Looking for compañeros for a busking trip to South America

[breqwas]

In short: I'm a B/C button accordion player from Moscow, Russia, and now looking for companions (fellow Irish musicans) for a busking trip to South America next winter. No, it's not as crazy as it sounds.


Long version:

I don't know about you guys, but where I reside, winters are long, cold and kinda depressing. So I decided to shorten the next one a bit: I'm planning a trip to South America, where winters are summers. Chile, Argentina, Uruguay. Starting Dec, 21 in Santiago de Chile, finishing Jan, 22 in Montevideo, Uruguay - and one month of summer and complete freedom in between.

To make things more interesting: I'd like to avoid any hotels, and stay with locals using CouchSurfing. I'm a long time CS host here in Moscow, here's my profile: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/breqwas. If you don't know what CS is, try reading this: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/ ... re-welcome - a bit exaggerated, but you'll get the idea.

I'm going anyway, but I'd like to make this trip even better and make it a busking trip: not for money (and probably even with "all money goes to charity" note), but for the fun of it. Street music is the most honest form of music, and - when decent - it brings lots of fun for both listeners and players. This how it may look like (that's me on the accordion, a few years ago): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlEB2FywcrE

So: I'm looking for other Irish musicians who'd like to join me on this trip. To make this work, we need at least one accompaniment instrument (guitar, bouzouki, etc) and all instruments should be transportable and playable in standing position (thus, no uilleann pipes - or you'll have to carry not only an instrument, but also a chair to play it). And, well, the place of accordion player is already taken

Send me a message or an email at me@breqwas.net if you're interested.

[breqwas]

What are these places: these are nice civilized countries of western culture (akin to Southern Europe, like Spain or Italy). They may be not as rich as Western Europe or US or Canada, but that's not a big deal. They are rather safe - they're neither Colombia, where rebels still fight the government, nor these parts of Mexico where cartels fight each other. And if you have any stereotypes about these places, these are probably wrong, because all stereotypes are wrong. (for the record: most of this applies to my own country too)

Also, these countries are beautiful. Be that Chilean Patagonia or Atacama desert, wineyards and hot sun of Mendosa or streets of Buenos Aires. Also, they are full of friendly people that you could become frinds with - given that you have the "buena onda", which I hope you have. And, last but not least - there are beaches and warm ocean in Uruguay, and you will be able to swim in the sea in January Ah, yes, and marijuana is legal in Uruguay.

Climate: hot, but not deadly hot. Think of Spain or California. Humid when near the ocean, dry when far from it, just like anywhere else.

Languages: these countries speak Spanish. I speak Russian, English and Spanish, so we'll never be stuck in a situation of a complete language barrier.

Money: airplane tickets there and back will cost a fortune (from Europe at least), all the rest is rather cheap.

Visas: for me, all South America is visa-free. Not sure about EU and US passports, you'd better check, but I really doubt there will be any problem.

Irish music: there are sessions at TSO for Santiago, Valparaíso and Buenos Aires, and Comhaltas branches in Chile and Argentina. I think we'll get in touch with them

This all could be really cool. Anyone?

[breqwas]

A todos los que viven en Cono Sur y están leyendo este post: hola! Me alegre mucho que haya músicos irlandeses no sólo en Rusia, sino en América Latina también , y les agradecería mucho si me aconsejan algo - dónde tocar, qué decir a las policías en caso de problemas, dónde y cuándo ocurren sesiónes, algo así.

[breqwas]

Also, I should note that while I'm very, very mediocre musician, I still, well, can play music, and expect that any companions that join me can do the same. As I said, street music is very honest - if your playing sucks, no one would listen. Here are some of my recent recordings, if you want to know whom you will be playing with: http://breqwas.net/demo2015/.

As I said, that's very humble an mediocre and all, but that's enough for the street in a country where no one knows Irish music I guess. What's not enough though is not being able to play at all, or not being able to play together - so, guitar player should be able to accompany the tunes (either on the fly, or pre-learning them in advance) and other melody players should know a handful of tunes and be able to play in tune. At least.

[breqwas]

Also, uh. I have to say it.

It may happen that if you're intrested, you'll try to do a 'background check' on me and go reading my old posts and comments here at C&F. I should note that these all were posted many years ago, and people tend to change with the time. Anything you find there is probably irrelevant.

[MTGuru]

A todos los que viven en Cono Sur y están leyendo este post: hola!

Impresionante tu español, tal como tu inglés. A+

[breqwas]

Impresionante tu español, tal como tu inglés. A+

A mi opinión, actitud tal es una de las razones por las que la gente estadounidense (en su mayoría) no hablan idiomas extranjeros, aunque les estudian en las escuelas. Todos los que les estudian para recibir una nota buena - no van a aprender nada, y dado que la 'lengua franca' de nuestro tiempo es inglés, buenas notas sin domino del idioma quedan impunes para ustedes.

Para aprender el idioma de veras, uno tiene que tener un fin que no sea A+, sino algo como 'poder hablar a los que no saben inglés' o 'poder leer un periódico' o algo así. Idiomas extranjeros abran nuevos mundos, pero se tiene que olvidar las notas y preocuparse por los fines verdaderos. Por ejemplo, el hecho que aprendí castellano me permite realizar este viaje

No obstante, todo esto no tiene nada que ver con el tema, sólo lo escribí para captar más atención. Entonces, ...oh, sorry, I mean:

So, anyone adventurous enough to join me for this trip? It will be fun, I promise.

[MTGuru]

A mi opinión, actitud tal es ...

Bueno pues ... No soy tu maestro y no te doy una nota. En este marco A+ es nada más un modismo que señala aprobación, por el cual la respuesta apropiada sería "gracias". Y por tu mala interpretación te devaloro a B+.

Mas en serio te deseo buena suerte con tu viaje y con tu solicitación.

[rorybbellows]

no uilleann pipes - or you'll have to carry not only an instrument, but also a chair to play it
.

You dont always have to be sitting to play pipes


RORY

[Coffee]

Don't need a chair, just a place to sit... a cooler, or a chest... a stump...
Y, de veras, cuando hay muchos personas en un lugar, tambien hay sillas.