Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'

Subject: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 11:27 PM

I have coined this term for lack of a better one to describe the following situation. As some of you know I am running a house concert series in Rockland County, NY known as the Borderline Folk Music Club. Apparently many performers as well as wanna be performers have discovered this as well. As a result I am being innundated with unsolicited requests by agents as well as upstart performers, all of who are asked to submit CDs to our booking committee. We stress that we are a traditional oriented accoustic folk music club. Although we will book singer songwriters they have to be in the traditional style such as Bill Staines, Gordon Bok, or Eric Bogle. The 3 concerts that we have run thus far featured Geoff Kaufman, Debra Cowan, & Atwater-Donnelly. The great majority of CDs that I am receiving, (and I do listen to all of them), have been from performers who have the nerve to call themselves "folk singers" but do only hard rock. When I point this out to them they have the "chutzpah" to tell me that I am stuck in the past and that what they do is the real folk music of today. Who is right me or them ?

                                           SOL ZELLER

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Dec 06 - 11:34 PM

Here we go again on the definition of "folk". I'd certainly agree--and say that hard rock by definition is not folk. Fortunately, Rabbi Sol, you have the only opinion that counts. And if they complain, you can point out to them that there are already far more venues that cater to hard rock--and you'd just like to keep one for something else. And you might even mention that quite a few prominent rockers have gone "unplugged" at least part of the time.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST,memyself
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 12:01 AM

I don't know who's right, if anyone is. But I think you should get the jump on these folkin' rockers by telling them upfront that you and your club are stuck in the past and you only book folk musicians who are likewise stuck in the past.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: michaelr
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 12:04 AM

Only book what you like, yourself. Keep out the great unwashed. You have no obligation to please anyone but yourself, or promote any artist that isn't to your liking. Where would we be if just anyone could get in?

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: gnomad
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 04:19 AM

With artists I would suggest you simply decline, saying that their style is not what your club is seeking. If they are thick-skinned enough [or just thick enough] to continue submitting discs then have them heard just in case the style has changed, but do not correspond further.

With agents, who should be promoting several acts, I suggest that the letter of decline give examples of the artists which do meet your criteria, and leave it up to them. By all means discuss what you are looking for, but it must be made clear that you are the shopper who knows what you want for dinner, not the one looking for something different to put on the table.

To answer your question though, you are right. Also living in the past is no crime, I see no reason to keep it all for myself.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Bernard
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 04:53 AM

It's a moan I frequently have myself... there are performers who don't exactly fit in with any one particular genre, but they seem to think the folk club is somewhere where they should be able to find work. This isn't helped by folk club organisers who book them, thus giving them encouragement.

I have wide tastes in music, but have expectations of what I should have offered to me at different venues.

For example, a classical orchestral concert should not be offering me a medley of Beatles hits - unless it was clearly advertised that such a departure from the 'norm' was in the programme, and there was a good reason for it to be so.

It's common for a 'folk style' item to be included somewhere in a rock concert, but this is the exception and not the whole of the concert programme.

Similarly, I don't mind a folk performer offering a 'novelty' item which is not strictly 'mainstream folk' (whatever that is!!).

A good example is Brian Peters - he often uses a Rolling Stones classic as an encore, admittedly performed in a more 'folky' style that the Stones themselves...

Your audience turns up because they know your standards. To deviate from such standards would be letting them down.

No, you stick to your guns. I'm sure there's more than enough 'suitable' performers to book without worrying about those who want to impose their values upon you or your audience.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 05:05 AM

Dear Rabbi-Sol,

I have always hated the smugness of those who claim that they had 'eclectic tastes in music'. All too often it means that they are rock fans who have a few, seldom played, classical or folk recordings in their collections.
I don't know about 'living in the past' but, personally, I have a deep respect of the past and also believe that the present should never be viewed uncritically. In these days of rapidly changing fads, fashions and fancies we are in danger of losing all contact with the past and someone has to remember what went before. I would suggest that those of us whose imaginative, creative and emotional lives resonate with past lives should be praised and those who would reject the past, on the basis of some superficial contemporary fashion, are the ones who should be condemned!
I think that your instinct is sound - stick to your guns!

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Jeri
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 07:59 AM

Just tell them you're not stuck in the past but you respect it. Tell them they need to fit the venue, not the other way around, and that's a fact of life. They can complain about the unfairness of life (and booking) as much as they want, but no matter how much they want the gig, it won't make their potential audience want to hear them any more.

