Four years experience ... introduced to the genre by a coup de foudre engendered by a CD ... its just occurred to me that that has a ring of familiarity... I'm getting a sense of deja vu here....

I was about to post a rather lengthy diatribe remarking upon the banality of suggesting that a degree based in anthropology had any relevance to "knowing what to look for" in our chosen field .. might just as well say that about my first class honours degree in geography or my hard won examinations in tax legislation which enabled me to qualify for promotion to HM Inspector of Taxes - those were the days! About as relevant as a degree in nuclear physics I would have said ... I could go on, but life is far too short.

WAV, I would not suggest like Ralphie that you crawl under a stone ... but I certainly would suggest that you keep your head down,go and learn a bit more (again); by all means learn to play your chosen instrument _properly_, and perhaps take some singing lessons - your MySpace recordings are woefully pitched... you can't even argue that you're singing a harmony, it's so out of tune. You've set yourself up as a performer with gigs ... but I can't help noticing that virtually all of the poetry ones are poetry slams ... which of course are not gigs at all , but competitions.(Have you ever been voted into first place by the appointed judges at any of them ?) It rather makes me think of the young man who turned up at a folk club session in Whitby this year that Doc Rowe was running. He and his guitar departed after he'd sung his one song, leaving a gig list behind as long as his arm, which was marvelled at - until it was noticed that the two days entered up for Whitby Folk Week referred to his appearances in the Folk Tent, and the Festival Tent ... which led to a deal of speculation about how "real" the rest of the entries on the gig list were ... to a great deal of laughter.... just a thought.

So, I get the feeling that you are a lost cause ...shame really, as although this can be an odd place, it can also be friendly and amusing -- but not if you're getting up the noses of the regulars in a big way ... but none so blind as those who will not see, eh?... I'm outta here.