Rick & Mooh, thanks for your points. I've stuck with being the booking person for the group because of people who really like what we do. I also dislike referring to music as "product." I also agree that categories are going to be here for awhile. The best advice I offer people who ask me is to persevere at venues where there seems to be a chance of your getting hired and not bothering with places where you are not. Hard to tell sometimes. Case in point, Margaret and I got hired at Owen Sound in 1991, but that was after at least six years of being turned down. I talked to the then director every year by phone. He was always up front about how things would not work out this year, but try next. Never discouraged us from sending stuff. Finally, we put out a recording that even I thought reflected what we did very well and that was the year he hired us. Had he ever said, no way in hell that you're ever playing here, I never would have stuck at it for so long. Other festivals seem harder to reach. Not everyone is as upfront as Mr. Glenn was. The Winfield Festival in Walnut Valley Kansas also came about through the same method. One year the rejection letter came with hand written note from the director. Then, a personal rejection, then a phone call asking about availability. Some years it's our turn to get the good gigs, some year's it's someone else's turn. Envy will eat you alive if you let it.