Their three year old son, Ronin, often joins them while they busk (perform for money)
Artist Website:
https://www.thepoorcousins.com
Together they are known as the very talented folk Irish duo, “The Poor Cousins”.
Artist Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/thepoorcousins/
Busking means they are only paid what they earn from tips and CD sales.Rambunctious Ronin, always lending a hand, even when hands aren’t needed.
At the closed ticket window in Grand Central, Naomi and Emmet play while Ronin plants himself front and center.Ronin rides on Naomi's back, cheek on her shoulder, and the fiddle keeps going.
The train streaks past in ribbons of light. We are all planets, gravity bound to our star, pushing and pulling.
Up before the sun, the trio commute from deep within Brooklyn to Grand Central toEmmet rides in with the gear cart, the subway doors open onto the platform.
In a tiled corridor, the family passes another busker playing accordion over his open case.
Guitar on his back, Emmet pushes the cart down the platform as Ronin runs on ahead.Ronin toddles across the empty vestibule toward the doors, the stroller waiting behind.
Emmet rests a hand on Ronin's head as they come up into Grand Central.
A quick turn of the pegs before the first song.Naomi smiles over her fiddle while Ronin peeks out from over her shoulder.
A boat shoe keeps time on the terminal floor.
Emmet grins mid-song, Naomi's bow just catching the corner of the frame.When Ro gets tired the show must still go on, so Naomi places him on her back.
A small sneaker rests on Naomi's knee as she plays from her stool.
Somewhere in Far Rockaway, New YorkBefore the house fills, the stage waits: two stools, a fiddle on its stand, the mics already set.
The duo prepares for a fundraiser.
Naomi plays by the window at the fundraiser, the water bright behind her.Emmet leans into the mic and sings, the curtains drawn back to the afternoon.
The house is packed to support Music That Heals, an organization The Poor Cousins are associated with that brings musicians into hospitals to play music for the terminally ill.
Up close, the fretting hand and the glow of the tuner.The Poor Cousins play to a full room, the Manhattan skyline a thin line across the water.
Emmet trades the guitar for the bodhrán, the drumhead glowing in the window light.
Back on guitar, Emmet strums from his stool as the light goes gold.Night falls on the porch while the music carries on behind the window.
At the furthest subway stop from Grand Central Terminal.
The Poor Cousins round out the holiday season with a performance at an Irish themed holiday dinner in Far Rockaway, New York.By the tree and the fire, the duo plays the holiday dinner while Ronin, bottle in hand, supervises.
