Sorry for my part in thread drift, but I think Captain, you answered your own question with your original post-economics, and as others have noted as well, the distance between gigs and the economic factors that creates. As to why, I can only guess as a nonperformer the demoralizing you might get from a gig you have drawn attention to and still only get 20 people to show up, 5 of them being friends.I know I have been to my fair share of those over the years.Even clubs here in the states that are organized, have newsletters with upcoming shows, good websites,etc you think might help, but sometimes, its all for nothing, and if you've just driven in a van with no airconditioning from Maine to New York (as Kathryn Tickell told me had happened at her NY gig a few years back) and no one shows up, its got to be hard. BTW, I'm glad to say that at least in Kathryn's case, lots of people did show up, but then opening for Maddy Prior may have helped as well! So for the prevention of this happening, I wish I could tell you, but all I can do is go to as many gigs as I can, whether the results are good or not.
Cheers