Bin the sound of music
July 30th 2010 Charlie Cavey, 31, sings and plays guitar while squeezed into a tiny metal bin in Cambridge. But once inside the bin, the Suffolk busker can't keep an eye on his money so he has employed an eight-year-old Jack Russell called Obi to stand guard.
"I have had problems with people taking money as they don't always realise I am in the bin and it looks like free cash," says Cavey. "It's quite a struggle to keep getting in and out of the bin so now I bring Obi with me. He is really good and just stands on top of the bin and watches people going by."
Cavey first started performing in a bin as a joke. "I saw a man empty a metal rubbish bin one day in the city centre and thought I could fit inside it," he explains. "I managed to squeeze myself in much to the amusement of all my mates. Then I learnt to play the guitar and a friend reminded me about the bin so I decided to combine the two."
Cavey says he always attracts crowds as people can't work out where the songs are coming from. "They can hear me but can't see me so they always stop and try to work out where I am," he laughed. But Cavey admits that singing in a bin does have its drawbacks: "I get people throwing rubbish into the bin not realising I'm inside," he says. (Or maybe his punters are just literary types).
photo: Glenn Peb
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