Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series running Fridays that will focus on the street musicians on Court Street.
As students carouse Court Street on weekend nights, the dulcet tones of an upright piano can be heard above the din.
It is an unexpected sound for many; the idea of a street musician most often evokes images of broken-down guitars and saxophones. Yet for the past 10 years, Rick O’Keefe has charmed the streets of Athens with his piano.
“I had heard about Athens for years but never came,” O’Keefe said. “But I think it’s the best town in America, and I’ve seen most. It’s like it’s from a Norman Rockwell painting, and it hasn’t changed a bit. I just hope the beautiful people don’t find it and destroy it because it really is perfect.”
O’Keefe is not exclusive to Athens, however. Although he resides here in the spring and fall, he spends his winters and summers traveling.
“I’m really a migrant worker,” O’Keefe said. “This is what I do, and I feel lucky to do it.”
Prior to becoming a full-time street performer, O’Keefe played indoors, but he felt unfulfilled.
“I always used to think, ‘Those poor guys can’t get gigs,’ but secretly I thought it looked like fun.” O’Keefe said. “That first time I went out, I was pretty scared.”
Performing as a street musician was not easy. The abuse hurled his way was difficult to overcome, but today O’Keefe said he takes a different view.
“I see it as I’m their guest and they can say whatever they like. That’s my price,” he said. “And I think it’s more youthful exuberance and conformity rather than actual hostility. People never seem to lash out until they are in a group.”
O’Keefe also pins society’s negative attitude toward culture and the arts as a cause for the antagonism.
“America has this Philistine attitude,” he said. “People don’t always think this is a real career, and sometimes I just look at them and say, ‘My career predates yours.’ I mean, if you think about it, there have been traveling minstrels all throughout history.”
The lack of abuse is one of the things that draws O’Keefe to Athens, where he said that “haters just don’t thrive. They don’t stay.”
Despite the hardships, O’Keefe loves what he does and advocates it as a career for music lovers.
“I don’t recommend going to school,” O’Keefe said. “I’ve now spent my whole life unlearning ‘truths’ I learned in school. It just teaches that Philistine attitude.”
O’Keefe also added that being a professional musician is not a prerequisite to playing on the streets.
"It’s really easy to learn an instrument well enough to play on the streets, especially if you learn some of the favorites,” he said. “You really can make 25 percent more if you play really well, but you don’t have to be really good to make money.”
As a budding street performer, O’Keefe played the banjo. Since then, however, he has picked up a multitude of instruments, saying that given enough time, he can learn just about anything that is not a wind instrument. In Athens, though, he sticks with the piano.
O’Keefe has seen many sights during the years, yet he says that Athens has barely changed during the 10 years he has visited it. And after 22 years of performing, he said he has no regrets.
“Every day is memorable, each day is great,” he said, “and I’m happy doing what I do.”
nb360409@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCulture
