TOP DOGS INDIVIDUAL BUSKERS
RISING THREATS COLLABORATIVE GROUPS MIXING A VARIETY OF STYLES

During the three months Pavan Bapu spent chronicling the downtown subway performance scene in 2006 for his short film “Sound Underground,” the UIC student encountered individual performers in just about any genre you could name—from doo-wop singers to one-man bands. But in the past year, Bapu says, he’s seen several of those disparate artists banding together to cook up oddly powerful sonic stews. “There was one youthful guy doing Hendrix numbers who teamed up with both an R&B singer and another guy doing Buddy Holly hits,” Bapu says. They’d all sing one of their staple songs together, “but you’d hear the distinct eras coming through,” he recounts. “The hybridization is phenomenal. And I think they generate more donations as a group.” Catch his 15-minute documentary online (bapufilms.com).