Walter P. Lyons was standing on a curb near Target on Friday, playing “America the Beautiful” on his trombone for tips. A few people stopped and handled a couple of bills out of the window of their cars. He received a few thumbs ups and smiles.

No one would think twice about a performing street musician in New Orleans. The Dancing Teddy Bear, his stage name, looked a bit out of place here.

The Alexandria, La. resident said he uses faith, prayer and an app to find out where he’ll go next, unless he’s scheduled to perform at a festival or other event.

“Since I’ve been doing this, I’ve been as far east as Natchez and as far west as Dallas. Take a look,” he said.

He pulls out his phone and shows a screen of icons that represent different locations, most all in Louisiana.

“At midnight, when I’m shutting it down for the day, I set my alarm for the next morning and ask God,  ‘Where are you sending me?’”

His reaction to being described as a musical vagabond was unexpected.

“The proper term is busker,” he said. “I’m adamant about sharing that when I can.”

The word is possibly derived from the word busk, which means to go, set out, to prepare oneself or from the Spanish word buscar, which means “to seek.”

His favorite Bible verse, now that he is older – he wouldn’t tell his age – is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”

This was a hobby that’s turned into a ministry,” he said.

He said he’s picked up a few paying gigs along the way, so he’s ministering and marketing, to a degree.

As a boy, his favorite verse was Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

He started playing the trombone in church when he was in junior high at the insistence of his father who played the guitar.

“I still play in church,” he said.

He said he’s had jobs that pay better. When the weather is bad, tips are nonexistent, but he loves what he does. He doesn’t beat people over the head with his faith. Sometimes they want to talk about politics, and he enjoys that as well, especially when he gets them around to his way of thinking. He said he’ll never forget hanging out a while with a man who said he was thinking about suicide and changed his mind.

“That was God,” he said.