So, Paul played The Famous Willows in Arundel last night, and I was there ~8^)

He was fabulous as usual: he's Mr Reliable in my book. Voice, guitar, songs, patter were all in perfect working order.

And it was a packed house - not a bad trick on a hot and sultry evening.

I did button-hole him on this "not enough gigs" business, and he says he's shy! Seems to have a phobia about getting on the phone and asking for gigs: a fear of rejection thing. Also he thinks that some clubs might assume he'd be out of their price range due to his Big Gigs.

Anyway, he is looking for gigs, he is worth booking, he is cost effective, and if my personal circumstances were different I'd be begging him to let me be his agent, cos I'm sure with a bit of determined and organised promotion, he could have an over-flowing gig diary.

Anyway (2) let this be a lesson to you all: it's not enough to be superb, you need to be able to risk a few refusals and to get in touch with clubs if you want gigs. In fact being merely adequate allied with a bit of belief and bull is a strong combination (look at "pop" music for countless examples!)

Anyway (3) Paul, if you're reading this, speaking as someone who's had somewhere in the region of his fair share of refusals, they're usually quite gentle about it. "We're a more (or less!) traditional club" i.e. we like you, but musical policy, blah, blah. The ones that brass me off are the ones who can't bring themselves to say no, and just end up wasting time for both parties.

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Hamish