Vagabonding in Lyon

In my 3 days in Lyon, I busked in 2 places. 
The first was the old city. There are a lot of restaurants around and mainly tourists passing through. I set up with my sign as made 6 euros playing my first two songs. I thought it was going to be like that the whole time but unfortunately it slowed right down. I managed to make €15 in an hour and decided to call it quits.
The second day I tried busking in the main shopping street and did similarly. Lyon appears to be a fairly average city to busk, in terms of money and attention. I was passed by the police several times in both spots and they didn't give me any trouble. There are lots if beggars in Lyon and they don't appear to get hassled either. I found that even when I made a sign in French it did little to get me attention which is unusual. 
The people who hosted Chiara and I told me it's allowed to play in the metro stations in Lyon, although I didn't try it. I'm not sure if you need a licence, but I hear republique gets very busy at rush hour and might be worth a try. 
There's a youth hostel in Lyon that has beds for €20 a night, so averaging €10 an hour busking you can get by quite well with a guitar and no money. 
Chiara didn't try any sketching whilst we where in Lyon, so I can't say anything for that, but I didn't see anyone doing it, so I'm sure the right person could make it work.

Our first night in Lyon we paid to stay at a camp site called 'indigo international camping' but security was very relaxed. They don't assign a spot or give you anything to put on your tent, so i think camping there for free would be really easy. They have really nice shower  facilities which are free to use, so if you just need a free hot shower, you could easily get one here.
We didn't try any dumpster diving in Lyon, but I hear it's a good city for it. The people who hosted us have a chart in their kitchen which says the days if every street market and what time they finish so they can go and skip them. They told me they regularly find a lot of free fruit and veg. They also skipped their local patisserie whilst we where there and we are our fill of pastries for 2 days. They said after 11pm they regularly get free pizzas from the bins behind dominoes pizza. As usual, check trash wiki for more information. 
Hitch hiking out if Lyon is really easy, and again, thanks to our wonderful hosts for the info. Take the number 1 tram out to muzee de confluence. The motor way passes very close to the city and it's easy to hitch hike north or South on the A7. It seems hitch hiking is becoming more popular again because we where one of 4 groups hitching south from the same spot. I hear it's harder to get a ride north but I haven't tried. We made it to Avignon with 3 rides, though it took almost the whole day.
I'd definitely recommend Lyon, a beautiful city. 
Safe travels 

Skipping, or Dumpster Diving whilst travelling

I was first introduced to the idea of skipping when I saw a documentary about freeganism on TV when I was 14. it never really entered my consciousness again until my third year of university when I heard a friend of mine who lived next to the local waitrose used to get huge hauls of groceries and even alcohol from their bins. I wasn't sure i believed it at the time and didn't really have the confidence to go and check myself. 

The first time I ever did it myself was 2013, when I spent a few weeks living at the runneymede diggers eco village. They get the majority of their food from supermarket skips and where happy to show me the best places in the area. I was amazed by some of the perfectly healthy produce you can find. Some of the best things I found whilst staying there included, a 4 pack of beers, thrown out because one was pierced, the entire Waitrose cheese counter which had obviously been replaced that  day, and a whole duck, which we roasted on an open fire and easily fed a large group of people.

Needless to say, these few times gave me the bug, and  even now, the prospect of going out to skip my local waitrose is exciting to me. Every time I go, I manage to fill my backpack with a variety of different things.

Everything in this photo came from two dumpsters at my local waitrose, this was the first time I went on my own. A bit creepy jumping a 10 foot fence, but totally worth it. I didn't even need a skip key. There's a pack of sausage meat, some quorn, bacon, a whole chicken, eggs, quinces and more.

It's been a long time since this night, and I've done a fair amount of travelling, but wherever I am I always try to familiarize myself with the best places to get free food. It's always easier when you're settled somewhere for a while, as you can find out the best places to go, and the times to go there. But it's a great way to save money on the road too. If you're broke in a new city, don't forget to check  http://trashwiki.org/en/Main_Page  here you can type in the name of practically any city, and find out the best places to go, but there are some easy rules to remember.

Markets are great, most stalls won't mind you checking their bins in the middle of the day while they're still trading, and they'll throw out things stat, whilst hard to sell, wouldn't look out of place in the fruit bowl. they tend to throw out things like apples and pares with very small bruises, or peppers that have gone a little but wrinkly. A classic find is bananas, they go brown and unattractive really easily, yet lat for a really long time, and can often be thrown away in their hundreds. Recently in Winchester, after Boomtown fair, I found a treasure trove of bananas along with a load of mangoes, clementines and apples, in the bins behind a small fruit stall. The owners where even encouraging us to take what they'd thrown away. 

