Glasgow Street Music

  Welcome back to Glasgow Street Music! I have some exciting news to brighten up your lockdown 2.0; BuskersOfGlasgow have arranged BuskerFest 3 , an opportunity to listen to all of your favourite Glasgow buskers directly from your living room! The Facebook live event will run over two days on the 5 th and 6 th of December, here’s all the important details: Organised by Carolyn Sleith, the face behind the much loved BuskersofGlasgow Facebook page, the event is a fantastic opportunity for Glasgow’s buskers to share their talents (safely) in the midst of our second lockdown. BuskersOfGlasgow is a not for profit organisation with the sole aim to share Glasgow’s bustling busking scene to a wider audience. Buskerfest 3 will feature 18 of Glasgow’s most loved street musicians and performers from a variety of genres, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The two-day virtual festival is a superb alternative to attending a live venue in light of the current restrictions and is...

  Welcome back to Glasgow Street Music! Let me introduce 20 year old Melissa Wright (Milekka) from France! Milekka @ the Lighthouse From a trip down Glasgow’s Buchanan Street to find a final busker for my Glasgow Street Music blog series (for now!), Milekka’s unique, raw melodies are what stood out the most. A newbie to the busking scene, Milekka was performing in front of an exhibit of her own artwork , further enticing l isteners to stop in their tracks. Milekka visited Scotland during her gap year travels and fell in love with Scotland’s wealth of culture; particularly in the arts. Once completing her journey across Europe she returned to Scotland to study Politics and Law at the University of Stirling , where she puts her heart and soul into her creative ventures in art and music on top of her course studies.   Apart from spending some time in performing covers during her secondary school career, Milekka had never performed to a crowd in public until this week. I...

  Welcome back to Glasgow Street Music! This week I had the pleasure of chatting to 23 year old Mark Kyle – an up-and-coming musician based in Glasgow. Introducing Mark Kyle Mark started street busking at the age of 18 during his gap year before enrolling at university to study politics and French. He began in Glasgow’s popular busking scene before travelling to cities like Oslo, Rome and Paris to share his music. On top of his degree, Mark busked to raise his finances throughout his studies to support himself and to gain more experience in performing – even during his year abroad in the south of France (which he admits went towards funding his nights out!) Since finishing university, Mark landed a position with a well-known record company to pursue his ambition of working in the music industry. When discussing the types of genres Mark plays, he has a soft spot for folk music and rockabilly but still loves to perform indie-folk tunes. From having a listen to Mark’s busking on...

  Welcome back to Glasgow Street Music!  This week’s post is on something a little different… Introducing 15 year old Andrew Pattison from Troon! A keen bagpiper and South Ayrshire’s Young Musician of the Year 2018, Andrew’s been busking for around three years. From seeing the positive reception that busking bagpipers received from tourists and locals alike, Andrew decided to try his hand at piping on Buchanan Street after some encouragement from his grandpa. The sight of Andrew piping quickly gathered the crowds; a 12 year old boy playing a national symbol of Scotland itself was a depiction of our country’s rich culture and his own talents combined. Here's a younger Andrew gathering the crowds Bagpipes are no easy instrument to learn, and Andrew puts in every effort to master his performance through his involvement in the award-winning 1st Troon Boys Brigade pipe band and by studying Higher Music at school (a year early might I add!) On top of this, Andrew earned a sp...

  Welcome back to Glasgow Street Music! This week's musician, Ross Anderson, might be a familiar face to some of you… I was lucky enough to catch up with Ross where he started pursuing his dream of becoming a musician; busking on Buchanan Street. Inspired from just 13 years old to give street performing a shot having seen some of the other performers that Glasgow's streets had to offer, Ross has never looked back. After leaving school to put all of his focus into his musical career, Ross was given the opportunity at just 17 years old to perform on The Voice UK in 2018, where superstar Jennifer Hudson turned her chair for his version of One Direction's 'Drag Me Down'. From his experience on The Voice, Ross was able to build a platform for his music and gain his own following both online and in various locations throughout the UK. You can watch Ross Anderson's performances on The Voice here On top of covering a variety of favourites such as Jake Bugg...

  Let me introduce you to Maryjane! I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to Maryjane on Argyle Street about her 8 years of experience in busking. Surrounded by people filming her performance, it’s clear that she’s a favourite amongst Glasgow's passers-by. A combination of her melodic voice and excellent showmanship are what enticed myself and a crowd of others to stop what we were doing and listen. Inspired to start busking after seeing Daniel Docherty performing on Glasgow’s streets, Maryjane only knew three Taylor Swift songs to begin with. She quickly realised that to establish herself as a recognisable street musician, she needed to learn a variety of songs from different genres. Fast-forward to now, Maryjane can flawlessly cover anything from Lewis Capaldi to Hamilton songs (musical theatre being her favourite genre to perform).  A snippet of Maryjane's busking Pre-covid, Maryjane would perform in various venues across Glasgow and Edinburgh (such as O’Neill’s a...