Dan Hough

Busking Report – South Kensington (Pitch 2)

Published 20 January 2018 in London, UK

The first sesh of 2018! South Kensington Pitch #2 is only bookable every 2 days, which suggests that it’s a big money-maker. I gotta say, I wasn’t at my best, nor was I fully prepared and I think with another opportunity I could probably do well here.

Museumville
Museumville

I arrived late due to some severe delays on the District Line, so I was there for 1hr10mins, and I made £12.11, equivalent to £10.09.

Some notable moments

So why wasn’t I prepared? I forgot my little pick box. It’s a small tin box which contains my plectrums and my capo. Without my capo I can survive - it just means singing songs in a different key which may be more difficult for my voice. But without my picks I’m pretty hopeless in a public space. No pick = hand strumming = quiet. Not good.

Luckily, I looked into that little mini pocket that many jeans have, and found…

A PICK! Saved by Past Dan.

The pitch
The pitch

On a separate note, I’ve decided to start donating part of the gross income from each session to a British charity known as Crisis, whose mission is to end homelessness. For now I’m sticking with 50% of the income, and I’m advertising this on my blackboard so that any charitable souls going by may be more inclined give.

I’ll see how sustainable that is, because although my costs for this aren’t massive I’d like to continue covering them. Nonetheless, my income outside of busking is more than enough to sustain me so I don’t need to earn money from this side project. It may go up, it may go down. We’ll see.

However, I have another goal - to earn 1% of my income in 2018 from music. Tough one. But doable, I think, if I work hard and improve my performance every time. I’ve got a lot of ideas. So, without further ado…

The first tip

Breakfast At Tiffany’s was the first song and the first winner. Only 50p, from two separate tippers, but a good start to the year.

The biggest tips

Half way through my set, I played Breakfast At Tiffany’s again and this time, thanks to a very, very generous tipper who carefully laid a note down in my guitar case, plus two very kind passers-by… I made £6!

The view from the pitch
The view from the pitch

This set is going to throw off the stats for Breakfast at Tiffany’s a little bit…!

The best performance

I reckon my best was a rendition of The Lazy Song, after that high-earning Breakfast. Apparently, though, the public did not share my enthusiasm. Can’t win ‘em all!

Heckle me on Twitter @basicallydan.