They might be playing the 'folk' of tomorrow, but somehow I doubt it. That will be the gems of songs that people will want to sing and pass on. It doesn't matter one bit anyway, because the bottom line is that you're always right when it's your gig, your audience, whose tastes you know, and your decision to book them.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: M.Ted
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 11:53 AM

Obviously, the acts and agents that are coming to you haven't been able to break through to the places that they really want to play.

They may not have a good show, or maybe they just don't know how to promote themselves. Chances are, the acts that are contacting you are going down for the third time, and the comments are just the last, desperate attempt to sell something that nobody wants.

It's a routine that is so old, it was a stock scene in "backstage" movies, sixty years ago. Picture Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, pleading with a producer, saying something like, "You don't know know what you're missing, you gotta give these kids a chance"--

The producer always says something like, "I'd like to help you, but my hands are tied. My audience wants a certain kind of a show, and if they don't get it, they scream bloody murder. I'm sorry, kid, but your friends just ain't got it."

And you ain't wrong, Sol--and they ain't wrong, either, they're just trying to make it in a cold, hard, world that looks like it's all flower gardens and lilyponds.

Best you can do is wish them luck as you shove them out the door;-)

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 12:04 PM

I see you are getting good advice...*grin*

I understand why aspiring musicians want ANY venue that will get them exposure, but durn it, there need to be a FEW little islands in the sea of rock & pop where those of us who prefer older 'folk' and its close cousins can huddle together and share our care-worn idiosyncrasies.

Hold the line!

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: catspaw49
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 12:22 PM

Maybe a nice letter would do the job!

************************************************************************************************************
Thank you for your submission. We are always pleased to hear new talent. Our particular interest is in folk music and songs in the tradition. We certainly enjoyed your demo but sadly for us, it is not what we need at the moment. Our venue makes it impossible to use anyone whose sound will sterilize frogs at 200 yards and lyrics such as "Oh Baby won't you sit on my face?" are not generally considered to be in the tradition.

Thank you again and have a nice day.

************************************************************************************************************

Spaw

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 01:10 PM

These days, a lot of singer/songwriter types are essentially writing and performing idosyncratic pop music, and in marketing themselves turn to calling it "folk" for a sort of pre-digested context. "Folk" is supposed to be an all-forgiving mama of sorts, benignly absorbing and handling anyone with a stringed instrument and a tendency to dress down for performances.

The recent thread about which pop songs could be trad/folk music pointed at the same issue. All kinds of schlocky recordings and third-rate songs were offered as candidates, because they are beloved songs, not because they have anything more to do with folk music than guitars and end-rhymes.

More charitably: we seem to long for a kind of inclusiveness in the definition of "folk" at times, and the acceptance of rock instrumentation feels to some people like an old battle, already won.

I went recently to the Western Regional Folk Alliance convention in Sacramento, and was present for a number of performances (onstage and off) of the current "folk" market. Pretty dispiriting, overall, unless you have an interest in singer/songwriters who have but one toe of one foot in tradition, and both eyes on becoming a feature article in No Depression magazine.

I'd say go with your gut, Rabbi Sol - I suspect that your audience doesn't come to hear rock, and a lot of the acts who are auditioning are, like the Folk Alliance crowd, struggling with a difficult marketing image. Which is not, so to speak, your cross to bear.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 01:31 PM

Rabbi, for once I am happy to be able to agree with you without qualification. There are millions of venues for "open mic" pop and rock performers. Preserve the traditions, whether rational or not (I am taking the mickey out of myself for the thread where I was challenging some of your religious traditions as irrational...)

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST,Susie
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 04:25 PM

I was recently at a club where an Ani De Franco clone performed, and it was an endless set to sit through. It was billed as an evening of "New Folk", but it was actually an evening of people singing about their deep innermost feelings... very boring indeed.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: freightdawg
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 04:56 PM

Thanks, Spaw.

That post will keep me chuckling for many weeks to come!

Ditto to everything that's been said. You are providing a product to your consumers, the paying patrons. They want what you are offering. If you changed the offering without letting the patrons know and without giving them the choice, you would be giving them a raw deal.

No rock venue is going to give a 4 piece bluegrass band the time of day.

Hold your ground and encourage them to find their own place.

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 04:58 PM

When I point this out to them they have the "chutzpah" to tell me that I am stuck in the past and that what they do is the real folk music of today.

