Busking With A Band - Croagh Patrick

Does anyone know where Pink is today? We think she may have been in Lincoln and stopped to watch us playing for a second. If it was her I'll be gutted I didn't get a photo with her. I also could've played her one of her songs!

Anyway, I had a unique busking experience today so thought I would share it with everyone. One of my bands is called Croagh Patrick and we decided to use a busking session to practice for the first time ever (instead of practicing indoors). We were on the top of the hill in Lincoln, but I got there a little over an hour earlier to earn some money on my own beforehand. I only played 45 mins when this lady from the Cathedral came over to me at 1 and said they were putting on a concert, but they could hear my music all the way over there. So she asked if I could move or take a break for half an hour. I didn't want to lose the spot in case someone else wanted to busk there. The rest of the band were arriving in half an hour. Plus I thought I might wear myself out so I (rather reluctantly) took a break.

The rest of the band arrived on time and we spent time setting up. I noticed people were interested in what we were going to do, however they may have gone away and come back later since we took so long getting ready! It was very windy today which posed a problem. I don't use music stands myself, but the other band members need to be able to read the lyrics and chords. So they had their music folders on a couple of stands. Even though everything was clipped down, the wind enjoyed knocking them over every chance it got. The mic stand we had also rotated when the wind blew so someone had to grab a more stable one while I played a couple of tunes with guitar accompaniment.

So we did some tunes and some songs. It's a bit of a strange feeling busking with a band rather than playing at a proper gig. The acoustics are different. You just have an amp so all the sound goes out to the audience. It becomes more important to pay attention to the other musicians because you can't hear everything without monitors. We weren't sure if it was balanced or not until someone told us it sounded good.

When we got to Matty Groves we'd gathered a pretty large crowd which I think most of us were surprised by. You don't normally get that when you're solo or just two of you. With more people it's like you're putting on a proper show. Plus a girl came out (teenager) and danced a few proper Irish soft shoe steps. If she'd have stayed a bit longer we would've played some tunes for her.

A bit later into our session an acquaintance of a couple of the band members who works for BBC Radio Lincolnshire said he might have us on his show soon, which is exciting. At least I’ll know what to expect this time!

Lots of people took videos and pictures. We didn't earn a great deal because usually larger groups don't earn as much unfortunately, but it's better than nothing and we were able to practice our new material.

Were any of you in Lincoln today? Did you see us? Have you busked with a band before? I'd like to know what your experience was like. As always, please comment below!