tell me in all honesty - you've never sat all night in a club to do a three minute song spot in a club where every other bugger was grinding out cobblers for twenty minutes at a time.

Oh yes, Al - been there and done that! Which is why I now pick and choose very carefully where I go. I actually rarely go to folk clubs these days - just two or three now and then where I know and like the organisers and residents - preferring the odd session and singaround once or twice a month.

Most of my playing these days is actually paid - wedding and parties with the ceilidh band, and pub gigs with some mates - so the odd acoustic performance here just for fun is quite refreshing. To be honest, I take as I find - and age has its compensations...