Hear (or Play) Acoustic Music in Washington Square Park

Held Annually - May Thru October Only

Favorite Village Musicians Entertain New York City Visitors  

For many years these generous musicians, singers and songwriters have donated their free time between projects to entertain New York City Visitors every Sunday afternoon from 2pm to 6pm. Their generosity is especially welcome since the events of  9/11. To see the schedule for this and many other events be sure to visit the UMO Concert Calendar. (Note - If you would like to play acoustic music or sing in Washington Square, click here for details) To see enlarged photos, click on each picture.

Some of the Popular Musicians, Singers and Songwriters

Skip Mitchell (Style - Classic R&B, Soul, Rock) Powerful singer performs often with a group of harmony singers and professional backup musicians. (Donating his time for more than 20 years).

Joe B. (Style - Classic Rock, Pop, R&B, Soul) Singer, songwriter, rhythm guitarist who plays with Skip Mitchell and many other artists in the Village. (Donating his time for more than 25 years).

Lori Behrman (style: alt-pop, alt-country) Singer, original songwriter and guitar player. (Donating her time for more than 5 years).

Gene - (style: Bluegrass, country, folk) Goes way back to many of the legendary bluegrass artists. (Donating his time for more than 20 years).

Chuck Hancock (style: r&b, rock, pop, alternative)  - Session musician on Alto- Sax and Flute. (Donating his time for more than 15 years).

  Arthur Stewart (style: rock, pop, alternative) - Wild music performances with a bizarre comedic style. (Donating his time for more than 25 years).

The Music Aficionado

Big Horn & Friend - On Sunday Afternoons, Eric Byron can be found in the Northeast corner of Washington Square Park where he happily demonstrates his own brand of portable "record player" made from a combination of an old hand cranked 78 rpm turntable, steam pipes, vacuum cleaner hose and a big horn installed in a child's wagon (portability).

Eric plays recordings from 1904 through 1934 including many selections from the legendary "Enrico Caruso", "Louie Armstrong" doing "Willie the Weeper", and an incredibly unusual song called "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" by Jack Kaufmann.

His hand wind-up turntable requires the changing of the needle with each record played, in order to make the records last as long as possible. Eric buys the needles in bulk so that they cost about 2 cents each. According to Eric, "It is a shame how much music stereotyped many racial and ethnic groups back in those days - in fact there are certain records that I don't bring to the park because they're so offensive - even though they are collector's items." Be sure to visit Eric Byron in the Northeast corner of Washington Square Park on a Sunday afternoon (weather permitting).

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