{"id":13732,"date":"2025-10-21T10:58:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T10:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/13732\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T10:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T10:58:07","slug":"buskers-say-austins-music-scene-lives-on-the-street-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/13732\/","title":{"rendered":"Buskers say Austin’s music scene lives on the street corner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin boasts over 150 venues booking live music, but one local busker said he’d rather share his beats on a street corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Austin, you need to be in a tribute band or a cover band, typically, to get a well-paying gig,\u201d drummer Brian Foster said. \u201cA lot of people playing original music are literally going into a club, giving them their all and then leaving with nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster, who has developed an online presence as the \u201ccrazy drummer<\/a>,\u201d has played bar gigs and even has a trio, the MotorHeadHunters. But, he said, growing a following is tough.<\/p>\n

He said he prefers to keep playing solo on street corners, medians and shopping centers. That way, he said, can change up what he\u2019s playing at the drop of the hat, often trying to guess what kind of beat a person might like.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultimate freedom,\u201d said Foster, who has his Venmo written on a drumhead propped up next to him. \u201cThat’s what sums up why I busk; I’ve never felt so free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, that sometimes means playing for free \u2014 or at least very little. <\/p>\n

\u201cI’d get a free sandwich from the panini guy, which was really cool,\u201d Ryan Rachui said of his early busking days near Barton Springs. \u201cBack then I’d make 20 bucks a day and be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was 13 years ago, when Rachui would play the same four songs for hours every day to save up money to visit his girlfriend in Louisiana. <\/p>\n

“The ultimate freedom. That’s what sums up why I busk; I’ve never felt so free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Foster, the “crazy drummer”<\/p>\n

Rachui said he grew up learning trumpet and teaching himself piano. He can also play guitar. Following a difficult college and early career experience, he quit his job at a brewhouse with the feeling he needed to be doing something different. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was screaming at myself on the inside, like, \u2018What are you doing?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201c’You should be playing music.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachui said that’s when he decided to start busking. Three years ago, he made it his full-time gig. He said he’s currently living in the woods with his dog, but happy and saving up for a van to be able to take his one-man-band show to different cities.<\/p>\n

Rachui said he makes around $500 a week, playing Thursday through Saturday at different locations from shopping malls to downtown Austin. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe probably helps me make half my money,\u201d he said about his dog. \u201cPeople love dogs in Austin more than music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachui said laying claim to a street corner can be almost as difficult as breaking into the bar scene. What\u2019s worse, he said, is Austin\u2019s prohibition on personal amps.<\/p>\n

Other city rules are laid out by the Office of Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment<\/a>. In Austin, buskers don’t need a permit to play music, but they are prohibited from blocking sidewalks and must be respectful to nearby businesses and residents. They also need to cooperate with police requests. <\/p>\n

Rachui said he uses a program to layer different instruments on top of each other. That requires an amp, so he still uses one \u2014 and hopes no one tells him to stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was setting up on Sixth and Congress, and all the cops, they all met up right across the street from me, and I was like, \u2018Oh crap,\u2019\u201d Rachui said. \u201cI kept playing, and they all just kind of were listening and enjoying it. And so that was the big turning point. Like, ‘Oh, the cops, they’re not so mean to me anymore, because they actually know I sound good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after a busker finds a regular spot, the work isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

Foster said people can be rude or drunkenly ask to play his drums. Sometimes, he said, it\u2019s just hot outside or he\u2019s too sore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s hard-ass work, and I tell you what, I get out of it what I put into it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, if I’m out there hard and like playing long 20-minute stretches without stopping, it seems like that’s when I make better money and get more attention, and more people come and share the love with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster and Rachui said they enjoy it too much to consider quitting. They\u2019ve even played together a few times, though it\u2019s a rarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both usually just go, \u2018Hey, what’s up? I’m gonna be around the corner,\u2019\u201d Foster said. \u201cBut we usually don’t play together because we’ll only make half the amount of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

For both of them, though, it\u2019s about more than money. Foster said some people experiencing homelessness will even try to tip him, which just shows him how much his music means to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI might literally have people with no money coming up and giving me their only dollar,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s the craziest thing, but the majority of them really appreciate what I do, because, you know, they don’t get to go in a club and enjoy music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it comes down to playing for the city \u2014 perhaps the \u201cLive Music Capital of the World\u201d for more than just its venues .<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m from Austin,\u201d Rachui said. \u201cI want to make it awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin boasts over 150 venues booking live music, but one local busker said he’d rather share his beats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,11386,1551,574,11387,27],"class_list":["post-13732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-busking","tag-feature","tag-live-music","tag-permitting","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}