Suibhne Astray - If you did live in Canada, you would be in constant peril of being assaulted by roving gangs of feral beavers, trampled by rutting moose, and laughed at by loons! Be glad you are in the UK where it's safe. ;-D

Let me explain further what I was on about in my previous post. The places where I normally see folk music or acoustic music or trad music happening here are:

1. small cafes that encourage acoustic music - You can get alcohol at those places, but it's not the main reason people go there, so it doesn't cause a problem with audience attention.

2. local song circles - You can get alcohol at some of those, but again...it's not the main reason people go there. They go to play music.

3. house concerts - Same deal. You can get beer or wine at most house concerts, but people go to listen to the music.

4. folk festivals - You can only drink alcohol at the "beer tent"...not on the rest of the grounds. There is entertainment at the beer tent. People who want to drink all night will favour the beer tent.

5. formal concerts in concert halls - You can get beer or wine in a separate room during intermission, but you can't take it into the concert hall with you.

In all of the above situations you have the option of having a drink or two or three if that's your pleasure...but people are basically there to listen to music. And there are no TVs to be seen.

All of the above produces a great venue for acoustic music.

And then..........there are the bars. People go to bars to get drunk, to talk loudly, to try to pick up someone, etc....and their attention to the live music is generally pretty poor unless it is incredibly LOUD. And there are TV sets on with some damn football or hockey game going. Most bars prefer loud rock or blues music to acoustic music. Most patrons of bars are largely oblivious and barely listen at all to acoustic music. The environment totally SUCKS if you are a folk musician.

Does that help clear up what I am saying?

Note: There is the odd bar that is an exception to the above and has a really nice atmosphere that is conducive to acoustic music. If so, it's because the management in that bar has succeeded in creating a mood and attitude there that favours a less oblivious audience. Such bars are rare in Canada.

But again...beware the feral moose and beavers!