Skiffle and the Busker's Art

Check out the following clip from the BBC's Culture Show. One regular segment of theirs takes major rock/pop stars and puts them on a street for 15 minutes to busk, the proceeds going to charity. A constellation of stars including Moby, Black Francis and Broken Social Scene have all taken part with varying degrees of success. Mark Kermode, more usually known for rubbishing various films happens to be in a skiffle band - The Dodge Brothers. It seems that skiffle is summed up as somewhere between blues and rock'n'roll, using washboards rather than a drum kit (making it extremely portable). Apart from being one of my personal heroes, Dr Kermode (Manchester) happens also to be rather handy with a double bass and has the charisma to pull in the punters (and their cash). Marvellous.