Interesting, Willie-O. But I'm afraid I don't understand about the 8 x 10 glossies thing. When I started performing regularly, I had a pile of them taken by a professional photographer and I always supplied my own. I never paid a promoter to do them.

Back in the late Fifties and early Sixties, Seattle and environs had some darn nice coffeehouses that paid singers -- not much, maybe, but enough to make it worth your while. And the owners of the more successful ones realized that the reason people came to their specific coffeehouse (competition at one time was kind of stiff) was not the coffee and pastries, but the singer. So if a singer was drawing people in, they would bust their asses to see that he or she was happy and well taken care of. These days, I understand that some places charge a fee to let a singer sing at an open mike. I think these people are forgetting why the audiences come to their places and spend money. No singers, no audience, ergo no money. I think there's an old proverb about how one should treat a goose who lays golden eggs.

Before I would pay somebody else to let me play, I would stick my neck out and look into promoting my own concerts. And keep the bleedin' profits (if any) myself.

Don Firth