Downtown Cleveland Inc. Revamped its Summer Busker Program. Will More Artists Show Up?

Kellie Clark, who goes by the stage name Thistle, plays on the corner of East 6th and Euclid Ave. on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Credit: Mark Oprea

With 43 cities and 20,000 miles driven in their RV (“The Hoose”) in the rearview, Daniel and Kellie Clark decided this spring to spend their summer of busking in Cleveland.

Quite literally, it’s their job. In August of last year, the Clarks flew with their three children to the U.S. from Dundee, Scotland, where they’re from. The overarching goal was to actualize a longstanding dream, one reminiscent of the Beats or the ghost of Woody Guthrie.

“This is what we do full time,” Kellie said smiling, standing with her sunburst acoustic guitar on the corner of Euclid Ave. and East 6th Street. She had just finished playing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” to a string of office workers on lunch break. “We busk it all: Mexico, California, Salt Lake City. Florida for the winter. So yeah, we’ve been a ton of places.”

And now Cleveland. The Clarks, who write about their life on their blog, are one of a hundred-plus busking artists who have played or will play Downtown’s streets this year.

The two, who sometimes plays in concert, are part of Downtown Cleveland, Inc.’s most recent effort to buff up its structured busking initiative, one that highlights 19 hand-picked pitches, or preferred spots, ripe for an audience. And the definition of busker has been expanded—from typewriter poets, to caricature drawers, to jazz bands, dancers and, in one instance, board game players.

A map of the 19 pitches, or preferred busking spots, where artists can sign up for. Playhouse Square, Warehouse and North Coast Harbor are recent focuses for expansion. Credit: Downtown Cleveland, Inc.

The pitch map, along with a best practices guide and a detailed Google Form submission portal are tools to both incentivize art on Cleveland’s streets while also pushing a post-Covid revival of Downtown’s still lagging foot traffic, DCi’s Eileen Cassidy said. At least compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“This is to help people get introduced to busking game,” Cassidy, the vice president of Downtown Experience who oversees the busker program, told Scene. “And we are promoting the busking program to help create a vibrant, positive street culture.”

Along with expediting the spot selection process, DCI hired musician Brent Kirby, who also books their regular concert series, to write a detailed best practices guide. The booklet is pretty much a primer from a local expert: what stuff to bring (“be creative in downsizing”), to what songs to learn (“Centerfield,” if the Guardians are playing) and how to secure your tips (cigar box, bucket, coffee can).

The guide also republishes the city’s street performer ordinance, the laws governing where artists can play, paint, type, et cetera, and for how long or how loud they can do it. Most days, it’s 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Cassidy, who said DCI received 20 new submissions from artists, said the nature of the sort of first-come-first-serve spot-selection process means that there’s no guarantee.

“We know that they’re using the resources that we’re providing,” she told Scene, “and they’re getting comfortable performing.”

Though Cassidy wouldn’t reveal the exact budget DCI allocates for its busking initiative, she said that they’ve received support—and funding—from the Gateway and Warehouse districts. And DCI’s expanding the pitch to North Coast Harbor.

Kirby, who first starting performing when he was 13, said part of his aim writing the guide and managing the program was to demystifying the busker stereotypes.

“There’s a stigma that’s developed with people playing on the street: Maybe they’re ‘poor’, trying to ask for money, or something like that,” he said in a phone call. “And it’s not like that at all. It’s a connection. It’s an opportunity for connection with an entertainer and a bystander.”

Da Land Brass Band, playing on the preferred pitch on East 9th St. and Prospect Ave., before a recent Guardians game. Credit: Mark Oprea

Such opportunity to both leverage a hot Sunday and garner tips was what attracted Joe Kardos and his Da Land Brass Band to the pitch spot on Prospect and East 9th last Sunday. The formula seemed enticing: the Guardians were playing the Astros, they had a Jazz Fest gig to promote.

Kardos, Da Land’s saxophonist in charge of booking and outreach, knew the spot would be lively. On that Sunday, the band ran through a vivacious string of New Orleans-tinged music, rife with hand claps, chugging brass bass lines and call and response.

In the end, they collected $220 in tips.

“I think it should happen more,” Kardos said on Wednesday. “Cleveland’s got a little less of a downtown scene than other cities—but maybe we could have people stay downtown more? It’s a tricky thing to turn around the culture of an entire city.”

Kellie Clark, who’s played on Downtown’s streets “50 times” since the Hoose RV pulled up to Cleveland, said her and her husband have had to test out pitches to gauge their viability. Some work, some don’t. Husband Daniel, she said, “tried a couple and they weren’t very good.”

And obviously, home games are a boost.

“It’s better when the Guardians are in town,” Kellie said. “But everyone’s nice, and loves music. What’s better than that?”

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