Cary Baker - Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking and Street Music

  by Lisa Torem

published: 7 / 9 / 2025

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In her 'Raging Pages' book column Lisa Torem examines Cary Baker's new book 'Down in the Street' in which he interviewed approximately a hundred buskers about their lives.

While many music books focus on celebrity, Raging Pages recently discovered a nonfictional gem about an inclusive, centuries old phenomenon: busking. To research Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking and Street Music, Cary Baker, a California--based author, scoured the globe to interview about a hundred unsung heroes. As early as in his introduction, the Chicago transplant brings this diverse set of performers to life: “this is a book about those who have braved the elements, stood within spitting distance of their audience, put their own lives in danger….” This richly detailed book is drawn from multiple perspectives: first-person accounts of life on the “squats” by national and international artists reign, but advocacy measures designed to safeguard the performers’ freedom of expression are balanced throughout. For the first two chapters, Baker chronicles the magic of Chicago’s once bustling retail strip, Maxwell Street, where the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Chuck Berry, among many others, broadcast live roots music, amid the bartering of cheap wares. Baker puts us directly into “scene’” through vivid character arcs: visually impaired, slide guitarist Arvella Gray and Texas-born strummer Clara Littricebey provide colourful insights. In 2000, the Maxwell Street area was largely overtaken by the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC), although a small area was retained, but Baker warns us, that this bargaining chip “lacks the ambience and grit of the old market.” Baker underscores “the rise” of “Doo Wop” vocalists from major American hubs: Chicago, New York, Baltimore and Los Angeles. Without financial access to studios, these ambitious, working-class crooners congregated in acoustically-sound rest rooms, underpasses and street gang, designated corners. Blues “belter” Meschiya Lake did due diligence in ‘The Big Easy’ but smartly escaped the humidity to perform at New York City’s Washington Square Park. She racked up months in Europe, as well, but after her career took off in 2009, she opted for less time on the street and more in the studio with name acts. With an eye towards giving back, she reveals that she’s ready to pass the baton to the next generation. The Violent Femmes, ‘Car Wheels on a Gravel Road’ writer Lucinda Williams, Plimsouls’ Peter Case and guitarist/vocalist Fantastic Negrito sincerely chime in, but we also get access to first-person accounts from “across the pond” musos: Dublin’s Glen Hansard and Barking, Essex songwriter and politico Billy Bragg. The evocative narratives, often heartbreaking challenges, and global perspectives are accompanied by a 16-page photo section which includes historic shots from the author’s personal archives. With a keen eye for detail, Cary Baker put buskers under an empathetic light, but smartly, he encouraged the artists to tell their own stories.

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