Street musician Sam Schildkraut and his sidekick, Yorkie-Chihuahua (YoWaWa) mix Gangsta, celebrated their 1,001st performance outside Skechers shoes at 4475 Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach on Monday, Feb. 9. Before their performance the duo stopped by the Beach & Bay Press office to have their photos taken in matching tuxedos. Schildkraut has gained notoriety in the beach community for playing his sax while accompanied by Gangsta. A transplant from New York, Schildkraut came to San Diego to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. He’d always wanted a dog. He found one in Gangsta, a “furry frankfurter” he encountered while in a San Bernardino hotel parking lot and ultimately adopted after finding out he was a stray.
Though strangers in a strange land, the man and his “son,” as Schildkraut refers to Gangsta, have found their niche in PB performing nightly outside the corner shoe store. It’s an experience that’s schooled Schildkraut on the human condition.
The saxophone player said he’s witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly in people standing on the corner of Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard.
“People will tip you or chat with you even if they can’t tip — that’s all good,” Schildkraut said. “But then I’ve had people, men and women, who’ve shoved me or wanted to throw their weight around or looked down at me.”
Earning his living as a street musician has not dissuaded Schildkraut from his ultimate goals, which not only includes personal improvement and success but gaining notoriety for Gangsta as well.
Schildkraut wants to pen a book about Gangsta, in a format yet to be determined, with the title “Gangsta: A three-pound puppy lost in the ‘hood.”
With a Gangsta tome in the works, Schildkraut is forging ahead with his Gangsta “calendars,” which feature the mutt mugging with more than 100 famous folks, including the likes of astronaut Buzz Aldrin as well as actors like Sylvester Stallone, Cheech Marin and Barbara Eden of “I Dream of Jeannie” fame.