Take off your earphones New York--the MTA's chosen this year's class of subway buskers to fill your commute with all kinds of music.
The Music Under New York (MUNY) program held its 19th annual audition at Grand Central last week (the competition was emceed by the Bowery Poetry Club's Bob Holman) and of the 68 groups that tried out, 19 were selected to perform in the city's subway stops, Gothamist reports.
Acts were chosen from many genres and include swing band Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band, female a capella group MetropoliTones, and baroque harpist Meta Joy Epstein.
Although it's technically legal for anybody to play music in the subway, MUNY artists can display official banners, use amplification, don't have to worry as much about pesky transit cops, and have dibs on some of the best and busiest spots underground, according to WNYC.
The 19 selected groups will join a roster of more than 100 soloists and groups providing over 150 weekly performances at 25 locations throughout the transit system.
Here's a video of the auditions last week, and below listen to a song from the Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band while perusing a list of New York's newest official subway songsters.
Marcella Louise Adame, Opera singer
Harold Allen, country singer
Brazilian Quarter, Brazilian & New Orleans music
Lindsay Dragan, singer songwriter & guitarist
Meta Joy Epstein, Baroque harpist
Erik Hegar, contemporary & classical harpist Keizo Ishibashi, Italian mandolin player
Tom Larsen, guitarist & singer songwriter
Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band, Swing band
Mike Lunapiena, cellist improvisation
Metro Brass Quintet, classical, pop, jazz
MetropoliTones, female a capella
Eric Reimers, classical & Argentinean guitarist
Ron Service, saxophonist
The Body Electric, Afro-beat jazz ensemble
The Connections, Motown, R&B duo
Threeds, Oboe trio
Matt Vorzimer:eCussionist, electro improvisation
Christopher Worth, contemporary & traditional singer