As I left my local grocery store, I was inundated by loud, amplified violin playing—actually, electric violin playing. The sound was so overwhelming that it seemed to follow me through the large shopping center – from the grocery to the pharmacy and then to the bakery as I looked for the source.
Finally, I saw him – a weathered, middle-aged man standing in a grassy median in the parking lot. He played an electric violin, amplified by what looked like a boom box from the 1980s.
His case was open, and there was a sign asking to help him support him and his children because he was unemployed and needed money to pay rent. The man appeared to be busking – an age-old practice where fledgling musicians perform in public places, hoping for donations to support their living expenses and musical training.
As I watched the man masterfully perform music ranging from Bach to Bluegrass, something seemed off. A non-violinist might not notice – but he wasn’t playing the violin. His bow was moving but not perfectly with the music, and his fingers weren’t playing the notes coming from the speaker. Rather than busking, the man was doing the violin equivalent of lip syncing.
Police in Montgomery County, Maryland, where my office is located, have warned residents of scammers posing as buskers. According to the warning, these scammers weren’t only asking for cash— they were taking electronic payments, which exposed donors to credit card fraud. A National Public Radio…
