Steinberg Imagery

Subway Sounds: Neil Howl

Ever have a bad day? Or longer… like a series of events that keeps kicking and makes you wonder WTF?

Well, in the spring of 2010 I bumped into Neil Howl and his dog Bear. Seemed like a chill guy, strummed his tiny guitar well in a “funky, rocky, jazzy sort of way” and thought I would add him to my series of Subway Sounds. I had not seen him around and figured he would make a great addition. So, when he paused to re-tune his guitar and I introduced myself. Turns out, Mr. Howl is originally from Boulder, CO and grew up in Martha Vineyards, MA. He had just finished his ’09 tour up in Washington (He has two children and visited them after the tour). Then decided to kick it here in the Bay Area. During the interview process with Mr. Howl another group of “experienced” buskers (SF regulars who have not given me the time of day unless I pay them) decided to move in on Mr. Howl’s space. (Note: Howl continues to hustle for the same spot today)

Now, I am not too familiar with the unwritten rules of busking but I am aware that a busker does not usually sit all day in one spot. A couple hours and it is the next busker’s turn to wow the masses, according to other local San Francisco buskers! But these gentlemen who interrupted our interview and Mr. Howl’s busking session had other ideas. During the argument, one was taunting Mr. Howl to “Go ahead, hit him.” But Mr. Howl declined. I am not sure how long Mr. Howl had been in the Powell Bart Station but his story: “I’ve only been here 20 minutes…” The experienced buskers said, “He lied! He was playing for three hours.”

Long story short, an officer of the peace arrived on the scene and cleared the drama. There are no rules regulating how long a busker can stay, it is a public space. The SF local buskers have an “unwritten rule” and know that they play two hours then move on… Out of towner Mr. Howl re-tuned his guitar, played one tune but his frustrations over the recent situation led him to call it for the day. Too bad, the man can play. If you would like to hear more, visit Neil Howl’s myspace page or email him: neilhowl@gmail.com

Equipment used:

Nikon D300 for still photographs
Panasonic Lumix (Point and shoot camera) for video
Messenger bag as a tripod
M-Audio 24/96 for audio w/ a Rhode shotgun mic

Subway Sounds: Neil Howl – Images by Jason Steinberg

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 16th, 2011 at 7:07 pm. It is filed under Blog, Multimedia and tagged with BART, Music, San Francisco, Steinberg Imagery, Subway Sounds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.