Can folk clubs get any better?

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 02:04 PM

The Snail, referring to my earlier post: Some want to sit round little tables with candles and floral arrangements.

May I just take this opportunity to point out that said floral arrangements are placed on the tables for ambience rather than as tapas for any visiting gastropods?

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 12:54 PM

Folk clubs are places where people go to listen to folk music - allegedly
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 12:51 PM

clubs are clubs, places where people go to socialise.
I think this is something that gets forgotten by some organisers.the organisers should be friendly.
the best clubs I have known,have organised club holidays etc canal holidays rambling holidays,so that club members get to know each other better.
Carrington folk club,Nottingham,was an example of this,a good club with real ale and real curry,and a friendly atmosphere.
WlD,This club would be right up your street,broad booking policy,eccentric Grenville Blattherwick organiser,general feeling of fun and irreverence.good music atmosphere of fun,but none of the feeling that it is in a church.
Dick Miles[egotistical twat according to Joe Offer]

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: TheSnail
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 10:21 AM

weelittledrummer

sounds like a decent sort of night to me!

I think finding one club that could cater for all of that might be a bit tricky and you might find you were the only bum on the seats.

(Does that mean you know what Nu-folk is? Sounds a bit rude to me.)

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 09:13 AM

'The Wild Rover, Fields of Athenry and the Black Velvet Band? Dylan? The Beatles? Nu-folk? (Whatever that may be.) Wall-to-wall Irish diddly-diddly? Blues? Bluegrass?....'

sounds like a decent sort of night to me!

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 08:56 AM

That pretty much sums up my feelings, Snail.

A related comment made elsewhere (BBC I think) was that some clubs could describe/advertise themselves more accurately. I don't see it as a "fix all" solution but I did agree that it could help avoid some disappointments and impressions of all folk clubs formed by visiting just one.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 08:56 AM

"Some are too nice to tell their regulars "Sorry, you're just not good enough to be given a floor spot tonight"."

Just put your hand in this bucket and draw out a number... oh sorry, you missed out...

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: TheSnail
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 07:51 AM

Howard Jones

Reading this, not only does it appear that people want different things from folk clubs, but the things they want are diametrically opposed.

This has pre-empted something I was working up to saying. I think "diametrically opposed" might be putting it a bit strong but there are conflicts of interest.

Some want the chance to sing, Some don't want "to sit through hours of dire floorsingers". (Slight exageration there, I think.) Some only want to sit in neat rows listening to the top professionals. Some want to sit round little tables with candles and floral arrangements and waitresses serving the drinks.

And what do you want to hear/sing? Folk according to the 1954 definition? The Wild Rover, Fields of Athenry and the Black Velvet Band? Dylan? The Beatles? Nu-folk? (Whatever that may be.) Wall-to-wall Irish diddly-diddly? Blues? Bluegrass?....

No club can hope to do all of those things at once and if it tries to do them all in succession it's hardly going to build up a loyal core audience.

Obviously what we need is more (and more varied) folk clubs and to do that, we need more organisers. Let them run their club according to their likes and dislikes and they will attract a like minded audience. The club down the road can do it differently and attract a different (although probably overlapping audience).

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 07:08 AM

Got the tolerant hat on today Al? Can I sing a folksong, or would that ruin it?

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 06:41 AM

Personally, I'm on the side of the Myrtle's. the care in the community types. I think it adds a bit of local colour.

after all that's what its all about - folk! the people as well as the music. Its what folk radio is missing. A bit of bloody hummour.

you sit there and you think - well , if I wanted to hear a decent version of this, I'd get so and so's album out. And bloody hell! Old Fred down the pub plays this better than this lot.

And sometimes you think - he's playing this bugger wrong.

and doesn't he know anyone who plays it better than this!

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 06:13 AM

Sorry that anomynous guest was me. My clean up thing ate my cookies.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Howard Jones
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 06:13 AM

Reading this, not only does it appear that people want different things from folk clubs, but the things they want are diametrically opposed.

