77 f “It is difficult. There are lots of great
new acts fRoots has introduced who, for the most part, festival organisers have ignored and won’t book. You used to be able to put Leon Rosselson on and people would say ‘oh yes, he’s a folk singer’, but when you mention someone like Beans On Toast, who is a brilliant songwriter, they won’t risk it. If you haven’t got Show Of Hands or Richard Thompson or Eliza Carthy, what’s left? In some cases the line- ups are more diverse but some of them have the same line-ups they had twenty years ago and then wonder why they don’t attract a younger audience. They loved Roy Bailey but they won’t book Beans On Toast who has a similar political punch. These people should get a life and experiment a bit.”
“Why can’t you book a ginger-haired
singer-songwriter who plays acoustic gui- tar? Well, you couldn’t afford him now, but there’s loads of others out there who are just as good.”
He’s critical, too, though, of the some of the young artists themselves for not working harder to come up with a fresh act and unfamiliar material.
“Some of them are too lazy to do their own research and they do the same old songs over and over again. What’s the
point of a twenty-year-old doing yet another version of Lord Bateman? Go out and find something new! There’s libraries rammed with songs and if they were to give them a twenty-first-century twist then young people might come.”
The old ploy would be to book a sure- fire headliner guaranteed to put bums on seats, enabling the supporting bill to be more experimental, but big names of this ilk are becoming fewer and more far between. Especially since Bellowhead knocked it on the head. Heap argues that many of the others price themselves out of the market.
Fees have gone up far more than inflation. I’ve had acts coming to me asking for £400 and they come back the following year and say they want £500, even though they haven’t released any new material or gained in popularity. Yet they want to charge way above the inflation rate.”
“T
“Bellowhead haven’t been replaced but even they left a huge gap when they went to a new level after Chris Evans started play- ing them and they got beyond the reach of
he biggest challenge fac- ing festivals is artist fees. It’s so sad that several of the headline folk acts are outpricing themselves.
most folk festivals. If you didn’t have £18,000 you couldn’t book Bellowhead. It’s a problem because now there’s a serious shortage of affordable headline acts.”
But somewhere near you on any weekend you care to name this summer, there will be a festival… and you’d be a fool not to give it a whirl.
I’ve drowned in the mud at Glaston-
bury, I’ve burnt a tent down at Cam- bridge, I’ve camped out all night for a good spot to see the acoustic Byrds at Lin- coln, I’ve had my passport stolen in Oslo, I’ve frozen half to death in Reyjkavik, I’ve drunk Pernod ‘til it came out of my ears with Donal Lunny and Andy Irvine at Nyon, I’ve had lunch trampled on by drunks at Lisdoonvarna, I’ve watched Dick Gaughan sing Part Of The Union through gritted teeth with Dave Cousins at Edmonton, I’ve dozed off watching Neil Young play a never-ending set into the early hours under the stars in Roskilde, I’ve yelped and hollered along with Shane MacGowan in Finsbury Park. And I’ve even discussed Lonnie Donegan with Billy Bragg at Sidmouth and been personally serenaded by Bert Lloyd in Reading. And I’ve gone home happy from every one.
You can find the Association Of Festi- val Organisers at
festivalorganisers.org F
Clockwise varieties – blue faced morris, a hula workshop (and cake), sun at Knockengoroch, Shooting Roots beginners’ Morris at Sidmouth
Photo: Ian Anderson
Photo: Ian Anderson
Photo: © Judith Burrows
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