I was the person who said:


"I know of artists who have taken a list of every folk club/festival organiser/arts centre booker they know of, pulled a day aside, and rang/emailed each of them, detailing their act, their availability and their rates. Within the week, they had a 20 day tour at £500 per gig, up and down the country."

To be fair, the artists I'm talking about are very well known and have been professionals on this scene for over 10 years, with folk awards and stuff between them- so I can see how it could be slightly different and be much more difficult for people who are completely new and have no idea of which venues or bookers would book them (as the above artists did, because obviously they had gigged there countless times before) and the bookers who hadn't booked them before, knew who they were because of their high profile.

However, the point(s) I was trying to illustrate:

1. Your own hard work and effort goes a long way. If you want to be a professional musician, being a good musician isn't good enough; you need to be organised, dedicated and have some sense of business initiative.

2. Having an agent isn't everything. Some agents are crap and you're better off without them. The type of agent who offers you around on a (national?) tour for free, does not sound great to me. Other agents, most agents that I know, are great and do their jobs very well.