Galway singer joins busking marathon in wake of terror attack
A Galway-born singer/songwriter – caught up in a deadly drama Down Under that left six dead and dozens injured – joined a host of fellow buskers in the city of Melbourne for a marathon event that raised a fortune for the victims of the carnage.
Jamie Harrison from Oranmore – who has been travelling in New Zealand and Australia for the past few months – had become one of the regular coterie of buskers who ply their trade at the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne.
But the pedestrianised centre city mall was catapulted into international headlines for other reasons last month, when a man drove his speeding car through the crowds, killing six people and causing serious injury to over other thirty shoppers.
One of Jamie’s fellow buskers, George Kamikawa, was among those who had just finished playing when the car careered into the shoppers.
And that was one of the reasons why, two weeks after the bloodbath, dozens of musicians took part in a twelve hour Busking Marathon, which raised over $28,000 Australian dollars for the families of the victims.
Jamie, who enjoyed chart success here last year with his self-penned ‘If I Only Knew Your Name’, has taken time out to travel the world – but even on this busman’s holiday, he is still drawing the crowds.
“He just wanted to see a bit of the world but this is a mecca for buskers and Jamie is thoroughly enjoying it,” explained his mentor back home, Saw Doctors manager Ollie Jennings.
“He particularly loved this location and was only too delighted to play his part in helping those who lost their lives in such an appalling way,” he added.
The 26 year old Galway singer was a familiar face on Galway’s busking scene during his college years, using it to build up his profile and following from his Shop Street pitch.
Jamie, who also won an All-Ireland minor hurling medal with Galway in 2009, shot a video for his hit single in Hollywood, working with a team that included cinematographer Alexander Nikishin, who also worked on music videos for Mary J Blige and Fall out Boy.
But more recently he has taken time out to travel – which is how he found himself in Melbourne, and Bourke Street Mall.
The buskers wanted to both help raise funds for the victims – but also to bring the music back to a place they all see as a second home.
Melbourne charity Enruoblem also put together a double CD featuring Melbourne buskers which was available on the day.
All proceeds from CD sales were donated to the Bourke Street fund, said Enruoblem founder Chris Cincotta.
"We asked ourselves what we could do with our little Bourke Street community to try and help the victims of the families and it seemed pretty obvious in the end,” he told the Age newspaper in Melbourne.
"No one's getting paid. No one is taking any kind of cut. Every cent donated will be going towards the family victims’ fund," he said.
"For me, Bourke Street means music, it means busking, and to hear it fall silent was a definite sign that something wasn't right,” he said.