The December sky darkens as a stream of commuters in the Square tramples snow into slush and crowds the slippery steps of an escalator descending into the T station. They reassemble on the outbound platform, glancing at the tracks as an Alewife-bound train rumbles above. For a moment, the station falls silent. Then at once there is music, echoing off the crimson tiles and turning heads toward the rear of the platform.

Jerry McNamara sits on a ledge set into the platform wall, an accordion resting on his lap and a gray tweed hat hiding his downward-cast eyes from the pedestrian traffic. His fingers fly over the keys of his instrument as he embellishes a medley of holiday carols, tapping his foot beside a case scattered with coins and bills.

A 10-year veteran of public performance, McNamara has come to know well the trials and demands facing a subway musician in greater Boston. But this season, he and hundreds of others who play under the city for a living came close to facing strong limitations to their professions.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced a set of new regulations for subway musicians last month—including a ban on amplification and certain acoustic instruments—that would have constrained many performers and forced others to leave their underground stages entirely.

But late last week, after a wave of protest and activism from musicians, students and political leaders, the MBTA severely scaled back the regulations, reneging all but a few of the original provisions.

“It’s a big step in the right direction,” says John Bigelow, a classical guitarist who discussed the musicians’ concerns with the MBTA directly. “It was very gratifying that the MBTA was willing to open up to the input and negotiations in a way that should have been endemic to the process from the beginning.”

For musicians such as McNamara, the modified regulations allay their worst fears, making it possible for them to pursue an art—and a living—hard won under any circumstances.

“It’s not rewarding,” McNamara explains in his rich brogue during a pause in his performance. “You earn every penny you get here, and sometimes you don’t get very many.”

Battle for the Subway Stage

The community of Boston-area street and subway performers is a tight one, as many musicians come into contact with each other on a regular basis in both professional and social capacities.

But until last month, they had little incentive to convene in a single locale. A Nov. 19 meeting that filled the Middle East café in central Cambridge was the first group assembly for many of the subway performers, and the first major step in a response to the MBTA announcement that caught many performers entirely off guard.

A week earlier, the MBTA representative Transit Realty Associates had sent more than 600 Boston-based performers a letter announcing 27 new regulations. Musicians were to follow the provisions beginning Dec. 1.

The regulations addressed facets of street performance ranging from sound volume to dress code. Electronic amplification—vital for musicians accustomed to performing on electronic instruments or providing several continuous hours of vocal performance—was banned entirely, as were “trumpets and trumpet-like instruments.”

The MBTA said there was concern over passengers’ ability to hear announcements over the subway public address systems, and to function in the case of an emergency, with performers nearby.

For some, such as Jonathan Fixler, who regularly performs at Alewife station with electric guitar and tape loops, the precautions seemed unreasonable given the poor sound quality of most P.A. systems found in the subway stations.