Brian Bergeron

Faneuil Hall Street Performing has been a real drag this summer. I’ve been performing for three months so far, over 35 times, and have only made money equal to one month of performing last year. Of course there are many reasons that contribute to it—the terrible economy and high gas prices being the most prevalent—and I’m not feeling so sorry for myself that I believe that I’m the only one who is feeling it. The nation is hurting. My particular industry, I believe, is feeling it pretty severely, however. I play for tips but unlike other tip income related jobs, people DON’T have to feel pressured to pay attention or to contribute. The same people who would sit and listen for an hour then buy a CD no longer do so and I’d be foolish to blame or to take it out on them. It’s just the way things are right now. I certainly don’t blame them. It just stinks.

I don’t want to come off as complaining but I’m just trying to relay how much of a bummer street performing has been this year. Luckily, I had a great month in April with other obligations so the last few months have more or less been a wash as far as income is concerned but this capitalist economy that we live in ties great incentive into the idea of making money and because I haven’t been making much, I’ve felt pretty worthless the last couple of months. 

That’s not to say that I haven’t been WORKING. I’ve spent a ton of hours getting this blog re-designed and learning how to edit and make it awesome. I’ve been writing and preparing for the new album including taking singing lessons again. I’ve welcomed a new member—Steve Belleville—into the band and we’re working gelling together as a band. I’ve also been paying more attention to my physical being by getting back into a more rigorous tennis schedule and also taking up yoga 3-4 times a week. These things, however, do not pay, which has led me to this essential conundrum in my life (which I’ve only hinted at in previous blog entries). The question is:

What The Hell Am I Doing and is it worth it?

Strangely enough, all this panic has led to some of the most satisfying reflections of my life. I’m going to address these issues in a multi-part blog entry.

I think one of the faults of my last blog (not the last entry but the actual process through which I blogged) was that I wouldn’t blog for days then I would bludgeon the reader with one really long blog that was unmanageable. That’s why I decided to break this one down into easier to digest parts. It also makes it easier to blog daily if you blog less each day so I’m really cheating the reader by giving them quantity over quality. (that was a joke…)