ICYMI: Medford Busker Really Wants to Perform With Tim Kaine

MEDFORD, MA – Democratic values, quirky instruments and a love for The Replacements -- Chelsea Spear has found her kindred spirit in Tim Kaine.

Spear, a ukulele player and chronic MBTA busker, is hoping Clinton's running mate joins her for a set of some of The Replacements' greatest hits in the catacombs of the T.

In a video posted to Twitter Tuesday, the Medford resident called on Kaine to dust off his harmonica and play alongside of her in a musical duo that would make Simon & Garfunkel envious.

Spear told Patch the idea came to her in the weeks after Hillary Clinton announced Kaine as her running mate; she was perusing Twitter and noticed several people mentioning the Virginia senator's love for The Replacements.

"My first thought was, oh that's really funny," Spear said. " Then I realized I had a bunch of Replacements' songs in my busking repertoire. I know these songs anyway, I'm working on the campaign, it'd be kind of a fun thing to do."

Spear, a proofreader for a nonprofit in Boston, does volunteer work in the Clinton campaign offices in Somerville and Boston; in posting the video, she hopes someone from the campaign takes note and passes it on to Kaine.

A relative newcomer to the busking scene, Spear's passion for performing has nonetheless taken off in recent months. Armed with her ukelele, she set out to play all of Boston's T stations before her next birthday in June. To date, she has played 33, and has no intention of slowing down.

In fact, on top of entertaining commuters, Spear has a show slated for October 23 at the Aeronaut Brewery called "Buskers in Disguise."

But despite her budding music career, she can't shake the itch to busk with Tim Kaine. The first song she wants to play?

"'I Will Dare.' It's the first song on 'Let It Be,' which he's actually cited as his favorite album," Spear said. "I think it represents the campaign as a whole."

Photo Credit: Jessica Lynn

Story originally published October 5.