In response to the comment about singer/song writers taking over venues in California, there are similiar occurances here in Washington state. It could be due to the threats of legal action by ASCAP and BMI which were instrumental (bad choice of words) in causing several venues in this area to go with only canned music or with musicians that only played original stuff. A sad state of affairs indeed but small places that want to accomodate acoustic acts have no recourse but to pay large sums to these organizations or operate without supporting live music. Bugetary cocerns often lead them to the later of those two choices.

A sad and woeful story, Reggie