Since merely mentioning the fact that I was selecting solo singer/songwriters in London for the up and coming 2008 acoustic festival, I was inundated by calls and e-mails. How could this be? I’ve only spoken to the guys at Soundcontrol (Our partner music shop in London) for 5 minutes about the “possibility of doing it very soon”, “huge prizes, such as Takamine and Ovation guitars etc etc…blah blah……trip to Rome to play at European final”…..etc etc….it was enough to start a bloody riot! Well, with that 5 minute chat I got every single rock and roll guitar player wanting to prove he/she has a softer more mellow side…..god bless! Following that response (that what you get for giving your business card to excitable lads out there) I was then forced to speed things up and called this booker I know. He said: “I’ve got just the place for you mate!” in his strong Scottish accent….. What venue you may think? Well, if it isn’t REX private club below the Planet Hollywood party area. Yes people, this room/ venue was used by the likes of Kylie and others to prove that they are cool and that only a cool place will do for them…but what has this got to do with the singer/songwriters you may ask??? (yes, planet bloody Hollywood?) Well, for starters it is in Leicester square. It is the most centrally located venue I’ve ever had to work in (and since I did close to 80 venues in 26 cities in 6 different countries I should know the importance). This is the centre of the Universe, if you go down a storm there then everybody will kiss your backside for a month (the usual time span for music stars rising and falling these days). I look at my e-mails at all times and I get 20 to 30 contacts a day from a variety of styles such as alternative folk to country or just pop. Some of the people contacting me are well established and some are not but visiting their Myspaces has given me an idea of the sea of talent that there’s out there. “Isn’t this just fun?” I thought to Myself, yes! It better bloody well be……. The funniest incident was yesterday when a girl contacted via e-mail me wanting to do it. I said “ I am actually screening and meeting people this Friday if you want to come down” her reply was “sorry, I’m off on tour on Friday”…….later she sent me a link to her website and apart from being gob smacked at her grueling touring schedule (more dates than Madonna) I was also surprised to see her do dated in famous places I knew. The nicest thing was a clip from a gig shot from the stage where she playing to a huge crowd of thousands! Thousands? Yes, she is a very popular girl in the German folk music world. See? Even the well-established acts want to get in the action with the Ovation/Takamine sponsored event! And so yours truly gets geared up and fired up to host the event at the REX private bar at Planet Hollywood on the 5th of February…….LONDON get ready…….we’re taking you around the continent!! STATISTICS: Number of contacts so far from artists: 200 (and counting) Number of Artists playing at the event: 10 (to be selected) Time of performance in minutes per artists 20 (200 minutes of pure music genius) Cost at the door in sterling pounds: 3 (what? 30 pence per artist? Bargain!) Acoustically Yours