Hi there Al, big fella. I had a sniff around the links you provide. I had no problem with the downloads, except the separate windows they open remain open at the end of the track; have a word with Ian, should be easy to fix.

I had a smirk (actually, a guffaw) at the bold letter paragraph on your own website about the organiser who said that you were no better than his local floorspots - not hard to guess the identity, once you provided the location, and he's a 'catter too (though absent from here recently).

Still, one has to take the rough with the smooth, one rebuff doesn't bring the ice age, just as one swallow doesn't bring the spring; ride it and move on - I think the sarcastic statement about the location is too all-encompassing and therefore unfair. It gives off a sour-grapes feeling.

In the end, club organisers are people, and have different tastes. Can't blame them for that. Also, most of them rightly play it safe - few clubs have the financial muscle to take risks, so it takes time, perseverance and a very long breath to put yourself up on their radar. And the regionality of the folk world (where most club organisers and audiences are only aware of performers within a 40-50 mile range, apart from nationally-known names) doesn't help. So one needs to "put oneself about" geographically as well. For the first three years since I started I would go to a couple of new clubs each week, moving further and further afield, doing floorspots just to get the songs/face known - even driving to Manchester and back (4 hours each way) on a single day! And I still go to new clubs whenever I can, for the same reason.

Here's an idea - why not have a performance videoed, pick the best 1-2 songs from it and put them on a CD (nothing fancy, just .wmv format or anything like that), burn off a hundred of them and send them to organisers. That way they get to hear and see you "au naturel" as it were, saving you perhaps a long drive (though personal visits are still good).

I like your lyrics, by the way.

all the best
George