In spring 2022, not long after retiring from his job as a provincial court judge in B.C., Philip Seagram set off on a journey from Victoria to Halifax, with the goal of busking in cities across Canada.
“ I had no idea what to expect when I set out on the trip. I didn’t even know really why I wanted to do it. I just felt this urge to do it,” he said.
Seagram’s trip began not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He would perform on his guitar, with a sign next to an open case inviting people to leave money – or to take it if they were in need. Whatever was leftover would be donated to relief efforts for those impacted by the war in Ukraine.
“One of the things that really surprised me was how incredibly honourable people were in the way that they would take money,” Seagram said.
“They would always confirm that it was okay to take. They wouldn’t just take the sign at face value. They would ask me, ‘is it okay for me to take money?’ Or they would say, you know, ‘can I have $4?'”
Seagram says one woman even made change with some of her own coins when she took a bill.
“ Most of the time I just saw it as, you know, that there’s a basic decency in everybody no matter what situation they happen to be in,” he said.
“In hindsight, I really realized that it’s a lot for someone to step up in public, reach into somebody’s guitar case, and take money from it. That takes a lot of courage.”
Seagram was mostly performing his own songs, with a few covers mixed in. One song he wasn’t planning on playing however, was Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker.
“A lot of people cover that song. I decided that I wouldn’t learn it, or cover it or take it with me to perform, because to me, it seemed too corny,” he said.
When a man who was part of a couple passing by requested Wagon Wheel, Seagram tried to get out of it by saying he didn’t know the words.
“ That didn’t work because he just said, ‘Well, I’ll sing it,’ and away we went,” Seagram said.
“ That was such a nice little interaction, with that couple, jointly creating that song.”
He says he’s since learned to play and sing Wagon Wheel, he says the incident taught him not to give up on songs just because of their popularity.
Seagram offered advice for anyone with a big idea gestating in their mind.
“If you have an urge to do something, even if you can’t even articulate why you have that urge or, or why you’re thinking it’s something that you’d like to do, have a shot at it,” he said.
Listen to the full interview for more on Seagram’s takeaways from his travels, including how kids reacted to his busking, and a chance encounter with a Nanaimo headliner. He’s also told his story in the book No Judgement, which is currently nominated for a non-fiction award in this year’s B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes.
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