Hello everyone, I've just joined Mudcat, Let me introduce myself.
I'm Avril Betts and I live in South East London. I started singing folk songs almost two years ago, although I've sung with a church choir since I was nine. I also sing regularly at various Karioci evenings. I sing most of my songs without accompaniment, although I've started using a bodran with some of them recently, and at some sessions various guitarists accompany me.

My songs always seem to go down well with the audience, but I keep getting told by club organisers that they can't fit me on the list or that I've got there too late. I often notice that a lot of the time, other singers, who are usually friends of the organiser, get there much later than me and still get a chance to sing. Is there a sort of mafia that runs in folk clubs and if so, how do you join ? One of the clubs which I go to regularly has "featured spots" where one of the regular singers gets a chance to do a mini-booking, but every time I ask if I can do one, I get told that they might think about it in the future. How long do you have to be singing before you get accepted ?