The Ebony Hillbillies
It was a rough commute yesterday. Something happened with the fragile wires that make the trains go into Penn Station, and my morning commute turned into a 3 hour annoyance. I felt really bad for the guy across the aisle from me. He was headed for an important meeting, and I could feel the stress building in each cell phone call to his boss/customer/client as he tried to keep them happy. After leaving work at the end of the day, I headed back to Penn to see what awaited me for my commute back home. Luckily for me, the trains were running on schedule, *and* I got to listen to the fine Bluegrass of the Ebony Hillbillies. It took the edge off at the end of a long day. Just wanted to give them a quick shout out from a grateful commuter.
Oh, my. Home country in an alien land. Hillbilly. I find the further north I go the stronger my hillbilly accent becomes. One of the joys of walking the New York streets was playing my own role to the max. “How y’all doIN’? Good mornin’, huh.” I’d say to many of the street commuters I would meet, playing Andy Griffin’s Mayberry role to the max. Enjoying the startled looks. And – more often than I imagined – pleasant and welcoming replys.
For any visitor to New York City, the Ebony Hillbillies at a Metro Station is a true gift. Usually, they play some of the larger stations with plenty of open spaces for them to set up. My favorite venue for the Ebony Hillbillies is the Times Square station in July, with thousands of people in constant motion around the gift of mountain music in the biggest of American cities.
It’s really interesting to see all the different “street musicians” that work the subway network in Manhattan. It is part of what makes the landscape of the city experience. Have you also noticed the great increase in religious people trying to preach as well? When I was recently crossing from penn station to ( I think it was Grand Central) they have this whole set up with about 8 volunteers. They gotta be serious, cause it was August and had to be almost 100 degrees down there…