For some, the strength of folk clubs is their inclusivity, that they allow everyone the opportunity to perform and be accepted. For others, it is the thought of having to sit through hours of dire floorsingers while waiting to hear the guest that puts them off.

Both points of view are right - the strength of folk clubs can at the same time be their weakness. Some clubs are fortunate enough to attract a high standard of floor singer. What the rest often lack is any form of quality control.

Folk clubs provide an opportunity for performers to hone their skills. Unfortunately, being in the audience while the honing is going on can be pretty dire. Some performers don't seem to be interested in honing their skills, and some frankly don't have any skills to hone, but that doesn't stop them from getting up every week.

I think clubs do need to decide whether they are going to be singers clubs/singarounds (and some of these can be very high standard) or concert-type clubs with guests. If you are putting on a quality guest then you owe it to them and the audience to maintain the standard throughout the evening by only putting on floorsingers who are at least competent.

This poses a number of problems - most club organisers (and performers for that matter) are doing this in their spare time, and it is not realistic to hold auditions before giving them a floor spot. Some are too nice to tell their regulars "Sorry, you're just not good enough to be given a floor spot tonight". And many will feel that this goes against the spirit and ethos of folk clubs.

And therein lies the problem. How do we reconcile the participative, supportive, involving nature of folk clubs with the need to provide commercially-viable (in the sense of at least breaking-even over the longer term) entertainment?

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 06:11 AM

My example comes from outside of the folk club world. Here in Manchester we have a fair few acoustic/nu-folk (or whatever you want to call it this week) nights. They are of variable quality, but one such night, Hedge, a monthly do at the Carlton Club in Whalley Range, really is pretty good (and nearly always gets a good turn out - usually a mixture of regulars, people who like the particular guest on offer and the randomly curious).

The venue, affectionate though we all feel to it, is a bit of a rotting hulk, so in order to improve the ambience (which whatever people might say, makes a difference - I've been to some rubbish venues in my time that I wouldn't rush back to...), the organiser covers the formica topped tables with paper table cloths; puts a tea light in a lantern-type holder and a flower in a painted beer bottle on each table (punters sit round tables rather than in school assemby style rows); hangs a large dark coloured backdrop with sparkles behind the stage area; douses most of the harsh, overhead lights and lights the stage area with spotlights. It creates a really nice atmosphere and sets the scene for a good night out because it's possible to see the care and attention to detail being lavished on you as the punter. A lot of local singers and musicians turn up - as punters - but equally a lot of non-musicians. The people on the door are friendly, smiley, welcoming and talkative as is the host/MC. When there are 'floorsingers' (though they are not called that) they perform early on so people who are less tolerant to that sort of thing can turn up a bit later. Between sets there is a DJ playing folkiedokie music for a bit of continuity and background ambience. There is no resident band, but at one point the host's band, Cortina Deluxx, fulfilled this function - but they always went on early and always kept their set short. Oh and the support as well as main act are guests.

Essentially its a concert club that has borrowed elements from the folk club. It wouldn't necessarily be for everyone (hardliners certainly wouldn't find it folky enough, not that it makes any claims to be) but I think they have a pretty good model and one that clearly works.

Not that it matters, but did I mention that the majority of the performers and audience (and the organisers) are in their twenties and thirties? At forty four I'm usually one of the oldest there.

Don't know if this helps the discussion any, but I thought I'd throw it into the pot and see what people thought.

Here's their Myspace if you'd like to take a closer look: Hedge

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 05:46 AM

'the nadir was a lady hesitantly singing Danny Boy from a crib-sheet'

Yes indeed. What drives people to these ends? What incident in childhood?

Perhaps they had a sort of Mrs Bates mother who said to visitors, this is Myrtle, she'll always be be ugly and no one will want sex with her, she'll never have a boyfriend - if you want a laugh - ask her to sing danny Boy!

and they're trying to exorcise this..........

