I'm just curious on what other folks do when the urge comes on them to browse through the folk section and buy a CD on spec from either a band/artist whom you've never heard of, or between two CD's from the same band/artist that you've never listened to before.

Do you judge the 'book' by its cover or do you delve deeper (if the store allows you to read the booklets)? Do you go by whether it is made up of songs or do you prefer tunes or a balanced mixture of the two? Does the author (Trad) put you off or attract you? How about the origin of the artist/band or their material? Would you buy a CD by a band from Belguim playing Irish stuff or an Irish band playing Belgian stuff?

Or does it vary with your mood? One day that's a pretty cover I'll buy that, the next I really fancy something Bulgarian?

To start off I'll give you mine:

Generally, I go for the more (Trad) authored with a healthy mix of songs and tunes preferably of English origin, preferably melodeon based and lacking piano's. If I'm in the mood for something more exotic, generally from countries I've been to (Greece, France, Holland for example) or countries I'd like to go to. If it's a choice of singer/songwriters I tend to prefer the younger, female voice to the older male. Sometimes though its just a gut feeling that you need to buy that CD which, surprisingly, seems to work out well more often than not.

T