If you walk down Santa Cruz’s Pacific Avenue, you may find yourself surrounded by music of all types. This popular street serves as a free and open venue for local musicians to perform for the public. Guitarists, saxophonists, flautists and many other types of musicians come to the streets to share their music.
Peter Lindener, a local saxophonist who has spent about seven years practicing on the street, said, “I don’t busk for money, I just figure I should be thankful the street puts up with me learning how to play.”
A shakuhachi flautist — someone who plays a Japanese shakuhachi flute — named Tracy said one of the reasons she enjoys performing on the street is because “it’s nice to have people listen.”
“I play all kinds of music,” she added, “I play flute, guitar. I write originals. I play reggae, rock and roll, Grateful Dead, some jazz.”
While Pacific Avenue is usually known for being busy with people shopping at all the various stores downtown, a visit there can relieve stress through the music heard.
Lindener recommends to anyone with a stressful lifestyle to “find a release like art or music. You’ll find that’ll keep you whole while you’re dealing with something that might be really hard to do.”
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