Do you want to be right, or do you want peace?

If you want peace, don't invite them tyo ge5t into this with you. "No thanks" is more reply than many bookers give, and is certainly sufficient if you feel you MUST respond to the unsolicited submissions.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST,Val
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 05:34 PM

If they complain after the initial polite rejection (as described in the first post), how about a simple "I don't tell you what kind of music to play, you don't tell me what kind of music to listen to. OK?"

Val

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 05:38 PM

"Who is right me or them ?"

They are, but it's your club, so book who you want....

It's as easy as not calling the people you don't want to book....

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Maryrrf
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 11:26 AM

I run much the same type of series as you, except it isn't a house concert series because none of the organizers have the necessary space in their homes. A local synagogue offered us the use of their space, and it is working out very well. We state clearly on our website that while we have no objection to folk, rock, pop, or singer sonwriters, our series was founded specifically to provide a venue for traditional music, and that's the type of act we will be booking.   We don't get into any debates about what traditional music is - since it's our series we get to decide what fits and what doesn't. We've had a few people who questioned this, but if we've politely declined, we don't feel compelled to answer any arguments. In one case, a person who we considered to be a singer songwriter insisted that his roots were traditional and he was trying to get back into it. He invited us to one of his performances which wasn't too far away. We went, he did a beautiful all traditional set, and we booked him. That was Dana Robinson (along with his wife, Susan). So, we are not inflexible - but we do stick to our original mission, which is to provide a venue for traditional music. So far we are pulling in an audience, so it seems like we are doing something right.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Big Mick
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 11:41 AM

"Who is right me or them ?"

They are, but it's your club, so book who you want....


No, they are not right. The first answer is simple. If they don't fit YOUR venue, that is the end of it. You are doing the hiring. Quite frankly, Rabbi, a response is not required, but if you choose to give ONE, it should simply be a thanks for the submission and you are not interested at this time.

Secondly, these people have no more right to define for you what constitutes your style of music. That is the problem with arrogant people like the poster above. They seem fine with gratuitous assertions like "they are" as if they are the ultimate authority. What is right for you, as the booker for the venue is what you want. If you book incorrectly, your audience will surely let you know by not returning. Since your venue is becoming very successful, I would say you need not worry who is right. The evidence of your success is in the attendance and comments of the attendees.

Stay the course.

Mick

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Willie-O
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 12:23 PM

What's the problem? Anyone anywhere who gets a rep for booking music will get a lot of "unsolicited" contact, and a bunch of free CD's, and most of us will only end up booking a small percentage of the performers we actually like in a given year...everyone knows how the game is played. "Thanks, not for us" is plenty of reply.

What to do:
If you don't like the CD's, give em to your grandchildren, or use em for target practice. Promo kits--burn the contents, and reuse the folios they come in. Blank stickers will cover the imprints.

Why complain here? All you'll get is a bunch of people agreeing with you. You won't stop a single unwanted submission from coming in over the transom. Except, here's an idea: DON'T INVITE THEM TO SUBMIT CD'S! Why do that, then complain when they come? It's not like you're booking four shows a week and need constant new additions to the talent pool. You must have an idea whom you are interested in booking. Why don't you just contact them directly and stop accepting unsolicited promotion if it's not useful to you?

Regards
W-O

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: kendall
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 01:13 PM

I can only repeat what has been said before. It's your venue and it's your call.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: catspaw49
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 01:23 PM

......and I already wrote a form letter for you to send!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Maryrrf
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 01:28 PM

It does surprise me that although we specify very clearly the type of acts we book, we get inquiries from people who obviously don't fit the criteria. I rarely find that a CD is necessary if the artist has a website with sound clips though.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 07:28 PM

I try to listen with an open mind and to be polite to everyone. I ask for CDs because it is impossible to fairly judge a performer based upon a few sound-bytes from a website. I like to hear a complete CD played upon a stereo with high quality speakers. If I like what I hear on the CD I then make an effort to hear the perfomer live, if he or she is appearing anywhere near me. If it is a performer whom I am already familiar with I do not even have to ask for a CD unless the other members of my committe have not heard them.

