Analog Dog, which has played at The Independent (shown here) and many other venues, is a participant in the program called Busk It! on Larkin. That’s put them on the sidewalks of the Tenderloin, filling the neighborhood with their songs for locals to enjoy for free. Photo by Michael Chan.
I plugged in my guitar and started finger-picking away, as I had done so many times before. But this time was special. I was outside in the Tenderloin, on Larkin Street, around noon on a recent Autumn day. A familiar city warmth filled the air.
The second I started playing, a sensation took over. As I got deeper into my groove and started singing, people’s faces lit up along the block. Smiles and intrigue from the line at Saigon Sandwich, residents opening their windows to hear, as excitement and compliments from passersby began filling my heart — driving my music, in a feedback loop of love. There was a feeling of appreciation and mutual respect, of true community, a feeling that together on that sidewalk we were all creating the San Francisco that we longed to be a part of.
I was there as a participant in a pilot program called Busk It! on Larkin. For a pay rate of $100 an hour, for a two-hour set, I got to plug in my amp and sing my heart out for my neighbors. I got to fill the air with a vibration of hope, a song of connection, a poem to honor the greatest city on Earth in all of its pain and all of its glory.
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But this experience isn’t just mine to savor. It could be yours too, if you’re a musician. You have until Oct. 1 to apply to be part of Busk It!, and performances will run through the end of that month. Applying is easy. All you need to do is follow this link and fill out a few questions about your background, provide a short video of you playing your tunes, a cute pic, and you’re good to go.
Lately applications for the program have been flying in, thanks in part to publicity from Broke-Ass Stuart, said Abra Allan, who manages the program as the director of creative engagement at the Mid-Market Business Association & Foundation, in partnership with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. That means competition for these slots has increased. Despite that, Allan said that interested musicians should still throw their hats into the ring.
And the program prioritizes musicians whose lives are tied to the Tenderloin.
Analog Dog — Austin Waz, right, with bandmate Sanjay John — as they share their music all across San Francisco. Photo courtesy of Austin Waz.
“We’re looking to add more sets for the remainder of the pilot,” she said, with each set going to new performers. “So potentially we’re looking at offering that to 20 different bands or artists over the month of October.”
Busk It! is bringing joy to the street while “supporting our creative class to survive and continue in San Francisco” amid escalating costs of living, Allan said.
“I think at times the arts are one of the things taken for granted, at some level, as something that will always be here,” she added. Meanwhile the creatives, who struggle to find regular work, know better.
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Art was always meant to be a tool to lift spirits and transcend the transactional. And music is one of the most visceral and transformation forms of art. It’s a creative space where human connection happens. It breathes life into society, making it healthier and more connected. More than art even, in this way music is public service. The Busk It! program exemplifies all of that, which can make it feel like a beacon of light in a city that has tragically lost its way so many times.
The more that a city invests in opportunities for its artists, the more it is creating ideal conditions for positive change.
As a career artist and professional with decades in the music industry, I’ve done a lot of really amazing things in my life. I’ve sold out The Chapel and The Independent with my psychedelic disco band. I’ve played in front of thousands of people at a time, toured across the country, hosted my own festivals, developed an international fanbase, and worked with some of my biggest musical inspirations.
However — and I mean this sincerely — none of those things are quite as meaningful to me as getting paid to play music on the sidewalk in the most lively neighborhood, for the most deserving neighbors in all the world, with no cost to them at all.
Allan said that, so far, she and her peers consider Busk It! on Larkin a huge success. She thinks the program is “highly likely” to return in March, though that’s not certain yet.
I’d love to see this type of program expand to every neighborhood in every city, as arts endowments create sustainable opportunities for artists to share their gifts out in the world with their neighbors — beyond the confines and toxicity of the music industry, and the bottom-feeding of late-stage capitalist entertainment complexes. This is something more pure, more real.
Until then, I implore everyone reading this to dream of that world, and to manifest the deepest feedback loop of love and hope in your heart. A better world is possible. The time will come. You have the power to dream of that world, and so it shall be.
Austin Waz is a singer, instrumentalist, and music producer in the SF-based psychedelic indie disco band Analog Dog. And he wears many hats at the city’s fastest-growing indie music venue, Kilowatt. He believes in a revolution in the music industry.
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