Just a quick comment on the "perfectly good band" theory - which I'm sure has merit. The problem is that sometimes bands don't get booked just because they're close. We've had one or two bookings which were a couple of hours drive away, simply because the people booking us specifically wanted us - they'd come down for a wedding at which we'd played and were so impressed that they wanted us - and no-one else - for their own wedding. A number of gigs we do every year are from word of mouth, so that people book us because they want us.

In fairness, our prices for travelling beyond a 30-mile radius of "home" become excessive - which is one way of not getting long-distance gigs!

I once flew to Dublin, hired a car and stayed in a hotel in Waterford - just to see Leon Redbone in his only European appearance for years. In the ticket-check queue near us were people who'd come from Reading - and one chap from Barcelona! Leon certainly generated a large carbon footprint that night...