Read all the above advice Jon. These 'Catters know what they're talking about. Yes, go Busking. It toughens you fingers and your voice, makes you project your personality and, sometimes earns a bit of cash. Play floor spots everywhere, not singarounds so much, you need to test yourself in the same circumstances as the pro guests. Whatever you play, make sure it is accomplished and well-rehearsed throughout the set. As to the patter? To some it comes naturally as part of their personality such as Ian McCalman and Vin Garbutt. To others it is irrelevant. I was so lucky to book Isaac Guillory a few months before his recent tragic death. There was a man of very few words who held audiences spellbound and earned love and respect wherever he went. Folk performance is not like other live performance. It is up close and personal. An Actor, Comedian, Cabaret, Stage star can have a "Persona" which is a professional act. Up close it doesn't work. You get found out. Be yourself and relate to audiences from your own experience. When I started out I was lucky. I got support and advice from some great people, particularly Alex Campbell. Alex was always very concerned about young players running before they could walk. He maintained that if you went after bookings before you were really ready you could do irrepairable damage to your reputation. You would get that "Not bad but not again" response from promotors who would hold that opinion no matter how much you improved. Be patient. Don't go out as a Martin Carthy Clone or any other Clone. Audiences spot it and make the inevitable unfavourable comparison. Develop your own style and arrangements. Listen to people like Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan, Norma Waterson, Jon Brindley, Kate Rusby - not to copy - but to see just how original some arrangemants and interpretations can be. Finally, do you want the life? Every cup of coffee on the road you have to buy. Hard floors and cheap B&B? Endless "English Breakfasts" will put you off fry-ups for life. Washing your clothes in unfamiliar laundrettes because after three weeks on tour you are out of clean pants and socks? At £100 a gig you have to do 100 gigs to earn ten grand a year. That is two gigs a week average if you can get them? It can be a hard life full-time. But if you are serious, fund a decent demo or CD but get it done in a pro environment with a good engineer. Don't do it on your mate's computer with a nerd mixer. (Bill Jones got hers done by Brian from "Artisan"). Get a folk directory of venues and pick suitable approaches. Don't waste time sending out forests of paper. Promoters don't book paper. One good demo is worth a forest of bumf. And don't clutter it up with guest instrumentals. If you are solo, we want a "What you hear is what you get" sound. When you've done it send it to me at the Famous Willows Folk Club, Arundel. Or come and visit our open stage on alternate weeks. We'll tell you honestly and discretely where you are at. Good Luck mate.