Author: Steve Shanafelt

Steve Shanafelt used to think he was a writer. Lots of other people thought he was a very good one, and they paid him to write everything from news articles to erotic comic books. Then, a few years ago, he started to realize that writing was just one very tiny piece of the puzzle. He started recording podcasts, producing field recordings of busking musicians, making short video series and learning how to make websites. Along the way, he learned lots of ways not to manage businesses and how to promote those businesses online. Now, people pay him surprisingly large sums of money to show them some of the things he's picked up.

Jimbo Lockhart and Abby The Spoon Lady perform “Polly Wolly Doodle”

Jimbo Lockhart and Abby The Spoon Lady
Jimbo Lockhart and Abby The Spoon Lady
In this third tune from our 2012 session with guitarist/singer Jimbo Lockhart and percussionist Abby The Spoon Lady, we hear a spirited version of “Polly Wolly Doodle.” For a tune that’s been around since at least 1880, it doesn’t sound too shabby at all.

For those of you who love Abby’s music, we’ll be posting more from this session, including some unseen tunes, in future posts. Continue reading Jimbo Lockhart and Abby The Spoon Lady perform “Polly Wolly Doodle”

Jimbo Lockhart and Abby the Spoon Lady perform “Cluck Old Hen”

Abby The Spoon Lady and Jimbo Lockhart
Abby The Spoon Lady and Jimbo Lockhart
In this video, Busk Break favorites Abby The Spoon Lady and Jimbo Lockhart perform that staple of old-time gatherings across the globe, “Cluck Old Hen.”

This tune was recorded in 2012 as part of a three-song session in downtown Asheville, but was overlooked in that week’s updates. Only recently unearthed in the archives, this video has never before been seen!

For those of you who love Abby’s music, we’ll be posting more from this session, including some unseen tunes, in future posts. Continue reading Jimbo Lockhart and Abby the Spoon Lady perform “Cluck Old Hen”

Abby The Spoon Lady and Jimbo Lockhart perform “Old Joe Clark”

Abby the Spoon Lady and Jimbo Lockhart
Abby the Spoon Lady and Jimbo Lockhart
Busk Break favorite Abby The Spoon Lady performs the classic tune “Old Joe Clark” with Jimbo Lockhart on the streets of Asheville, NC, in 2012.

For those of you who love Abby’s music, we’ll be posting more from this session, including some unseen tunes, in future posts. Continue reading Abby The Spoon Lady and Jimbo Lockhart perform “Old Joe Clark”

Busk Break: The Asheville Waits Band covers “Jockey Full of Bourbon”

The Asheville Waits Band in early 2012.
The Asheville Waits Band in early 2012.
Vocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri — both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) — perform “Singapore” from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture.

 

This video was originally recorded on a very windy day in early January, 2012.

 

 

Continue reading Busk Break: The Asheville Waits Band covers “Jockey Full of Bourbon”

Busk Break: The Asheville Waits Band covers “Singapore”

BUSK-AshevilleWaitsBandVocalist/guitarist Mark Conti and bassist Christian Ferri — both members of the Asheville Waits Band (a Tom Waits cover band) — perform “Singapore” from the album Rain Dogs in front of the Iron sculpture.

 

This video was originally recorded on a very windy day in early January, 2012.

 

 

Continue reading Busk Break: The Asheville Waits Band covers “Singapore”

The Slaughter Brothers Band perform their untitled, bluegrass-inspired tune

The Slaughter Brothers Band
The Slaughter Brothers Band perform at Pack Square.
By their own admission, the Slaughter Brothers have been playing in Asheville for the last few months largely because they were “stranded” here after playing a birthday party. But they don’t seem too bummed about where fate has landed them, and now they’re in town “doing their thing.”

Raised in Dayton, Ohio, and professionally based in New Orleans for the last several years, the brothers are joined by local drummer Daniel Hensley on this unnamed tune inspired by “Asheville’s bluegrass music.” Continue reading The Slaughter Brothers Band perform their untitled, bluegrass-inspired tune

PJ Bond and Lauren Baker

PJ Bond and Lauren Baker
PJ Bond and Lauren Baker perform in front of Kim’s Wigs in summer 2010.
Last week, we featured a song by then-local singer-songwriter PJ Bond from the pre-video days of Busk Break. This week, we’re adding the second tune from that recording in July of 2010, as Bond was joined in front of Kim’s Wigs by his friend Lauren Baker.

Baker is probably best known as the musical saw player from local “absurdist, gypsy, folk, funk, punk” band Sirius.B. (To be fair, like most members of that band, she’s a multi-instrumentalist, but the musical saw thing tends to stick out.) Continue reading PJ Bond and Lauren Baker

Natchez On Fire play “The Crawdad Song”

Natchez On Fire
Natchez On Fire in Asheville, 2011.
A great band can turn even the most cliche of tunes into a memorable moment of music. Here, New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire play their version of the extremely familiar traditional folk tune “The Crawdad” song, and manage to keep things interesting. Continue reading Natchez On Fire play “The Crawdad Song”

PJ Bond performs “You Know The Drill”

PJ Bond
PJ Bond performs in front of Kim’s Wigs in 2010.
On a warm July night in 2010, singer-songwriter PJ Bond stood in front of a wig store and played his heart out. This was in the early days of the Busk Break project, and it set the tone for the rest the performances that summer.

Bond had only been living in town for a year or so, but his brother, Pancho Romero Bond, was already established as the frontman of local “absurdist, gypsy, folk, funk, punk” band Sirius.B. Although not nearly the same level of showman as his brother, I’d argue that PJ Bond is clearly the better songwriter. But PJ never really found his niche in novelty-act living Asheville, and his time as a busker didn’t last long. Continue reading PJ Bond performs “You Know The Drill”

Natchez On Fire perform “The YoYo Song”

Natchez On Fire
Natchez On Fire playing in Asheville, NC.
Way back in May of 2011, Busk Break caught a few songs from New Orleans-based buskers Natchez On Fire during their brief visit to Asheville. One of those songs, their version of the classic “Crawdad Song,” was released at the time, but this song never made it out of the archive. Now, for the first time ever, we present Natchez On Fire’s “The Yo-Yo Song”! Continue reading Natchez On Fire perform “The YoYo Song”