Busking at the Pike Street Market
it’s a community
(Most of these images were taken off the web. Credit is given as to where I found them and who took them, if known. Thanks to all the archivists out there who preserve our footprints. Others were taken by myself or others at past Busker Festivals. It’s a joy to see them all.)
(Go here for a look into Market History: Seattle Now & Then: The Pike Place Corner Market Building)
Greek clarinetist Nicholas Oeconamacos, who had performed under John Philip Sousa and the Seattle Symphony conductor Homer Hadley, returned to Seattle during the Great Depression to play for change on the street. Federal and regional funding also provided assistance for unemployed musicians, and the City Council sponsored outdoor concert series in the parks as one way to employ musicians. (Seattle PI photograph, 1931, courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry)
PK Dwyer and Donna Beck in Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington, circa 1974 [?]photographer unknown (from http://folksomeoneyoulove.blogspot.com/)
At the Market, 1975. That's Artis in the middle playing spoons. from http://pauldorpat.com/tag/pike-place-market/
Everybody, 1975. From http://pauldorpat.com/tag/pike-place-market/
Juggler, 1975. from http://pauldorpat.com/tag/pike-place-market/
Dynamic Logs - Ron W. Bailey, Tito fuentes, Lou Hevly, Walter Singleman, Mark Sanders, Orville Johnson, Kathy Moore, Billy Hults and Savanhah Fuentes. At the Market 1979. Photo courtesy Ron Bailey.
The Tallboys 2013, photo from http://eatatlowells.com/2013/08/the-tall-boys-play-pike-place-market-my-favorite-buskers/
Christine Gunn, no date. From http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/womenoftheworld/interesting/
PK Dwyer, 2012. From http://eatatlowells.com/2012/11/one-of-my-favorite-buskers-in-the-market/
Twister Thomas on string cheese lunch break. Twister is one of the real human success stories at the Market. Photo by simo, Flickr.
Jonny Hahn, side portrait, undated. Politics meets Chopin meets the Grateful Dead. Photo by John Westrock, Flickr.
Gospel Singers, 2010. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gospel_singers_Pike_Place_Market_Seattle_Washington_2010.JPG
Three of the best, undated. The banjo player is a seasonal logger up in Maine. From http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/pike-place-market/
The Slick Skillet Serenaders, 2014. From https://djbweblog.wordpress.com/tag/old-time-music/