Rushing through the Capitol Hill light rail station one winter morning, I was stopped in my tracks by a man sitting cross-legged, dressed in all black, playing acoustic guitar. It’s not every day I feel moved to give cash to a busker, but this guy was extraordinary, unleashing torrents of raga-folk bliss with an expert nonchalance that would have impressed Bert Jansch. I asked him his name and made a note to look him up online. That’s how I discovered Patrick Neill Gundran, who regularly fills Sound Transit’s acoustically splendid mezzanines with a rare sonic artistry that should make you yank out your earbuds and pay attention.
Gundran, who is nearing 50, has been busking since 2013—he started out playing in front of Virago Gallery (formerly Twilight)—but it wasn’t until last summer that he took to it in earnest. Besides his acoustic-guitar workouts in public spaces, Gundran performs in more traditional venues in solo guise as Uneasy Chairs and in the groups the Colour Out of Space and devils/club. Gundran unleashes noisier splotches of grinding sound in these groups, which contain the yang to his busking persona’s yin.
