Naughty Monkey, an original tune by Howlin’ Hobbit
Howlin’ Hobbit was a long-time busker at the Pike Place Market, in Seattle.
A busker is a person who performs an art in public places, for donations of money. They are also referred to as street performers, traveling musicians, street entertainers, circle acts, minstrels, troubadours, and bards. Buskers can be dancers, mimes, artists, clowns, magicians, musicians, puppeteers, jugglers, acrobats, tumblers, story-tellers, living statues, sword swallowers, balloonists, fortune tellers, contortionists, escape artists, rope walkers, fire-eaters, and more. They can even be just plain weird.
Hobbit did a number of these things. Most recently, he played ukulele, harmonica, and sang, frequently accompanied by Sketch on bass, or salamandir on tuba. He was part of a group, Snake Suspenderz, which consisted of Hobbit on ukulele, Thaddeus on trombone and guitar, Sketch on drums, and salamandir on tuba.
video by @residentfan2
video by @SanjayProductionsUSA
video by @johnKolic2
You can see more of Howlin’ Hobbit’s videos on YouTube.
HOWLIN’ HOBBIT’S PERSONAL FANTASY
In my personal fantasy™ I’m actually not living in Seattle, WA, USA in the early years of the 21st century, oh no! I’m living in what has become known as the Weimar era, that period of years between WWI and WWII. I’m splitting my time between Paris and Berlin, hanging about with nothing but artists, musicians, writers, strippers, sinners, saints and other louche and degenerate folk.
We spend our time in smoky cabarets and dingy little flats, making music, art and conversation (and you know, probably fornicating and stuff)… sipping wine, smoking herbs and spending an inordinate amount of time stopping to smell the roses.
Ah, bliss!
Whenever my real life intersects with the personal fantasy™, I’m happy.
Sketch died on 190404, immediately after a successful run of Snake Suspenderz shows at the Moisture Festival, which, effectively, cancelled all future performances of Snake Suspenderz.
Hobbit relocated to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2021, during COVID, and died on June 7th, 2025.
If you knew Hobbit, have stories you would like to share, or would like to know more, send mail to salamandir.