Milo and I just got back from Theo Eastwind’s 3rd Annual Busker Ball — and you should be sorry that you missed it! We stayed the full five hours with grins on our faces. If you want to hear one reason why, here’s a quick sample from Elijah Bridges, which I hope he won’t mind me posting. (A bit low-fi — but check that harmonica!)

For me, it was a bit of a tear-jerker too. These days I hear buskers in the subway every last day of my life, of course, but it’s different to have the evening to ourselves. For one thing, talent can do a lot more when it has hour-long sets to work with. (It also doesn’t hurt to have no trains coming through). I’m not saying that I forget how much artistry is in busking — but still, is it ever great to get a reminder of how high the high points can be. So thanks, Theo Eastwind, for making this happen!

One more thing. Just as we were taking off, we ran into Jesse Cohen, who played the third set. He asked if I had played the first set, since I was carrying my case. “No,” I said, “I was just out busking beforehand, that’s all. I play fiddle.” There was a pause — I could see the gears turning — and then, just about at the same moment, we realized that Jesse and I had shared a van the night we were both arrested in 2011.

I don’t want to retell that whole story here  — soon, perhaps — but Jesse was already in the van when me and my fiddle were thrown in head-first that night. I was scared half to death at the time, and Jesse was the first bit of sanity I found and clung to. We were put in different cells on arrival and never swapped contact information, so we’ve been looking for each other for the last two years. And now, here we are. It’s a great big community, busking in NYC, but it seems smaller all the time.