All good stuff there, Allan - very good music indeed. I particularly liked Kris Drever and Boo Hewerdine. Nothing whatsoever to fault or dislike.

One of the problems that some conventional folk clubs - as opposed to festivals - might have in booking some good contemporary acts is the actual cost of paying the artists. I don't know what fees full-time musicians charge these days - knowing that they have to pay the rent, etc. When I was on the road full-time for a spell - back in the early '80s (playing in a 3-piece band) - we earned enough playing 3 or 4 nights a week to get by. But that wasn't in folk clubs, it was in Trades & Labour Clubs, Legions, WMCs, etc. Playing to anything from 50 to 200 people at a time. The most lucrative stuff I do these days is weddings, birthdays and other functions in a ceilidh band - but I would have to be playing 5 nights a week to earn a living from it. Luckily, I don't have to do that.

Most pubs and clubs pay me and my guitar partner around £100 for an evening's entertainment - sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on how the gig is financed - and we do something like two 40-minute spots or equivalent. Can artists gigging full-time subsist on that? Probably not without other sources of income.

Festivals are on a bigger stage, attract crowds of people and can bring in more cash and publicity. I personally don't care for festivals, but they're immensely popular.