Ocracoke School students Waylon Underwood and Cecilia Carter are parking lot performers.
"We both like music," and the duo decided to "take it to the streets," said Cecilia. She plays the harmonica, and Waylon is learning to play the guitar. Right now he's singing along, free style.
Most people have been stoked, said Waylon, though one person delivered an impromptu lecture about Cecilia's harmonica being out of tune. Life is a learning process, and a willingness to take risks is helpful.
Waylon is exercising his vocal chords, and practicing performance skills in preparation for his role as the dreamy, sensitive pirate Richard, in the upcoming Ocracoke Alive! musical production of A Tale of Blackbeard. He has a solo, and a duet, and a number of group songs to perform. "I'm kinda the main character," he said, with disarming modesty.
The duo found $30 in the bottom of their hat the first day out, and 75 cents the second day.
The high school students split the proceeds. Cecilia plans to convert her dollars to Euros and spend them as an exchange student in Germany. She'll find out in the next few weeks if she's been accepted, and will head to the continent in July, if all goes as planned. In the meantime, she's a wage earner at Ride the Wind Surf Shop. Waylon has a job at Topless Oyster, and often spends his busking money on ice cream.