Anywhere that makes boasts such as pastries and bread 'baked fresh daily' are perfect, and when your in countries like france, famous for the patisseries, it can be easy to find for free in the evening, what you'd pay a small fortune for in the morning. Most of this stuff doesn't last a long time, but for a quick evenings dumpster diving you can find yourself eating like a king come breakfast time.

Ask around; if you speak the local language, find out when the bin day is in the local area, some places will have their bins locked away, and only bring them out on bin day, but if you know when this is, you can get a really good haul, just beware of locals who already have a claim on the area, because it can become nasty very quickly.

There's probably more I could think of, but It's 10.40 and and I'm leaving for Paris in the morning, I still haven't packed, and I'm heavily procrastinating right now. It's to late to record a song to go with this article, people are in bed, so I guess you'll have to do without. Maybe I'll add one later...

Busking Your Way to a Free Ticket

Like a lot of people, I spend a lot of my time flat broke, and even when I do have money, I usually don't have enough to attend gigs and festivals. Luckily, outside these events can be the absolute best time to busk. If there's a show I really want to see, I take my guitar, set up outside, and wait to see what happens. So far, without fail, I've actually been offered FREE tickets to every gig I've done this at, that's right, people are incredible.
I've been to the warped tour, seen the Libertines play in hyde park, and watched Blink 182 smash their set at the Brixton academy. For the Libertines and the warped tour, I was actually offered tickets for free by three different groups of people.
The fact is, when you go through this effort, people know you're a true fan. Who would go all the way there with a guitar and no ticket just in the hope that they might get in. The first time I did this was at warped tour 2013, when I was desperate to see 'The Wonder Years' I made £20 in about 15 minutes and would have easily made enough money to buy a ticket had I not been offered one for free. So how was this possible?

Step 1
Make a sign, something like 'Help me see the Libertines' is perfect, straight to the point, I'm here playing in this tunnel because  I want to see that band you've got a ticket for. I had people giving me £5 drops and messages of support for a good hour before the libertines British summertime show, and even turned down the first offer of a free ticket because I was enjoying playing so much.
For me signs are a must when busking, I tend to make about a third more money with a sign, about the same as when I use an amp.

Step 2
Wear a T-shirt of the band if you have one, I often get asked 'are you really trying to see this band' I don't want anyone to think I'm lying. Also, it makes you look like a better fan, and people are more likely to want to help you if they think you're a huge fan. In the photo above I'm wearing a Libertines T-Shirt, modified by my Ex girlfriend.

Step 3
Learn some of their songs, to be honest, one is enough. I had great fun leading a sing along of 'music when the lights go out' in the tunnel at Hyde Park Corner, I didn't really know the chorus, but I managed to get through it unscathed more than a few times. I think this one is pretty obvious, and if it's a band you love, you probably know how to play a couple of their songs anyway :)

Step 4
If you've got the confidence, try playing on the train on the way to the show, if it's in London, tube trains can be great places to play, they'll be filled with people going to the show and the acoustics are really good. I've never done this, it's illegal, I don't recommend it ;)

Step 5
Don't buy from a tout. I know this should go without saying, but they're going to try and charge you the biggest mark up possible. I saw a tout outside Brixton academy buy a blink 182 ticket for £10 then sell one for £80. I'd already been given one by this point, so they where going around. even if your not a musician, make a sign, or stand outside the venue and shout that you want one, you'll find a fellow punter willing to sell, cut out the middle man and nobody gets ripped off.
There are 2 exceptions to this rule
1
You're a good haggler, I'm happy to say I feel comfortable going to any gig without a ticket(as long as it's not something huge like led zeppelin or Michael Jackson) and knowing I can get one for lower than face value off a tout. Begin by offering them an absurdly low amount, like £10 for a ticket worth £50, then lie and say they've reduced prices on the door to get people in. refuse to go any higher than half the value, and leave if they're unreasonable past that, try telling them a friend of yours already got the price you're asking for. I once had a tout come to the pub I told him I'd be in to sell me a ticket for half the face value when he couldn't shift it.
2
you turn up after the act has started playing. These guys will be desperate, I was offered placebo tickets for 5 quid, and the same for angels and airwaves.

Basically if you're a broke musician, and you want to see a band,  go spread some joy outside the venue and see what the world offers you. people can be amazing.
Oh, and don't forget to busk on the train on the way home.

