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30 Jan 07 - 03:29 AM (#1952074) Subject: Folk agents in England From: GUEST,cmt49 I used to play in folk clubs in England 25 years ago, but have since been stranded in Denmark. Though I am a better musician than I was then, Denmark is a country with no culture of LISTENING to music, and no market for folk in particular. I miss the intimacy of British folk clubs, and would love to do a tour this year. Can anyone help with contact details of agents in the old country? |
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30 Jan 07 - 03:42 AM (#1952085) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: Fidjit Gosh ! Where in Denmark are you to come up with that generalisation? I'm in Scandinavia and have been to Denmark. Had some good times. Don't you got to thier vise klubber? Chas |
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30 Jan 07 - 01:27 PM (#1952662) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: Big Al Whittle I doubt if there is an agent who could put together a tour of folk clubs in the way that say Derek Grinell or Mike and Julia Billington could have done twenty or thirty years ago. The folkscene has fell upon evil times and is much depleted. Nobody much is owning up to the how and why. The acts that prosper tend to be very serious music acts rather than the entertainers and troubadours who wore their dedication lightly and packed out clubs in the 60's and 70's. Most of the successful folk acts have been propelled into popularity by very professional publicity campaigns. Few of them have either the instrumental or expressive skills that an earlier generation learned in the folk clubs. Having gained popularity, they steer clear of the clubs and play small theatres, arts centres and festivals. Perhaps I am wrong in my assessment. I just know what I had to do to earn a living as a musician in the last twenty odd years. No doubt some people will tell you different. But I think that you will find that the scene has changed while you have been away. |
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30 Jan 07 - 04:44 PM (#1952868) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: breezy agents dont worry about the clubs, they ask too much for the artistes in their stable and thats why there is a shortage of clubs that book guests regularly. been there, ran it. your out on your own mate, good luck. so send every potential club organiser your CD and bio, and plan one year ahead, and the big 'concert clubs will only book well knowns so get to it |
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30 Jan 07 - 05:41 PM (#1952908) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: Richard Bridge Try Jacey Bedford - an agent and of course one of the singers from the amazing Artisan |
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30 Jan 07 - 06:29 PM (#1952954) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: Richard Bridge BTW - how might the said agent (if interested) contact you? |
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30 Jan 07 - 06:37 PM (#1952960) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: Bonnie Shaljean Jacey has also put together some amazingly helpful and very professional-sounding guidelines in .PDF format which I downloaded from the net, but I'm blessed if I can remember where! If you can get ahold of these files (I think there are two of them) they'll tell you pretty much all you need to know. I'm sure some kind soul will fly over and deposit a clickie before too long. There are also some useful umbrella websites if you Google around, such as Martin Nail's: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/martin.nail/Folkmus.htm Bottom line, though, I think the wee drummer's words are spot on. |
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30 Jan 07 - 07:30 PM (#1952994) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: GUEST,Pat Cooksey. Guest T49. I also used to play in folk clubs in England more than 25 years ago, my visits to this hallowed land of folk music today pass without mention, the rest of the world more than makes up for this oversight. Just joking, I don't think in England there is a market anymore, for what I write perhaps, good luck to you anyway. Pat Cooksey. |
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30 Jan 07 - 07:58 PM (#1953015) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: GUEST,Andy. Cooksey is a great singer and writer, have a look at his website PatCooksey.com I heard him in New Zealand last year, also on the radio, when he played in the Claddagh on the South Island it was packed. Why Paddy's not at work Today got a huge ovation, too right, he wrote it. |
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31 Jan 07 - 06:27 AM (#1953319) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: GUEST,Jacey Richard Bridge alerted me to this thread as I'm not a usual mudcat poster however I thought I'd try and answer about folk agents. Much of the practicalities of getting gigs are covered in the article I wrote for FolkWISE on the site at www.folkwise.org. Click on Info Files and read the pdf on getting gigs. Also go to my website at www.jacey-bedford.com and follow the link to 'Do I Need an Agent' (link is just under my artist list). I think for most people the answer is a resounding NO. That's not because we agents are rubbish - we're not. We're (mostly) a hard working bunch of individuals who care deeply about making sure our artists earn a living, but we also have a living to make and it takes as much effort to get a £100 gig for one artist as it does to get a £1000 gig for another. (I've been a full time performer - internationally - for 20 years with Artisan and an agent for eight years so I've worn both hats and I do know what i'm talking about.) If you go to my website you'll find a little statement about building relationships with venues. I'm not in this game to grab a gig at any price, because if I put the wrong artist into the wrong venue (or even the right artist into the wrong venue) I'm going to get the commission from one gig and some ill-feeling. If I put the right artist into the right venue everyone wins and I'm going to get repeat business. And repeat business is what it's all about. It's difficult to sell a new artist to a venue, but if the gig goes well then next time you make an approach for the same or for a different artist it gets easier. I may also be slightly unusual in that (although I have some very fine UK artists on my books) I specialise in bringing in performers from America, Canada and Australia. I work with artists because I like what they do or because they are friends (or both) and not all of my artists are priced out of the reach of folk clubs... on the contrary quite a few of them come over to do folk club tours because they like playing British folk clubs. Of course I've got five piece bands like Tanglefoot who are too big for small folk clubs, but they will play the larger clubs with pleasure. So I have to say that though there may be flashy big city agents who deal only with megastars, most folk agents I know are happy to put real artists into good folk clubs. Jacey Bedford |
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31 Jan 07 - 07:23 AM (#1953358) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: Richard Bridge On behalf of the mudcat, (not that I have any authority so to say) thanks Jacey. |
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31 Jan 07 - 12:23 PM (#1953650) Subject: RE: Folk agents in England From: GUEST,Jacey You're welcome, Richard. I'm happy to try and answer any queries that people might have. Maybe Richard will give me a nudge if there are any follow-up questions that I don't spot. I'm not speaking for other agents, of course, only for myself. I can understand some of the cynicism from people who run small folk clubs, but folk agents aren't there to fleece the clubs. If they did they'd be doing themselves out of a job. It is more difficult to put together an unbroken tour of folk clubs these days because there are probably only around 300 clubs to draw on that can afford to pay a living wage to a professional artist. Fewer than that if you're looking for fees that can sustain a duo, trio or more. And just in case anyone was wondering... my agency list is already pretty full. If I take on anyone else I'll be in danger of spreading myself too thin to do a good job for the artists already on my books. And if there are any folk club organisers on here looking for great acts I have the delightful Dan McKinnon on tour from Canada in May, who is certainly affordable by a wide range of folk clubs and still has some midweek dates to fill. I'm also currently booking tours for other club-friendly acts such as Opland & Freeman, Cloudstreet, Pint & Dale, Belshazzar's Feast, Cockersdale and Bernard Carney. Cheers Jacey You can contact me via my website at http://www.jacey-bedford.com |