Not everyone in London is like that Jim. the queen's not like that for a start. Prince charles would need crib sheet - he looks the type.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 10:17 PM

"it's usually the ghastly thought of the seemingly interminable residents' spots that kill it for me"

What would make it worse?

MORE OF THS? AGGGHHHHH!

Ok, now we can start somewhere useful for that particular club... :-)

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 02:18 PM

"Jim, Thanks for your constructive input, I learned so much from that post!"
Banjiman,
What's not to understand- we argued these points not so long ago and things haven't changed - or have they?
As long as folk clubs become the dumping ground for anything that won't fit into another convenient definition so the punters have no idea what to expect should they chance into a 'folk club', as long as the clubs are run by people who neither like folk song, or understand the term (and winge interminably about long ballads), as long as the standards remain low in many clubs (often, as has been argued on this forum in the past, deliberately so for fear of scaring off indifferent performers), the club scene will remain in the doldrums, and deserve its place there.
These threads usually blame poor premises, an indifferent public, high petrol prices, the locality, poor publicity....... anything but the music that is presented at the clubs and how well it is performed.
The last time but one I was in London I attended a folk club and thought I had blundered into a wake - nobody even pretended to be enjoying what was going on - I I didn't blame them. The high point was a passably sung ballad in a pseudo-American accent; the nadir was a lady hesitantly singing Danny Boy from a crib-sheet - this in a long-established club.
The last time I was in London I went to the pictures.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Sooz
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 01:43 PM

We got round that problem by having only two floor spots on a guest night. We rotate these around our members and they get a couple of weeks notice to prepare 3 songs. This means that we get to the guest set much more quickly than we used to and don't eat into their time.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST,David McB
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 01:11 PM

My local folk club alternates guest nights with singarounds.

I'd certainly go to the club more often on guest nights if I didn't have to endure the same old residents, doing the same old songs, before each of the guest's two sets. Some of them are fine but others really aren't up to "resident standard" and it is simply indulgent for them to force their stuff on us week-in, week-out.

If I'm weighing up whether to go along on a Sunday night to hear an unfamiliar guest or not it's usually the ghastly thought of the seemingly interminable residents' spots that kill it for me. It's also rather embarrassing for the guest artist to have to sit through some of them...

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 10:18 AM

Yes.

Dave.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Banjiman
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 09:59 AM

Hi Foolestroupe,

Thanks for the clarification. I understand now, a problem solving technique, not a damning indictment of all folk clubs.

I'll try it then!

Cheers

Paul

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 09:52 AM

Ah, but would a reasonable person reading just your line, without context or knowledge of the subject matter, maybe have thought it implied that the clubs were so bad that they could not get any worse? If so should we become indignant at your anti-wossname?


Note: if you have not been following the "Lord of the Dance" thread, it drove me to the above!

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 09:37 AM

I was serious!

If you wonder if they can get any better, a logicaly good point to start with is the inverse - "can they get any worse?"

Once you have decided what WOULD make then worse, you are part way to SOME things that would make them better.

I'm not just making this up as I go along you know - this thinking mode has served my creativity very well.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: theleveller
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 09:16 AM

No problem. Paul

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Banjiman
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 09:11 AM

Leveller,

Thanks, some really useful insights and thanks for your comments re the "product". In terms of the "message", I'll definitely take you up on your offer of input. Your thoughts about demographics are especially useful.

I'm really under it at work this afternoon and then away for the weekend, can I call you for a chat early next week? I'm not sure we'll be in the right frame of mind at Pickering (hic!) to do it justice.

Thanks again everyone else who has made constructive suggestions, don't you love Mudcat when it stays positive? There's obviously a wealth of great minds out there!

Paul

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: TheSnail
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 07:59 AM

Waddon Pete

My point was, if you don't take your audience into consideration, will you actually have one?

Well, we've got one. Sometimes a bit variable for reasons which can be hard to fathom but enough to make it worthwhile. We're always open to suggestions but we don't always follow them up.

