Ask Austinist: Busking

We received this in our inbox last night, and to be perfectly honest, we've no answer for them. So we're hoping our perceptive readers might have more insight on this!

I just got a call from Mary Lou Lord in Austin informing me that the cops shut her down from busking in the street citing a new law banning "amplification". Hoping you might be able to shed some light on this, it's her 11th year of attending and pleasing the crowds out on 6th street...

"Busking," from Wikipedia, is "the practice of performing in public places to receive donations of money. Performers may play music, juggle, perform mime, do magic tricks or a comedy act, or simply stand still as statues (very popular in Europe currently). Those engaging in this practice are called buskers. In the United States, this term is not as widely known; buskers there are called street performers."

*Image from Myspace