It is the new upstart performers whom I would like to evaluate critically Some of them have turned out to be quite good and will be receiving a positive response. However when somone claims to be a traditional folk musician, and when his bio comes in it says that his influences are The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, and Led Zeppelin, who is he kidding ?
                                                   SOL

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 09:13 PM

Sol,

Please look into my posts in the other thread on the MOTIVES OF THE RE-DEFINERS. I found that thread before I was put onto your good thread. I agree with you. Do not doubt your own vision for your concert series. The naysayers know not what they do. It's the signs of the times we're in. I realize I am a man who has outlived his artistic and/or musical context. So be it.

All the best,

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST,Scoville at Dad's
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 12:02 AM

Modern audiences have been trained to think of the pop and rock sound as folk. Retraining them is an uphill battle. My college roommates insisted that Ani, the Indigo Girls, and Dar Williams were all folk. Fine performers, I'm sure, but not what I think of as folk. But then what I think of as folk may not be what you think of as folk. (I'm a bit unclear on the meaning of "folk club"--around here that means you pay a small annual fee and then come to monthly meetings, open lessons, and jam sessions. No performers. Is yours an actual, physical, building that serves as a place of performance for folk music?)

I'm with Willie-O on this one--do you want submissions or not? Musicians who are trying to get a toe in the door are told to keep trying, keep trying, keep trying because you don't get any attention unless you're a little pushy. They're probably doing exactly the same thing to every other venue in the county. Don't take it so personally. Just write them a No Thanks form letter and move on.

As far as influences--I've listened to stuff that listed Musician X as a main influence, but when I hear the recording I think, "What the Hell? Where did they get the idea that there was any of Musician X in there?" but maybe they got something different from Musician X than I did. I don't know. I can't read minds.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Darowyn
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 06:15 AM

This is not going to happen, it's a long way to come to your place on a motorbike! But if I were trying to get a gig at your event, I'd send a demo with the folk songs in my repertoire on it. That would not be the same demo I'd send to a Country Club, or a Rock night or a Songwriters' session.
That's what I mean by having eclectic tastes in music.
Whether I actually performed any crossover songs on the night would depend on audience reaction.
Scoville says "My college roommates insisted that Ani, the Indigo Girls, and Dar Williams were all folk"
Imagine what Jazz enthusiasts think about the material that gets labelled Smooth Jazz these days!
As for R&B - no rhythm, no blues.
These are the real redefiners- desperately uninformed music journalists!
Cheers
Dave
Cheers

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 06:31 AM

Could have something to do with your address Rabbi.
The "hard rockers" probably just see "Rockland County" and think, "Hmm, I'll have some of that."

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: greg stephens
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 11:58 AM

Keep the faith Rabbi. There are still a few of us left who will enjoy the kind of music you are purveying. Me, I love folk music. I also like rock music, and I expect to find that at its own appropriate venues.I like definitions, and am not forever trying to change them. I don't expect rock musicians in folk clubs, just as I don't expect ladies with clothes on in strip clubs. Don't let the customers down.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 01:05 PM

The Rabbi is no trad snob, I assure you. I can assure you that good music in the folk tradition style will get his attention as much as trad folk will. But folks that play modern rock with acoustic instruments and label it trad or folk won't get past the front gate. I have met Rabbi Sol. Between what we read here, and what I know of him having met him, I would say what you have here is a very decent man, a person of discerning tastes with regard to this music, who doesn't want to be rude. He is using his online musical community to perform a gut check to make sure that he is on the right track. To that, I would say you are doing a great job, Rabbi Sol, as evidenced by the fact that your house concert series is getting much attention. I would reinforce what I and others have said. A simple "thank you for submission, it is not what we are looking for" is fine. I know you would be gracious in that.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Bernard
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 05:32 PM

Okay, I know this will sound 'snobbish', but...

Young performers who are only prepared to perform their own compositions tend to be somewhat lacking in the audience communication department.

Whilst there are many folk performers who only play their own stuff (Harvey Andrews is a good example), the ones who make it have to be exceptional at what they do... many of them don't even manage to be 'run of the mill'.

We've all seen the Dylan-esque types who announce they are going to do a song they wrote themselves, which is mostly prolonged strumming of 'clever' chords (sometimes not clever!) with a bit of singing thrown in occasionally.

I'm sorry, but such people are often too far into themselves to see they are boring their audience senseless.

A performer is primarily there to entertain. Okay, they must believe in what they are doing, and such enthusiasm will 'rub off' on to an audience, but only if the quality is there.

I've never written a song in my life, so maybe I have no right to comment... but I've had to sit through such performances far too often.