My point is that if the audience decide they want wall-to-wall Squeeze, early Kinks or Beatles songs or Comfortable Numb as theleveller has experienced, they can get somebody else to run the club.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 07:49 AM

Interesting point about age that. It had not accurred to me. Saga has made its fortune specifically catering for the less young (!) and there are other organisations running the lower age limit down from 50 to 45 in great economic hope.

Maybe we just got there first and the rest of the world is now catching up. If so we don't want to be looking for younger audiences or participants - all we do is wait and they will be the right age soon.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST,James H
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 07:07 AM

I'm not sure I'm a typical 31 year old but my 10p worth on what would make me go to a club and what would not...(assuming it is a concert type club or guest night)

1) quality performers who can play/sing well and can also interact with an audience
2)... who play the type of stuff I like. I'm being honest here - I'm unlikely to pay to go and see somebody I haven't heard of unless they come with a personal recommendation from somebody I know and trust who thinks I'll love it. I know that makes me unadventurous but my nights off are precious to me as are my pennies. I don't think I'm alone in this. I'm far more likely to go and see somebody I've not heard of at a festival where I've already got a ticket and can dip in & out….
3) slick organisation – starts when it says it will, finishes when it says it will, clear signage outside the building and inside so I know I'm in the right place.
4) self indulgence is probably going to put me off, whether that is residents and floor singers who overrun or organisers who book their mates even if they're not very good.
5) feeling personally welcomed makes a big difference. I play and sing myself, but am quite shy about it. If there are floor singers but I don't get asked whether I play or sing then it makes me feel left out. I know not everybody can get the chance because of time and that you can't expect, as a new face, to be asked to play by an organiser who already has a list as long as your arm of people who they know would like to do a floor spot, but if nobody ever asks whether I play then I'm not going to get the chance at all, am I? Unless I force myself to be brave enough to ask, which is a fairly big deal to a shy person.


as an aside - I have lots of friends in their 20s and 30s who are into folk music, will go to festivals, buy CDs, go to sessions and join in, but won't go to local folk clubs. I think their perception is that they're all run by people they don't have anything in common with, and that in order to see the main act you'd have to sit through a large amount of poor quality and very samey 'beardy retired men with guitars'. I'm not saying that is always the case or that having a beard or being retired is a bad thing, just that plenty of people like to hang out with people they see as similar to themselves, and its a catch 22 - (some) clubs are worried about falling numbers and failure to attract a younger audience but they can't precisely because they don't have one.
...er... not sure I can think of a solution though...

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: mattkeen
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 06:22 AM

Better still link to thier website direct

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: mattkeen
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 06:20 AM

What about the new clubs that are already springing up?
What can be learnt from them?
They are doing it differently but putting on an excellent range of artists (IMO)

This is a link to the one Sam Lee and others got going in London, and it attracts lots of young and non folk people.

Magpies Nest

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: theleveller
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 06:20 AM

Paul, thinking about what you've said, there seems to be two issues: how you can make the club better and how you can make the club better-known.

On the first, I've nothing to add – you have a great club that ticks all the boxes for me.

On the second, though, maybe it would be helpful to approach this as a marketing brief (which, as I may have mentioned, is what I do for a living). A few years ago an advertising agency might have taken this on as a 'chip shop' account (that means one that's taken on for the prestige of doing great creative work rather than making money and originated when a Manchester agency decided to promote their local chip shop and won loads of awards for the work). Unfortunately, in today's economic climate, few agencies are prepared to do this now. If you wish I can, however, give the problem some thought and maybe pick the brains of colleagues to see if they have any bright ideas.

