I have made wonderful friends and met lovely people in the folk music World and have been thrilled that in a cynical World by and large the community of people who wear folky "hats" are overwhelmingly kind and mutually supportive and nurturing of each other.

But .. whaddya do when there's a Folk Mafia operating? I mean when folks have been doing what they do for years have established impregnable niches and have creamed off, (because they've been established for years) e.g., regional listings, websites, circulation distribution avenues, etc within a given area: and then some sort of ego or arrogance seems to come into play - "Do as I say - don't do as I do": E.g., Having been asked to, I've co-operated and publicised their gigs / information / clubs through my channels and at cost of photocopying with hard copies and distributed their stuff to new outlets and paid advertising costs to them regularly.

So, I thought "Hang on, I've got a really crucial gig coming up - I've always willingly helped them out I'm sure by the return token they'll do this one thing (which I've never asked for before)"

Zip, Zilch, Big Fat Zero. And talking to other "young" events organisers locally (who have done the same as me - helped out willingly the 'old' boys and publicised to their 'new' audiences what the established lot are up to) they are getting the same deal - or rather Zip, Zilch, Big Fat Zero.

Does this happen widely - or is it just 'our'area?