by Brandon Summers | June 28, 2021
I love sharing good news. And good news I have to share. Last week was my first time street performing on the Las Vegas Strip in more than a year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent shutdown, and my day job as a 7th grade teacher, I made no attempts to perform on the boulevard. Thankfully, that hiatus ended on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
I almost didn’t go out that evening because I wasn’t feeling well. Some time around 9pm, I took a deep breath and pushed myself out the door. When I arrived on The Strip, I bumped into William and we finally played together after being in communication for 6 months. He found busklv.info while researching local street performing ordinances and found the site incredibly helpful. In march, William shouted me out in a viral YouTube video that has been viewed 15k times. At that time, I was teaching math full-time for the Clark County School District (CCSD) and did not have spare time or the mental capacity to busk. It was full circle that we had chance to play a bunch of tunes together for the first time; and it was glorious!
I could not have asked for a better night, but William let me know that he was expecting another violinist to show up. Violinist Lapi of Chicago, appeared around 2am. We also played together. As we finished our duet, a young flutist by the name Carl strolled by. I met Carl a few years back at a wedding gig and he *interrogated* me [laughs] about how to become a professional musician. Well, look at him now.
This night felt like busking in 2012. It was free and energetic. And thankfully, there was not a police officer in sight. This is the way it should be.
Brandon Summers is a Las Vegas native, violinist, street performer, and advocate for spontaneous, unlicensed performance in public spaces. Summers has been busking for over ten years and has performed for Ciroc, Hudson Jeans, Netflix, JBL-Harman and many more. He is a graduate of Fort Valley State University where he majored in mathematics and holds BA in liberal studies.
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