Two things spring immediately to mind:

1.        Your current approach appears to have been successful – what it amount to is viral marketing. There may be ways of extending this and the advantage is that it's cheap and, especially in the music industry, has on occasions been spectacularly successful. It's an approach that more and more mainstream advertisers are looking into. At the very least, you should be building your email database by adding as many email addresses as possible (get everyone's who comes to the club, if possible). There are some data protection issues you'll have to address but nothing that should be a problem.
2.        I understand that you want to attract younger people, but that might amount to pushing water uphill by going against the prevailing demographics. The 50+ sector is the only one that is growing in the UK and it's growing exponentially (the agency I work for specialises in this market and is now the biggest agency in Yorkshire). Also, this age group comprises a big percentage of the 'folkie' genre (just look around at festivals and folk clubs). I'm not saying that you should ignore the younger sector but ensure that, at the very least, you produce 'ageless' marketing.

As I said, if you want me to, I'll have a think about this and maybe talk to you again about it at Pickering. (Hey, it's not often I can wear my marketing hat and my folkie hat at the same time!)

See you there.

Pete

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Rasener
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 06:14 AM

You try to take your audience into consideration. However, as you well know, you can't and won't please everybody. Thats the way the cookie crumbles.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 06:01 AM

Thanks for your post Snail.

My point was, if you don't take your audience into consideration, will you actually have one?

Not that it is as easy as that......or is it?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: TheSnail
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 04:50 AM

There's a lot of excellent stuff which I'd like to respond to but a couple of lines caught my attention -

Make sure the guest list reflects the considered views of the audience...not the personal likes and dislikes of the organiser(s).
Waddon Pete

It really doesn't matter what you put on Paul. You organise it and it is your call.
The Villan

We should never forget that, for the most part, folk club organisers are volunteers doing a lot of hard work for the love of it. What's more, they are part of the audience.
Of course they should take suggestions from the audience but having to put on guests you don't like to put bums on seats is likely to make you wonder why you're doing it.

I'm with The Villan on this one.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Banjiman
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 03:34 AM

"I just have to ask "Could they get any worse?"..."

Foolestroupe, so what needs improving then? That is after all the whole point of the thread. I'm sure if you try hard you could come up with some positive suggestions.

Paul

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Banjiman
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 03:32 AM

"If you want to run a FOLK club - put on an evening of well performed FOLK music - if you don't like Folk music - don't call it a FOLK club and don't."

Jim, Thanks for your constructive input, I learned so much from that post!

Paul

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Rasener
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 02:49 AM

>>If you just want to put bums on seats - save your pennies and book Kylie Minogue!
<<
How many years would you have to save for that then.
Thoughts of catch you on the way down, springs to mind :-)

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 02:45 AM

I just have to ask "Could they get any worse?"...

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 02:31 AM

What a strange thread!
If you want to run a FOLK club - put on an evening of well performed FOLK music - if you don't like Folk music - don't call it a FOLK club and don't.
If you just want to put bums on seats - save your pennies and book Kylie Minogue!
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 09:10 PM

Oops!   was going to say that I thought the "EFS" (extended floor spot) was a useful method of bridging (no pun intended) the gap between the wholly amateur (as distinct from amateurish) and the loal semipros.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 09:08 PM

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 06:51 PM

Depends but we average 35 to 45 On a singers night slightly less on a guest night many more and we would struggle with room size

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Kampervan
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 06:03 PM

This is a really difficult question.

To try to define what makes a good folk club is virtually impossible, it depends so much on the the locality. What works in one place, (and one time), is not necessarily transferrable.

But all of the folk clubs that I've enjoyed being aprt of over the last 40 years have had a few things in common,they've been:-

Friendly

Welcoming to newcomers

Non-judgmental - no matter what the performance content or quality

Well-organised - even though things sometimes do go wrong!

Possessed of a core of dedicated, regular performers to keep even the quietest 'singers nights' going.

Outgoing enough to book and present a range of established and up/coming guest performers

Lucky enough to get supportive audiences and floor singers.

So - all it takes is a group of dedicated people who decide to run a successful folk club cos running the world would not be so much of a challenge.

Long may we appreciate them.

K/van

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Betsy
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 05:51 PM

BTW I'm 60 and I'm having a hard time putting words together that will not upset people, but I am struggling because I believe there is a malaise (coupled with many good things) in quite a few clubs, but I will put on my thinking cap, and see how I can write the least offensive précis.
Thinks, thinks !!!!
        
