Hi Dom & Sarah:

I talked to this guy today who lives in Bakersfield, Calif.

There is a venue in Bakersfield called, Dagny's Coffee Company.
The address is: 1600 20th St (at the corner of 20th St & I Street)
Bakersfield, Calif. Phone Number: (661) 634-0806
It is in the dtwn. area of Bakersfield.

Every Wednesday night from about 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM they have Celtic musicians playing. The guy I spoke to said it is a very casual setting, not formal at all. Dress is casual.

It is not a restaurant although they do serve coffee, teas, muffins, lite snacks but that there are regular restaurants very near by so you can have your dinner in the area and then the music starts at 7:00 PM (only on Wednesday nights for Celtic music).

There is also a neat place called Mountain Music in Tehachapi, California which is about 35 miles south east of Bakersfield.

It is a store and another venue to hear folk music.
I have never been there but just go to Google and type in the following: Mountain Music, Tehachapi, California
and you will find the main page to read about the place.

So perhaps these two venues will be of interest to you. When I am in Bakersfield the last week of Oct, I hope to get to those places myself.

By the way, regarding buying gas for the car you will be renting, the best prices to buy regular Unleaded gas is at Arco Stations. Shell and Chevron stations seem to be the highest and of course it varies depending what city/area you are buying gas for the car. For example, the area I am in you pay about $2.77 a gallon for unleaded but you can also pay over $3.00 in another city.
Try to find Arco stations as they are usually a little lower then most of gas stations. There are some smaller, not to well known stations around but the three I mentioned can be found everywhere.

Do you like or have ever eaten Mexican food? I know when I was in England there were a few around but the Mexican food was ok, but not the greatest. Here of course, you can find Mexican restaurants everywhere, some being fast food and many very nice regular Mexican restaurants. Don't know if you have eaten much Mexican food or not but I like it a lot!

I'm still trying to find out about more folk venues for you and will be calling this guy up north tomorrow so will get back with you again with more information in a day or two.

Lindy