I can probably claim to have have walked into strange (very, some of them) pubs and started singing on many more occasions than most folkies. It's always a case of "You win some - lose some".

A landlord always has to take the likes/dislikes of his regular customers first, as well as the policy/rules of the company/brewery some of which (Wetherspoons for example) do not allow live music.

Here are a few tips though.

Look for pubs with a piano or PRS sign.

See if the clientele look as though they might like folk music.

Don't choose a pub which is already doing a roaring trade - you'll have more luck if the landlord needs more customers and thinks that you might help him in this direction.

I often find that bringing a guitar in with me helps - you often get comments like "What have you got in there - a machine gun ?" or "Can you play that ?" from other customers (or the landlord). This gives you the chance to offer to perform - if it's a regular customer who's showing interest - get him to ask the landlord.

I quite frequently don't ask the landlord first, but find a corner to sing in and start off gently. If the customers like it, the landlord is usually happy to let you continue. I can remember one occasion when the customers wanted the entertainment and the (new) landlord didn't. A customer suggested I went to a pub across the road where the landlord wasn't "Such a miserable b*****d". I took his advice and most of the customers followed me - it was a geat evening and the first pub was left almost empty !

I'm sometimes asked why I do it in the first place. Well you usually end up with free beer and quite often nosh as well. Quite often you get offered a paid gig for some other occasion. It's often a chance to persuade some of the customers to go to their local folk club - I've been approached by many folkies who've told me that I'd introduced them to the folk scene that way. I think, however, my main reason is that it beats the hell out of, paying to go into a club, listening to a guest you don't like, paying for your own beer - all to do two (if you're lucky) floorspot numbers.