One guest we had recently at our club was one such. For some inexplicable reason this person seems to get rave reviews, but our audience was losing the will to live... so much so that our MC asked me to do a couple of songs after the break just to wake people up before the second 'set'!!

Any club organisers who want to know who I'm talking about, please PM me - I'm posting no names here. The person in question seemed to be making it up as they went along, and each item was in excess of ten minutes in length, with no apparent structure. Very insulting...

Had this person's performance been in the background at a wine bar, or some such, it would probably have been acceptable.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 06:42 PM

The problem the rabbi faces is simple. Too many people are after too few venues. Everyone thinks they can "do it" these days, but very few really can. In the past the record companies sorted out the wheat from the chaff, but now there's no sieve. That's why he's inundated with "product" from wannabees.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Scrump
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 11:18 AM

Bernard's comments above are interesting. I know the type of performer he means. It seems some of them think they have to write their own songs to get anywhere. It's obviously a good thing that some people do write their own songs, or things would just stagnate. But as Bernard says, some of them don't seem to realise most of their songs are just boring to the majority of the audience. You might get one or two good ones if you're lucky, but the rest is sometimes all third rate uninteresting dross.

I'm like Bernard in that I don't write my own songs (although I haven't given up hope entirely on that score!), but I pick songs to perform that I really like (from a variety of sources), and usually I find that works for me and the audience. I do sometimes wonder if I need to write songs, to somehow give myself some sort of credibility as a performer, so it's reassuring to know I'm not the only person who doesn't write their own stuff.

This probably isn't the right thread to discuss this, but I'd be interested to know what others think: do you need to write your own material to be successful in the folk world, or is it possible to do well without writing your own songs?

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Bernard
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 11:40 AM

A good point, Scrump - I've often wondered whether my dearth of bookings in folk clubs is somehow related to my lack of writing ability. The few gigs I do get are always repeated a year or so later (maybe they didn't believe it the first time!!), but breaking into other clubs is difficult. Yes, I think there are too many performers chasing too few gigs.

Maybe it would be an idea to start a new thread on the subject, rather than hi-jack Sol's thread...

Meanwhile... Martin Carthy - he isn't a writer... John Kirkpatrick, though, is very prolific. Without wishing to put John down in any way (I regard him as a mate, after all), Carthy is the bigger crowd puller of the two.

John's Carolling and Crumpets album is astounding - a combination of trad and self-penned, and it's often hard to see the join.

I particularly like his send-up of 'Gaudete'... 'Cows Eat hay'...!!

Having read my earlier post back, I realise that Dylan fans could possibly take offence at one of my comments. When I said 'Dylan-esque' I was referring to the 'Dylan-wannabees' - people trying to emulate him and failing miserably. There seems to be just as many of them around now as there ever was!

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Scrump
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:03 PM

Meanwhile... Martin Carthy - he isn't a writer... John Kirkpatrick, though, is very prolific. Without wishing to put John down in any way (I regard him as a mate, after all), Carthy is the bigger crowd puller of the two.

Interestingly, our local club had MC and JK on consecutive weeks recently (a most unusual occurrence to have two such big names so close together), and I think I'm right in saying the place was more packed out for the latter - although admittedly the difference in numbers was small, and there may have been other factors unknown to me that prevented people coming along to MC's gig. IIRC the JK gig set a new attendance record for the venue.

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 01:00 PM

When the percussion and the synthesizers drown out the singer to the point where you can not discern the lyrics, you know you have a loser right off the bat. Unfortunately with many of the recent submissions that I have received this has been the rule rather than the exception. If the lyrics are not in the liner notes I have no way to figure out what the performer is trying to convey.

                                                 SOL

Subject: RE: Suffering from ' Eclectile Dysfunction'
From: M.Ted
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 01:50 PM

The singer's stage audition, anymore, is usually the "best 16 bars"--meaning that someone who knows what they want will know well before the 16 bars are through if they art interested or not. I am sure you can tell within the first half minute of a CD whether you are interested or not.

Also, you could save a bit of time, and loose nothing, if you simply pulled the CD out if it had drum tracks and synths, since this isn't what your venue uses, and simply said, "sorry, no synths or drum machines in our venue." Generally, one assumes that, for performances, the audition tape reflects what you'll hear in concert, unless it is a commercial recording, in which case, the performer should tell you what the instrumentation is. You know this, of course--I am just saying that, when you know you're not interested, you've given a fair hearing. Nothing changes if you listen to more..