Lowden: was that £450 each, or was that a package deal? Some while back, there was somebody signing in as 'Guest' on a thread - possibly the one on the collapse of the folk clubs, but I'm not sure - who was expecting to get that sort of dosh, and rated him/herself as 'on the next level below Martin Carthy/Watersons'   or something to that effect. He/she gave a break-down of the fee, which included a basic fee + a percentage of the door + expenses, VAT, accomodation, agent's fees and god knows what else. Bit of a jaw-dropper for me; I'm just trying to get established nationally, and my fees (which are negotiable) over the last 12 months, have ranged from £20 to £120, averaging out about £75-£80, I suppose. But then, I stay on campsites, in a tent, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than B&B (I'd do this even if I had a choice, by the way, and am almost certain to be living like this on a long-term basis, as I now face the choice of moving out of my house, or getting rid of the van and giving up on folk music). And I don't have an agent; I learned a long way back that agents are not interested in anyone who isn't already eastablished. They just want to relieve you of 15-20% of your fee for answering the phone. (Prepare for torrent of abuse from agents or their apologists but I am prepared to step on that particular hornets' nest!). If I've already got established by my own efforts - which is the hard part - then why do I need to reward somebody else for it? Bookings through an agent usually bring much higher fees than I, for one, would have the nerve to ask for; but I'm the one who then has to get up and face the paying audience. And I know that the folk clubs can't afford this sort of money, and it's probably one of the factors contributing to so many clubs giving up booking guests; perhaps some club organisers would like to comment on this.
It seems to me that some artists have made the choice of pricing themselves out of the folk clubs, and would rather do concerts, for higher fees. And what of the punters? would they rather spend, say £5-£10 to see somebody playing acoustically in a room with an audience of between 50 and 100, or pay - what?- £10-£15 to see the same guest playing to 300 people in a big hall, with a PA? I know which I'd prefer, and not just because it's cheaper.
John Kelly.