I hope you don't mind another mailing so soon, however, I need to let you know about the Maidstone venue and the first acoustic gig on Thursday 15th November when world-class acoustic guitarist Thomas Leeb (MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "x-msg:" claiming to be www.thomasleeb.com) will be performing at the Mu Mu lounge (MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "x-msg:" claiming to be www.mumuloungebar.com), which is the same Maidstone venue as per previous, albeit we are now using the upstairs lounge, which I think will suit this type of performance very well. Thomas Leeb is not a blues guitarist per se, he has a very distinct percussive style and was a student of the late Eric Roche - "I was his teacher for five minutes, and then I heard him play!"

The reason that I have booked Thomas is that the opportunity arose for this date to be slotted into Thomas's UK tour and I thought this a good way to kick off the Maidstone venue again - i.e. with a class act! The door price is £8 and Thomas does have a large following, however, there is a 25% discount (£6 on door) for Bottleneck regulars. It would be helpful to receive any bookings before the end of October, although not a criteria of course! There will be a unique style of seating whereby there will be 2 and three seater sofas and easy chairs near and to the side of the stage and then standard seating down the middle. Requests for a particular type of seating will be accommodated as best possible on a first come, first served, basis.

For the future, the venue is not going to be generally available for us late week and this first November gig is very much a one-off. I am therefore considering a regular Bottleneck gig here on the second Monday of every month, starting December 10th (and combining this one with the club Christmas). I would very much appreciate your feedback on this.

Roy Middleton has asked me to mention that Hans Theessink is at Dartford Folk Club on Tues 9 Oct and Jim Crawford is at Sheppey Folk and Blues Club on Mon 15 Oct, both starting 8.30pm. There is the possibility of a guitar workshop with Jim on the Monday afternoon so anyone interested in this please let Roy know.