“A lot of times you see children who’ve never ever seen a real musician before except on television. If their parents don’t go to church, where are they going to see a real instrument? I’m sure their parents aren’t going to take them to a symphony or to the nightclub.”

James smiles and plays a few chords on his keyboard. “So when they’re coming down the street, and you can tell that’s the first time that child’s ever seen somebody in real time play an instrument, it’s really a joy when you see them. They’re like ‘Mommy look!  Look!’—They’re really surprised. So it’s a good feeling when you can do that to people when you play.”

People on their way to somewhere else stop and smile at James or seem not to notice he is there. But it quickly becomes evident that James is no stranger to the Gaslamp. An eclectic bunch of people collects around James as he continues his tune. There’s a gray-haired man who refers to himself as Slippery Elmer, a homeless man hunched under the weight of a huge bag slung over his shoulder, and a teenager who raps freestyle over the keyboard’s synthesized beat. “I know everybody,” James continues. “I mean, seriously, I’m Gaslamp James.”

The lifestyle of street musicians looks free and fun, but not even they can escape the bureaucratic labyrinth. “We’re not really supposed to be playing above Market,” says James, who is, as it happens, playing above Market. “But if you’re pretty good and keep your shit together, sometimes they overlook you.”

It helps that James really does seem to know everybody in the Gaslamp, especially those who work there, and benefits from his friendships with the police and other Gaslamp officials.

Here, police are unusually tolerant of street performance, partially because of the sheer amount of people who come here to play. “Downtown is a mixed use environment, so it’s one of the things that needs to be accepted as part of the area. It’s part of being in a big city,” acknowledges Will Berry, the community relations director for the Downtown Partnership Clean and Safe program.

Problems arise because “[street performers] can create crowds, and sometimes they’re not very good musicians.” One man’s symphony is another man’s public noise violation, but the Gaslamp, no stranger to noise violations, is more forgiving than other areas in San Diego. In Balboa Park, for example, background checks are required, and musicians must play in one of nine areas designated for that purpose.

Gaslamp James is a San Diego regular with the police connections, but many street musicians are wanderers, who out of choice or necessity never stay in one place for long. They usually maintain day jobs, some music-related, like playing gigs at clubs, others decidedly unexpected, like civil engineering.

Street performance allows them to practice their art in a thrilling, yet relaxed setting. Because their audience turnover is so high, musicians can play the same song twice in a row, cover up mistakes, and experiment with new melodies of questionable merit. The performers consider these glorified practice sessions a more fun, less businesslike way to incorporate music into their lives and the lives of others.

“People seem to think you’re a spectacle,” one Gaslamp guitarist says. “Actually, they’re the spectacle because you get to watch all humanity go by—It’s probably as entertaining for us to watch the people go by as we are to them.”

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