The jazzy tunes of Brandon Pham’s (12) acoustic guitar rang through the crowds of Balboa Park as The Three Busketeers began their first public performance, Dec. 20. In concert with Rosemary Cabanban (12), the voice of the band and Dylan Bui (12), the drummer, Pham spread his love for music through their self-launched busking band. They then performed for a second time at La Jolla Shores, Sunday. 

“[The idea] started with just me and Brandon just chatting in class all the time,” Cabanban said. “Sometimes he would bring in his guitar and play some little jams for us in class, and I was like, ‘wow, Brandon, you’re so great!’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, I would love to go busking!’ And I was like, ‘I want to go busking. Let’s go busk together!’ And so we added in Dylan Bui, practiced a few times in his garage, and were like, ‘wow, this is kind of fun.’”

During practices, Bui said they try to focus on making their performances their own by altering and tweaking songs to suit their instruments, along with Cabanban’s voice. 

“I think our practice sessions are really fun,” Bui said. “We just do whatever we feel like doing and play in the garage. We focus on just trying to get the songs to sound nice and like our own style because we don’t have a full band.”

Pham said each song is broken down and customized to sound good even when performed by only the three of them. 

“I think the really fun part is when we spend time to figure out a street arrangement where Dylan and I figure out how to strip it down to an acoustic guitar and a cajon, which is the box drum,” Pham said. 

Though all three of the members have a musical background, Cabanban said that their busking events were her first experiences sharing her voice with others. 

“My first time actually publicly singing was with the busking,” Cabanban said. “So for me, I felt really new to it and [Pham and Bui] being so supportive and having a lot of faith in me was a big part of me having the confidence going into this for the first time.”

Cabanban said the relaxed support and encouragement from her bandmates helped her brave the public and dispel any nerves.

“In reality, it’s a very low-stress performance and so I feel like we do have very forgiving practices together,” Cabanban said. “Whenever someone messes up, because all of us do mess up inevitably, it’s just something that we accept, and we acknowledge, and then we just try again.”

At their first performance in December, the Three Busketeers spread Christmas cheer through festive tunes such as Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run” and The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride.” But getting there was no smooth journey.

“The first time we went busking, we brought a whole setup: speaker and mic, an amp for the electric guitar, and the entire drum kit was in the back of our car, and then we had everything set up,” Bui said. “Then, a ranger came up and said, ‘That’s probably going to be too loud because there’s an 80 decibel limit.’ So, we had to go back and put everything away and strip it down to one snare drum, the unplugged guitar, and Rosemary singing without a microphone.” 

Having driven all the way down to Balboa Park, The Three Busketeers were insistent on successfully completing a performance that day. Although doubts had risen in their minds, Cabanban said they made it work in the end, and the reactions they received from the public were really rewarding. 

“We thought it was going to be a bust to busk, but we figured it out and ended up finding a really great spot right next to the botanical garden where there were a lot of people walking by,” Cabanban said. “It was designated specifically for creative expression, and it ended up being really great that day. It was really nice seeing people walk by and stay for a bit to listen to us, with little kids dancing to our music.”

Bui, Pham and Cabanban had only banded together just over a month ago, but they said that their lighthearted practices filled with passion had really drawn them closer to each other and the people around them. 

“[Busking] brought us together with people in the community, but also with one another because I knew Brandon already, but it was really the busking that brought me closer to Dylan,” Cabanban said. “I didn’t even know him until we started busking together.”

As The Three Busketeers entered their very last semester of high school together, Pham set his eyes on creating a special, memorable performance for their first and final Spring Music Festival at Westview. 

“I think my biggest goal is to gather experience to make this a very premium act, a very solid type musical act in order to have a beautiful performance at the Spring Music Festival and show everyone how music can bring everyone together,” Pham said.

Cabanban said she hopes The Three Busketeers can spread happiness to even the smallest number of people through their love and passion for music. 

“I think we’ll just have more busking days, more practices, and make a few more people smile,” Cabanban said. “It’s really a beautiful thing to be able to share something artistic with random people and try to brighten their day-to-day lives.”