PORT TOWNSEND — David Michael, the harpist who made his living playing and selling records aboard the MV Klickitat ferry between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island until he was banned from the boat in 2007, has published a book about the life of a busker.
A Port Townsend resident, Michael was told to take his harp and CDs off the ferry nearly four years ago because of what officials said were security concerns.
He writes about this, as well as about other adventures and misadventures he’s had as a world-traveling street musician, in Busker: Tales of a Renegade Harpist, a 217-page paperback.
The book is just out on Purnima Press, a subsidiary of the author’s own record company, Purnima Productions.
Port Townsend-area residents also know Purnima as the producer of world-music concerts, such as last month’s evening of Indian ragas with sarode player David Trasoff, Chaz Hastings on tablas and Michael on swaramandal and Celtic harp.
Michael’s book also comes with a 73-minute companion CD of his music, featuring tunes titled “Keystone Passage,” “Chetzemoka Rain” and “Methow Reverie.”
Michael will read an excerpt or two from Busker and sign copies Friday night at the Writers’ Workshoppe, upstairs at 820 Water St.
The Workshoppe’s owner, Anna Quinn, is the book’s editor and will host the free event from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The books are on sale for $19.95, and for those who can’t attend Friday, Busker will continue to be available at the Writers’ Workshoppe.
Alongside his personal experiences, Michael writes about the history of busking and of other buskers and makes the case that street musicians play a vital role in society.
The book, Michael said, also is a collection of “outlandish and often hilarious details of [my] 40-year career entertaining around the globe, from cafes on the isle of Crete to the walking streets of Scandinavia as well as the ferryboats of Puget Sound.”
He touts his memoir as “a gritty and humorous travelogue of five summers of street music exploits and misadventures in Europe.”
Busker also contains some coming-of-age stories from when Michael was a teenager amid the antiwar protests and psychedelic-drug voyages of the 1960s.
Michael recalls too the defining events of his life and epiphanies he had while developing his musical skills on a kibbutz in Israel and on California’s Hollywood Boulevard.
As an aging busker — approaching his 60th birthday — Michael said he wants to pass on what he’s learned.
So the book features “50 hot tips for buskers,” pointers and lessons for novice and seasoned players alike.
These “would be fun for armchair buskers, too,” he said.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
