Busked on Brick Lane today.

Oxjam Leadenhall Market Takeover (London)

(Morning)

(Bus ride to Brick Lane)

                         

Saturday I played the Oxjam Music Festival. Wasn't far from home ,took the busdownto Brick Lane.The Oxjam Music Festival raises money for Oxfam, a charity.

I had been asked to play the event and was given the opportunity to curate a stage. A lot of my friends pulled through and performed their music on stage. The line included Gerardo Cetta,Amber Williams,Ray Edwards,Jospeh Reuben,Caroline Weeks,and myself. 

     The day started with a session on a old London bus. Oxjam rigged a bus that would drive around with passengers listening to live music. I played about three songs. Now I can add old-school english bus to my resume of venues I've played. The bus began its special route and picked up the contest winners from a radio show. Playing violin on a bus was like riding a horse. Video will be posted of the performance soon.

Around 2pm I headed to the Vibe Bar to start sound checks for the acts I had gathered. By 2:30pm the show had begun. I was particularly pleased that Joseph Rueben decided to play. You can check out his music here on sound cloud.object height="225" width="100%">

Latest tracks by Joseph Reuben

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/

http://www.myspace.com/carolineweeks

I walked into a magical place,

                                                             

After a long day of gigs I went to a late night cafe to rest my mind. It was sort of a small place from the outside and very ornamental. Instruments lined the walls along with pictures from the past. I saw I violin positioned on one of the walls. I asked the store owner about the violin and questioned about who use to play that particular. He told me it was a relative of his,an uncle I believe. The violin looked very strong and well aged. The store owner told me that his uncle would play the violin everywhere he went. That was something I could relate to since I take my violin with me everywhere. 


That night I had just played a gig at the Vintage Emporium, located on Brick Lane. The  Brick Lane gig served as my last gig before I left for New York. After the show Kevin Morosky tagged along and we made our way to the cafe. From the outside one could see brass containers displayed in the in the window of the shop and outside there was and old New York City taxi parked nearby. I had always passed by this place on the bus and had always wanted to go inside, that night I did.  


Upon chatting with the employees I mustered up some courage to playa few songs then and there. Little did I know the customers and store owners would give me their full attention. I also had the opportunity to chat with fellow musician Vanessa, but you all known her as V.V. Brown.

photo by Kevin Morosky

http://morosky.tumblr.com/

Pics from Saturday