{"id":531,"date":"2016-04-29T15:50:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T19:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/?p=531"},"modified":"2016-05-03T14:26:47","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T18:26:47","slug":"the-pearl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/2016\/04\/29\/the-pearl\/","title":{"rendered":"THE PEARL"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Samantha<\/a>

Samantha Pearl performing at Crossroads in Richmond.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

WALKING CARY STREET in Richmond, I’ve met a number of street musicians, who generally range in skill from primitive (homeless guy with ukulele) to moderately talented performers on guitar, banjo, fiddle, trumpet, clarinet, and harmonica.<\/p>\n

Samantha Pearl is in a different category altogether.<\/p>\n

She too plays on the sidewalk with her guitar case open for tips, but everything else about her\u2014from her ripping bluesy guitar slides to the original tunes sung in an angelic soprano\u2014seems totally out of place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re polished and you\u2019re playing on the streets it throws people off,\u201d said Pearl, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who’s been playing guitar since she was ten. A few years ago she left Los Angeles, her home city, and the restaurant business to move to New Orleans and launch a career as an artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been my own person and my own boss,\u201d said Pearl, who has primarily worked as a street performer for about four years, \u201cso the more I started to see that I was able to be financially secure with my music, I started to trust that more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearl, who disciplines herself to eat healthy food, workout and avoid alcohol and drugs, quickly learned that playing on the streets, while not as glamorous as playing in clubs and venues, is often more profitable than a scheduled gig. Why would she play in a bar or restaurant that pays her little if anything and the tips are much less plentiful?<\/p>\n

Street performing, Pearl said, \u201cis like practicing in your room but outside and you get paid for it. That\u2019s why like ever since I started I was like \u2018I\u2019m never going just practice in my room.\u2019<\/p>\n

And get paid for it, she does. Pearl said she hoped to make about $4,000 in April, which marked the beginning of her busy summer season.<\/p>\n

Except that, to collect big paydays, she typically needs to leave Richmond, a city that she stumbled upon through her travels and where she fell in love with another artist who supports her ambitions. As much as she enjoys Richmond, which she calls her sanctuary, Pearl said she would not be able to make enough money if she did not venture to other cities, such as Washington D.C., New York, and of course New Orleans, her favorite spot to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m down there I\u2019m really focused and I have a clear head,\u201d she said of New Orleans.<\/p>\n

On a typical day of street performing, Pearl might catch a bus up to Washington D.C. where she\u2019ll hope to make double or triple what she would in Carytown, enough for her to justify the four-hour combined trip and the price of two bus tickets. One of her favorite spots to play is in front of the White House.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecret service lets me,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cThe guys love when I play there, because they think I\u2019m beautiful and that I have a beautiful voice.\u201d<\/p>\n