Another thing to watch with the agents is their unrealistic demands - bowl of fresh fruit in the dressing room (erm... what dressing room?! Use the bog like anyone else!!) and so on. They also have a PA rider which is usually aimed at large venues, and is inappropriate for a folk club. If they come to the Railway they don't get monitors!! Nowhere to put them!! They don't really need PA, either!!

As Leadfingers said, contact the artiste direct - although most agents will still demand their 'cut', as that is the deal they have with the artiste.

High profile guests such as Martin Carthy are quite happy to kip down overnight at the organisers house, as they appreciate the way things are. Fact!