the unexpected honor of attending the very last concert of the summer on September 29th, featuring the very talented Freddie Deboe Band. I looked up the event instantly and read the radiantly scheduled series that was this summer in Pershing Square. Crossing my fingers that this continues for the next season; it’s safe to say that I’m looking forward to having a Moscow mule with music as my date.

Live Music in New York
by Natalie Davila

There are so many musicians in every corner of New York, whether it is on the subway or in front of Duane Reade it is possible not to find someone creating music. It is one of the many things I love about living in this city. All these musicians have an insane amount of talent and I get to see them for free many times throughout the day. One particular afternoon I came across this Jazz band performing in front of a café, and they were killing it. It felt like a real concert and there was a fairly large audience gathering around and hyping them up. I never followed up with this band, I stayed for a couple of songs and left. Although even days later, I am still thinking about these songs. I could not tell you if they were original songs or covers because I do not know enough about Jazz music but they were good songs. I will say I did not see as many performances as usual. I know summer is over and maybe I just got used to seeing live musicians everywhere but it seemed this past week I heard more sirens and horns than guitars and live vocals. Thankfully, concerts are coming back so there will always be a chance to see an artist live (even if you have to pay for it). So the good news is that music is everywhere in New York and whether it is inside a venue or outside you can continue enjoying live talent year-round.

Myah Lake Reporting from Minneapolis, Minnesota

When you think of music and Minneapolis you obviously think of “Purple Rain”. Purple rain is one of the most influential musical movies in history and also one of the most influential albums in history. The musical film took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota and it was mostly focused at First Avenue which is a venue in Minnesota. Prince is one of the most influential singers and songwriters of our time; he is definitely up close to having the same legendary impact as Michael Jackson. First Avenue was known for starting Prince’s career and where he often performed during his career. Many people associate First Avenue with Prince because that is where everything started for him and that’s what got music in Minneapolis known across the United States. First Avenue was first operated in 1970, and still up today it is the longest continual entertainment and music venue in the Twin Cities, First Avenue’s roots in the community are deep and far-reaching. The building itself is something you can’t miss. It is a black building filled with stars with peoples names on them. They have a star dedicated in gold to Prince and the rest of the stars are just a regular white color. They also have a star dedicated to George Floyd who passed away due to police brutality. First Avenue and Paisley Park (Prince’s house/ castle) are the major Music scenes of Minneapolis, Minnesota. We Love Prince In Minnesota!