Cheers Betsy

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 04:48 PM

BTW, I'm 41 if that helps....

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 04:42 PM

Banjiman said:

Would it be rude of me to encourage more "ordinary" punters to express their views around what they want from a club especially those under 45.....if there are any out there?

Hello Paul,

It certainly isn't rude...

I guess that I'm an "ordinary" punter (whatever that means!). As such, I much prefer to here a decent artist (e.g. one who can sing and play well) do a set rather than the, frankly awful, stuff you often get at singarounds.

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST,Tom Bliss
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 04:20 PM

Yes... but you have to be careful how you word it. They pull anything that looks like direct advertising. I do mail them all my gigs for the R2 listings, but they don't always put them up (in fact I think they're dropping it/have dropped it)? If I think there's going to be a problem gig (low turnout risk for some reason) I do post both here and there (and uk.music.folk - and Footstompin if it's in Scotland), but not every gig, as it would annoy people. If I was a member here I'd have a permathread like Mary and Treewind, but I'm not a member for reasons explained elsewhere. First time at Cottingham - wow that's a brilliant list Linda. Just proves how hard many (most - nearly all?) FCOs work! Couple of extras there for the folkWISE tips page too. T

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: GUEST,No Fixed Abode
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 04:09 PM

Paul try jerry scott..he has interviewed us and supports live music. He broadcasts from a studio in Scarbrough. Late night show but may help, find him in the dj list for BBC radio York. Just a thought...... is the gig on your local BBC radio stations gig guide page. Also Tom uses the radio two notice board thing, Tom can you advertise gigs on this?

tony

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Banjiman
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 03:58 PM

Linda.... what is your average attendance like for a guest night?

Thanks

Paul

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Banjiman
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 03:56 PM

Would it be rude of me to encourage more "ordinary" punters to express their views around what they want from a club especially those under 45.....if there are any out there? (Not to exclude anyones views.... very interested to hear from everyone).

Les, thanks for your input ........ I like the model you have and I can't wait to visit in November and see it in the flesh so to speak. I do want to try and keep the flexibility of booking lesser known (but high quality) acts as well as those who are more established. I guess that means it will be tougher to hit your heady attendance figures.....though that is the target.

NFA, you'll be pleased to know that I have just ordered 1100 flyers for our September event (£75!!!!!).....I've deliberately kept the word "folk" low key.... though it is in the small print! I've not tried to avoid the "F" word before, I'll see if it makes a difference. I'll be sorting out posters as well in the next few days.... and I've organised a ticket outlet in "Town" (The metropolis that is Northallerton!). Need to try and organise some radio coverage (not easy as we kind of fall between BBC Radio York and Tees).... any ideas?

By the way we do have a MySpace KFFC and a website (in need of slight updating)
KFFC website . I have an emailing list (about 120 contacts) and use MySpace pretty mercilessly..... ask my "friends"!

Thanks for all you input so far.....anyone else learning anything?

Cheers

Paul

Subject: RE: Can folk clubs get any better?
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 03:51 PM

Cottingham Live has a :
website,
quarterly flyers,
adverts in folk magazines
folk website listings,
diaries for club members for the following season
press interviews with local papers.
Good relations with other local folk clubs
an extremely bossy organiser who isn't afraid to tell people to get on with it on busy nights (that's me that it!)
guests every three weeks -well attended
a mixed audience of performers and listeners
a wonderful pa system
a great room with comfy seats
xmas Party
themed nights
Reasonable door prices for guest nights
a raffle with a famous mystery prize
a resident sheepdog
Fundraising for charity
a large proportion of members who are professionals singers/musicians
a great compere (not me)
And if people think these things just'happen' they are very very wrong.

Tom Bliss is about to find out if any or all of these things are true- come and see him at Cottingham Live on Wednesday 16 July!!!