Thank You, Philadelphia

Well, this is it.  My last entry as a busker in Philadelphia.  End of the month, I'll be heading south to the Lone Star State, Corpus Christi, to be exact.  Philadelphia has been a good music experience.  We started out at The Fire, a club on Girard Avenue with a band called August Sky.  I'm grateful to the McShanes, especially Michael for his encouragement and Brian for producing and recording two wonderfully engineered cd's. For Dan Giandomenico on bass, Faruq Daoud on trumpet, and Dave Buckery on percussion.  Papo Ramos for his songwriting and inspiration.  I'm grateful to Chuck Elliot, DJ at WXPN, for giving us air time on Sleepy Hollow, his laid-back Saturday morning show.  I'm grateful to all the coffee shops and bars for having us and giving us a stage and audience to share our music with.
August Sky morphed into Route 66 and took on a more electric rock/blues feel, as August Sky's backbone, Patricia White, stepped down, and Conrad Radcliffe stepped up, focusing now less on original music and more on classic rock and blues standards from the 60's and 70's.  Bill Conkin became the guiding force in this band.  I loved working with these guys. Brian Lawlor on bass, Dennis Jacoby, Frank Innamoratto, Jay Wiley on drums I also joined forces on keyboard with Andy Maher and his crew, including more of an alternative rock set of songs.  Ted Fink, Rich Bitner, Mike McKendry, and many others.  It's all good.
In spite of the band experience being fun, I missed the original music Pat and I wrote for August Sky, and I decided to perform solo, primarily on the streets.  Busking.  It was a whole different experience.  Unplugged, right out there, on the gritty street corners, brushing elbows with the hustling and bustling passers-by, some stopping to listen, talk, watch.
I think this busking things helped me to get to the soul of music, the soul of the city.  It was so immediate.  Intense.  I am so grateful to all the people who helped make this street musician experience so rich for me.
Check out this link to a song I wrote on a bench in Rittenhouse Square called "September Painting" which appears on our second August Sky albums called "Flight."  "We're all tied together, these creatures and me."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mA1rUPCv6jc#!
Thank you, Philadelphia.