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Cary Baker: Adventures In Busking And Street Music
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Today, the Spotlight shines On Cary Baker, author of Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking and Street Music (Jawbone Press, 2024).The music you hear on street corners and subway platforms has its untold history, and at age 16, Cary Baker followed a slide guitar's haunting melody through Chicago's Maxwell Street Market to find himself face-to-face with bluesman Blind Arvella Gray. That chance encounter sparked a lifelong obsession.
Cary's book, Down on the Corner, traces the heritage of street music across 100 years, from blues legends in the 1920s to modern-day buskers armed with QR codes. He's spoken with everyone from

Lucinda Williams
vocalsThe streets have always been America's most democratic stage, where doo-wop harmonies, folk ballads, and raw blues first reached public ears. Cary's book captures this vital tradition in all its gritty, authentic glory.
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