Timothy Rusterholz, 32, of La Crosse, Wisconsin plays a variety of instruments, sings and writes his own music. String instruments are not the only thing he does. He also plays the keyboard and writes music for bands in the electronica, electronica dance as well as experimental electronica genres.
Rusterholz concentrating hard on his music .
After moving from Wisconsin to New York, Rusterholz’s first job was becoming a bike messenger but had noticed street performers and musicians made more money than he was.
“After seeing how much money the performers were making I thought that I could try it and thought that as long as I’m dedicated to what I’m doing I can make money. Competition doesn’t really matter to me it never did,” said Rusterholz.
With his bike messenger days long behind him, Rusterholz has managed to take his career to the next level and is now cellist, composer, as well as an instructor. With all of this talent, Rusterholz states that his talent dates back to when he was just a kid visiting his Grandparents.
Spotted in New York City Subway Station, Fellow with a Cello!
“I been playing for a really long time, actually its in the family I used to spend hours at home practicing on our families piano, My Grandma herself played the Cello which I currently been playing. We used to join together and just have fun,” he said. “This is what sparked an interest in me to keep on playing especially with string instruments.”
Sated with his cello in hand, Rusterholtz performs for the people.
With his hands full, Rusterholtz also plays for many different types of events for parties, weddings, and underground shows. Although, his main inspirations are classical artists such as Bach and are less appreciated nowadays by the younger crowds, Rusterholtz still believes that the type of genre of music you choose to play is not what decides if you stand out or not regardless if its cool or not. He believes that its how you choose to perform it to a crowd that makes you stick out from the others.
Feeling the music .
“I think its more of about how genuine and dedicated you are to it and offer it to the people, rather than worrying about who’s paying attention to you or not and constantly trying to compete with all these other subway musicians,” he said. “I have my own unique style and I know it, I can tell because even if they aren’t into classical pieces or covers of a song I perform they can still easily connect to it the attitude that you put into the music is appealing to people and shows a lot.”