This discussion seems to be going on at several different levels or situations.

My own situation here in Seattle is that we have a certain Folklore Society that presents mostly out-of-town singer songwriters. But they usually get a good audience because the organization has a large following, and the performers are promoted with a lot of hype - "promises to wow Seattle listeners with her honest and intimate voice, her delicate guitar work and her disarming lyricism. [A certain well-known] Guitar magazine describes her as 'a songwriter of startling clarity and depth, equally skilled at turning a melody or lyrical phrase into what you didn't know you needed until you heard it'." Usually they turn out to be quite boring and inferior to our own local talent.

The concert committee picks performers "because we (the members of the committee) have heard them perform and liked them. We do accept applications from artists who wish to perform in Seattle. Be warned, however, that the process is uncertain and can take a long time. Almost all of the concerts that we do are for people with whom we are already familiar." In other words, someone on the committee has to already have heard the performer.

Well, last year a world-class folklorist/singer/instrumentalist/story teller from New Hampshire, well known on East Coast and who often tours in the British Isles, wrote to the committee about a gig. They ignored him (not even the courtesy of a reply), probably because they never heard of him in their infatuation with pop-folk singer songwriters.

I offered him a house concert. He was great and we had a good, but not overwhelming audience turnout. That's when I decided to revive the 55-year-old Pacific Northwest Folklore Society to try and promote some real talent from our own local musicians (often much better than the out-of-towners who come here), and occasionally a good out-of-town musician who gets overlooked because no one has heard him or her.

But when no one has heard of a particular musician and the big organization doesn't back him or her, it's hard to get an audience to come out.

But we'll work on it.

Cheers, S. in Seattle