Byscuits & Davy: Gonzalo Silva, Again

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July 05, 2005

Gonzalo Silva, Again

The wait for the subway was a bit painful this morning. Usually during rush hour, a train comes every 5 minutes or less. But this morning, I must have waited 25 minutes. For the first 15 minutes, it was tremendously painful. Then the song I was listening to changed, and for a moment I could hear everything around me. I recognized a song, and it wasn't coming from my headphones. It was Gonzalo Silva.

I first heard Gonzalo Silva about three years ago in the NYC subway. I was visiting a very good friend, Ms. Fu, and as we were waiting for the train, we heard this amazing artist playing. The music was very mellow, but what sets this guy apart is his use of an electric bass guitar for his main instrument. I immediately snapped up one of his CDs, and it's been one of my best music purchases.

A few months back, while I was still working at Fidelity, I heard him playing much like this morning. I sat down and talked with him for a while, telling him how much I loved his music. I bought his newest album, Busker, and immediately started listening to it.

The new album was a bit like the old, but this one had liner notes. It told a lot of his story, and I read every page. It seems that he travels around from city to city, playing in subways. That's all he really has ambition to do. Just play in the subways.

This morning, as soon as I realized it was Gonzalo Silva playing, I took out my earbuds and walked over to listen. I had already been waiting 15 minutes for the train, so I didn't expect to listen for long. But the next train was an express, and I stayed a while longer. He even played a new song I didn't recognize.

Interesting guy. He's certainly good enough to tour, but he stays in the subways. He just loves to play.

Check him out, buy his music.

Entry posted by byscuits on July 5, 2005 01:37 PM

Comments

i remember you sharing his stuff with me. nice.

Comment posted by gb at July 5, 2005 06:19 PM

got a "i gotta read your stuff first because this is the first time you've posted" message. c'mon. me? ;)

Comment posted by gb at July 5, 2005 06:20 PM

I rememver listening to him play at the Harvard Square T-stop. Once he was playing on the in-bound platform, and nobody was there, so he wandered out towards the tracks (still playing) and looked up to the out-bound level. There were some people peeking down so he smiled and played a little song for them.

Comment posted by Hey Johnny Park at July 6, 2005 04:15 PM

I was doing a search for Gonzalo on Google and stumbled into this entry. I saw him in Harvard Square the other day, too. Here's one of the photos I took:

http://flickr.com/photos/sooz/24832861

Comment posted by Sooz at July 12, 2005 01:43 AM

I am a Big Gonzalo Silva Fan and it is fun to read your encounters with him and his music. Thanks for sharing this. I've seen him play more at the Middle East and bars in NYC and a few various open mics around Mass. I get claustrophobic in the subway so i barely ride but he would be the reason I get down there.

Comment posted by sarah hougen at August 18, 2005 04:29 PM