If you’ve read my new novel, Living by Ear, you know it’s about a former street musician–also known as a busker–named Christine Daley, who made a name for herself in Boston in the 1990s. In the present-day part of the story, Chris is a forty-something wife and mother in the middle of a divorce, desperately trying to revive her music career.

And not to give away any plot spoilers, but at one point in the story, Chris is encouraged to participate in a music competition similar to American Idol. 

So I was delighted to learn that a well-known British busker named Tom Stephenson (a.k.a. Busker Tom) has made it to the regional finals of an English national singing competition called Open Mic UK.

Mr. Stephenson has a unique busking style. Rather than just singing and playing songs on his guitar, he brings a collection of different percussion instruments with him wherever he goes, and encourages audience members to participate in his performances. In addition to being a busker, he’s a teaching assistant at a special needs school in Kent, and the frontman in a band called The Get Back Beats. You can read more about him here.

Best of luck, Tom Stephenson! I’ll be rooting for you here in the States!