Since being laid off as a social worker eight years ago, Nate Williams pays his bills by playing acoustic guitar in a CTA subway station.
"This is pretty lucrative, if you respect what you’re doing," said Williams, 57, who entertains crowds at the Washington Blue Line stop singing pop favorites like "A Hard Day’s Night" and "How Sweet It Is." His subway work helps him find paying gigs at other venues.
But Williams and other subway musicians are worried that an ordinance proposed late last month by downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, to restrict music on downtown streets could send more performers into the subway, causing new conflicts in a venue that is unusually limited for a major transit city.
"If they came down here, it would be a major problem," Williams said. "You’d see fighting at the other stations." Williams is particularly concerned that "hustlers" — people more interested in drug money than in music — would crowd out serious musicians.
A proposed ordinance that would severely restrict the noise made by street performers on major downtown streets could send them down into the subways. Subway musicians say this could cause chaos in an already overcrowded environment.
Musicians who were interviewed said a flood of new performers would upset the delicate balance among those who perform in the only three CTA stations that permit live music — Washington and Jackson on the Blue Line and Jackson on the Red Line. Many subway musicians negotiate among themselves for time and space, checking with one another to make sure a spot is free.
"We’d have a lot of clashing," said Maurice Javier Hubbard, 22, a violinist performing under the name "Mo Javi" who plays classical and folk-inspired original compositions. "We already have a lot of people down here."
Reilly introduced an ordinance that would require performers along long stretches of Michigan Avenue and State Street to keep the volume down to near-library levels — not audible to a person standing 20 feet away. This would not hurt mimes but would knock out players of many instruments, including trumpets and plastic buckets.
The ordinance would cover Michigan Avenue from Cedar Street to Balbo Avenue, and State Street from Huron Street to Jackson Boulevard. Street performers are already banned in Millennium Park, and on streets near the Petrillo Music Shell or Jay Pritzker Pavilion during concerts.
Aldermen exercise a lot of power on ward-level quality-of-life issues, with their colleagues usually agreeing to support whatever the local representative wants to do in his neighborhood. It is also rare for the mayor to come out against such local ordinances. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s press office did not respond to questions about Reilly’s proposal.
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Reilly said the ordinance is intended to protect downtown workers and residents aggravated by constant drum or saxophone riffs. For people who have to hear it six hours straight, "those sounds and performances aren’t ‘music’ or ‘enjoyable’ — it’s deafening, mind-numbing and maddening noise," Reilly said in a statement to the Tribune. He did not respond to a request for comment on the risk of sending more performers into the subways.
More CTA spots?
One solution to the problem of too many musicians is to open up more CTA stations for performance, said musicians interviewed. For a city known for its major role in the development of blues and hip-hop, CTA’s performance policy is both more limited and more chaotic than those of other transit-heavy cities.
"It’s absurd," said "Machete Mike" Malinowski, 23, who plays interpretations of songs by Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and other rock bands on his electric guitar. "There’s a whole city here, and we’re only allowed three stations?"
The CTA’s policy is first come, first serve, and some performers try to monopolize spots for several hours, Williams said. The CTA has no cap on licenses and has issued 210 in the past year. But there are even fewer opportunities than there used to be, as performers were allowed at the Washington Red Line stop before it closed. Performers can sometimes be found at other high-traffic stations, like State/Lake or Grand on the Red Line, but they risk being chased out.
New York City, by contrast, allows performers at any subway station, provided they do not use amplifiers and do not block passenger access, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Amanda Kwan. No fee is required, but to get slots at the top 30 most popular subway venues, like Times Square or Penn Station, the city holds auditions.
"It’s very competitive," said Kwan, noting that hundreds apply each year for spots in the Music Under New York program.
The Toronto Transit Commission holds auditions every three years for 75 coveted subway musician licenses, for performing in 25 dedicated spaces. The license fee is about $151 (U.S.).
Michael Malinowski Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune Guitarist Michael “Machete Mike” Malinowski jams for CTA Red Line commuters at the State and Lake Street subway station Jan. 29, 2017. Guitarist Michael “Machete Mike” Malinowski jams for CTA Red Line commuters at the State and Lake Street subway station Jan. 29, 2017. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
More than 40 spots are open for performers on Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and permits cost $25 each. San Francisco’s BART system allows performers in unpaid areas, and licenses are free.
The CTA charges $10 annually for a permit, while the city charges $100 for a two-year street performer permit. Some musicians, like Hubbard, do both but prefer the underground in cold weather.
Several musicians interviewed said they would welcome a New York-style system, with access to more stations but auditions for top downtown stops.
"There would be so many less problems and people wouldn’t be fighting for spots," Hubbard said. "Here in Chicago, we have many performers that are really, really good and the ones that are just performers." He emphasized that anyone should be free to play in public.
CTA spokeswoman Irene Ferradaz said the system has no plans to do auditions and limits the number of stations available to support local artists while also being a "good neighbor" by not permitting performances on platforms that might disturb nearby residents and businesses.
A ‘primal’ art form
Top acts like The Remedy don’t just play underground. The four-man a cappella group, which draws inspiration from The Temptations and Sam Cooke, also has performed at a Chicago Bulls game and for a Glade commercial.
But they make most of their income from their work in the subway and in the pedway near Metra’s Millennium Station, and they love the crowd interaction.
"We like the energy that people give us — the smiles we put on people’s faces," said Remedy member Durell Jones, 28. "That gives us good vibes."
Hubbard, who has worked as a studio musician and played for orchestras, said the subway has helped him become a better musician.
"They don’t have to clap, they don’t have to look at you. It really does test your ability to interact with the crowd," he said. "It’s an incredible challenge."
Hubbard noted that street performance is a big part of the culture in New Orleans, Los Angeles and European cities. He called it a "primal" art form — the way you would hear music centuries ago, before the recording industry.
Some people make the mistake of conflating street and subway musicians with beggars, when musicians are working for their money, Hubbard said.
"Society is giving me a gift, because I’m giving mine," Hubbard said.
mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @marywizchicago
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