Cary Baker: Adventures In Busking And Street Music

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Today, the Spotlight shines On Cary Baker, author of Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking and Street Music (Jawbone Press, 2024).

The music you hear on street corners and subway platforms has its untold history, and at age 16, Cary Baker followed a slide guitar's haunting melody through Chicago's Maxwell Street Market to find himself face-to-face with bluesman Blind Arvella Gray. That chance encounter sparked a lifelong obsession.

Cary's book, Down on the Corner, traces the heritage of street music across 100 years, from blues legends in the 1920s to modern-day buskers armed with QR codes. He's spoken with everyone from Lucinda Williams to Billy Bragg about their days playing for tips, revealing how many music careers began with nothing but an open guitar case.

The streets have always been America's most democratic stage, where doo-wop harmonies, folk ballads, and raw blues first reached public ears. Cary's book captures this vital tradition in all its gritty, authentic glory.

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