Whenever I get close to one of the stations, I wonder which on of these people is going to be there to help perk me up. They seem to switch around a lot. The violist plays at both stations but I've only ever seen the girl with the guitar at Courthouse and the piano man at Federal Triangle. Every once in awhile another group gets in on this circuit. Earlier this week, there was a brass band2 at Courthouse.
Of course, each of these musicians plays different kinds of music for the crowd.
Guitar girl samples bands like Jimmy Eat World, Third Eye Blind, and other indie rock bands. But sometimes she'll pull something else out. The other day she played a really nice version of "Lean on Me."2
The violinist plays various classical pieces but I'm never very good at recognizing them2. The piano man tends to play a lot of Christian songs you'd probably hear in an African Baptist church. He's pretty good by himself but when his wife and two small children join in it's always quite a scene.
I've never spoken to any of these people and I don't know anything about them aside from their musical habits, but I really do appreciate them being there each day. DC's metro's are pretty dreary and commuting isn't something most people look forward to2. And it's true, I don't enjoy the crush of the crowded trains or the jerkiness of the rides but I do really look forward to the music.
No, I didn't take this picture. Yes I think a noir film set in the DC metro would be pretty cool.
1 Here's a map of the DC Metro for context↩
2 They were playing "Get Lucky" and sounded kinda like this.↩
3 For those of you who don't know, I had to memorise this song as part of my eight grade graduation ceremony and since then I've had to fight the urge to sing along every time I hear it.↩
4 Sorry mom. I know this hurts to hear.↩
5 It's often on fire. Go ahead and check for yourself. ↩
