Just to put our two penny's worth in......

         We like Tom have been trying to earn a living playing folk based music for the past few years. We have learnt that getting bookings in folk clubs is difficult if you are "unknown" however we have noticed a slight improvement in some club's booking policies thanks to youtube. Now instead of worrying if an artist would suit there club the organisers can "see" a performance and make there minds up from this. This has helped us get gigs we would not stand a chance of getting just sending a cd to the venue.
         Our music would probably be regarded as "common" folk but one thing that always seems to be missing from these conversations is that no one seems to be trying to take the music out of back room clubs and into the bars from where it came. We perform at a number of venues that people would regard as "non-folk " venues yet we believe that if folk is to survive it has to be taken back out to the people. The fact is we could not earn a living just playing at folk clubs and festivals so we have had to learn to adapt and in doing so we have found that "non-folkies" are not the ogres many think!
          Hope this makes some sense, I guess we are saying that there is a big world out there and it is possible to make a living but to do so in the UK you HAVE to be able to adapt and be BRAVE in the bookings you take on.

Tony