My song for this post?  it's a video of me playing whiskey in the jar in the tunnel at Hyde Park Corner, and you'll have to wait until I can get it from Chiara's phone.
Peace
Oli

A day spent inside

Two day's before the trip and just my luck, I've got my second sore throat since I started busking nearly a year ago. I decided to rest my voice yesterday and go out today instead, but I knew this morning after 2 songs that my voice wasn't going to last. I'll have to stop practising altogether and accept that the next time I busk I'll be in Paris.
Chiara and I decided to spend the afternoon inside and try to plan some more of the trip. As usual we didn't get very far, so I'm still not sure where I'll be after Paris. Ideally I'd like to hitch hike from Paris to Lausanne in Switzerland, I've heard incredible things about busking there and I'd like to find out if the stories are true. I once met a violin player in Windsor who said he made 1500 Swiss francs in a day, and a guitar player in Amsterdam who said he made 260 euros in an hour. Enough money to fund weeks of travelling for days of work if it's true.
One positive did come from Monday however, Chiara drew a lovely caricature of the two of us in London, and has decided she'd like to do similar for every city we go to. I like the idea because I'm awful at taking photographs, so maybe this time I'll actually have some record of where I've been.

                                                      Apparently I eat a lot of bananas....
So here I am listening to frank turner on youtube and wishing my voice was working to I could blare out the lyrics with him. But I'm just about managing to keep my mouth shut. My plan was to record some CD's to sell along the road as we go, but unable to do that I'm resorting to some distinctly average recordings I already made a few months ago before flying to Amsterdam. If you want a copy of the 'EP' find me by the side of the road in Paris and maybe I'll sell you one.

In honour of a day spent inside, here's a Lemon heads cover Inspired by a Frank Turner cover. It's the first thing I recorded on this guitar after the old Fender CD60 was run over by a car in Amsterdam.
The Outdoor Type

Preparing to Hitch Hike to Italy

For about a year now, I've been planning to start a blog, but a year spent either working, or on the road, I've found it hard to find the time. Right now, busking for a living and 3 days away from leaving England to Hitch Hike to Italy seems as good a time as any.
On this blog I'd like to chronicle my travels, write short stories about places I've already been and hopefully include information for anyone else hoping to visit the same places. For fellow musicians, I hope to show, that it's worth taking your instrument along the way with you, as I've managed to get by busking in many different cities.
The plans for this trip began to take shape about  months ago. On my second date with a girl named Chiara, she mentioned that she was scared of flying, but needed to return to her native Italy. Being the person that I am i suggested we hitch hike there, fully expecting her to sat no. I obviously didn't know her very well because her eyes lit up at the suggestion.
We spent the next few weeks excitedly discussing the possibilities, and over this time i found out that Chiara is a talented artist, capable of speed sketching and beautiful face painting. Along with my busking, we've got skills that could help pay our way around Europe on a wonderful adventure.
So yesterday, 4 days before we planned to leave, I made a batch of cupcakes from wild blackberries, and Chiara and I headed off to the bridge connecting Eton and Windsor, to see what our various skills could bring us.

This was my first day busking on Windsor bridge for a couple of months and we had a really fun day, I sold a decent number of my home made cakes and spoke to quite a few people who where interested in the trip.
Unfortunately, there weren't a huge number of children around, and nobody was stopping, so Chiara's face painting was a little slow, but she did paint two faces. A total highlight of the day was Chiara busking properly for the first time. She's been convinced her voice isn't loud enough, but as usual she sounded lovely and got a good number of tips for the time she played.
I also met a lovely woman named Pat, who said she did plenty of hitch hiking herself in her youth and told us some wonderful stories. I asked her if she'd consider contributing a guest post to this blog at some time.
All in all, we had a great day, we made enough money to pay for both our hostel beds in Paris. I also debuted an original song and played it through enough timed to master it, which puts me one step closer to the goal of an album by the end of the year.
The trip begins in three days, We're getting a bus to Paris because somehow it's cheaper than a ferry across the channel. The final goal is Napoli but we've given ourselves 20 days. This gives us plenty of time to explore the mainland of Europe. I hope to spend some time in France, Switzerland and Slovenia before heading south into Italy.
My verdict on Windsor; It's a great place to busk by UK standards. They've recently tightened up on amplifiers in the high street if you don't have a licence, and you probably need an amp to get noticed there if it's just you and a guitar. The bridge is great on weekends, I've never been asked for a licence there and if you've got a powerful singing voice you definitely won't need an amp.
I've heard you can make good money outside WH Smith after 5 when they close, using the doorway for acoustics, but I've never tried this myself.
If you're a portrait artist or a face painter, Don't bother :)

Here's my song of the day, a rough recording of my new song 'Heads of Tails'