From: Rob Merrills (The Padwell) [rob.merrills_at_thepadwell_dot_com]

Sent: 15 November 2011 22:10

Subject: Re: Kent Folk Website - new venue and some new events (hopefully)

 

Follow Up Flag: Follow up

Flag Status: Flagged

 

Good Evening Beau

You may remember that I contacted you earlier this year (see below) with regard to our efforts to establish a The Padwell as a ?folk venue? - well, I?m pleased to say that a couple of months down the road things are starting to take off and we now have two regular evenings per month under the guise of the Padwell FolkMoot, which are steadily becoming better and better supported :-)

I wonder if you?d now be kind enough to add our details to your website venue list and calendar, as there is now something which is worth advertising ? more extensive details are available on our website, here http://www.thepadwell.com/the-padwell-folkmoot/ - but in simple terms we have:

Second Thursday of every month: an unscripted evening of folk music, song and general merrymaking - part session, part open floor, part singalong - muck in with anyone and everyone or take centre stage on your own if you prefer - just go with the flow !

Fourth Thursday of every month: guest artists drawn from a wide-ranging contact list of talented local artists. Floor spots are also available for these guest evenings, available on a first come, first served basis

Admission to either format of FolkMoot will be free, but on guest nights there will be a collection to pay for the artist and probably a raffle too. The FolkMoots will take place in the restaurant area with its friendly cabaret-style seating so you can listen, play, drink and eat if you want ? anything from a snack to a full restaurant meal.

Everything is now running under the auspices of Geoff Easeman, who ? thus far ? has managed to get all manner of fine musicians along to our FolkMoots: Keith Rule, Ty & Ayesha Watling, Roy Hill, Paul Stepto, Fiddlefit, Rob Otto and Rob Naylor to name but a few

If you?d like a list of exact event dates, with specific details as and when available, please let me know and I?ll gladly comply.

I would like to say that your initial enthusiastic support for our ventures went a long way towards keeping me plugging away at it when things were very slow to pick up when we started out, so thank you once again for that !

Kind regards


Rob Merrills






On 07/09/2011 20:49, "Rob Merrills (The Padwell)" <rob.merrills_at_thepadwell_dot_com> wrote:

Evenin? Beau

Have taken your advise and mailed forty-odd performers from your website listings, plus a few local folk clubs and bands, to let them know that our first ?open floor? evening will be on Thursday 22nd September, and after that, they?ll be on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. I went through your calendar, and these seemed to be the days on which there were the fewest alternative events ? just something in Faversham, which is plenty far enough away to ensure there are enough potential attendees to go round !

If you could perhaps see our way clear to adding us to your listings, that would be really very much appreciated.

Thanks, and kind regards


Rob


On 06/09/2011 21:53, "J.B.W.Webber" <J.B.W.Webber_at_kent_dot_ac_dot_uk> wrote:

Thanks Rob, will see if we can get there ! cheers, Beau
 

From: Rob Merrills (The Padwell) [mailto:rob.merrills_at_thepadwell_dot_com]
Sent: 06 September 2011 21:23
To: J.B.W.Webber
Subject: Re: Kent Folk Website - new venue and some new events (hopefully)

Beau ? that?s marvellous ? thank you so much forgetting back to me so swiftly !

I?m glad that the e-mail approach is deemed appropriate ? it?s such a good way to ?spread the word? quickly so we?ll set a date for the first evening and get mailing immediately

It goes without saying that you?ve earned your first few free pints already ? if you can join us over the coming weekend at any point for our Beer Festival (see website for details) be sure to look me up and transfer of said chattels will take place !

Thanks again


Rob


On 06/09/2011 21:12, "J.B.W.Webber" <J.B.W.Webber_at_kent_dot_ac_dot_uk> wrote:
Hi Rob,
This sounds excellent !  I do wish you all the best.
 
I will do my best to tell people about your plans ? KentFolk also has a FaceBook presence, and that gets a quick response, I will do that now.
Certainly, emailing musicians will always be welcome, about possible gig venues ? some will turn up and play for free ? open mikes etc, so live by the music and need paying.
There are also some organisers of music that I will forward your email to, this evening.
 
I WILL get the venue on KentFolk, but my laptop with the source has just come back from some servicing this evening, and the hard drive now has to be urgently replaced, so I will attend to that first.
All the best,
Cheers,
                Beau
 
 
 

From: Rob Merrills (The Padwell) [mailto:rob.merrills_at_thepadwell_dot_com]
Sent: 06 September 2011 21:01
To: J.B.W.Webber; Beau Webber
Subject: Kent Folk Website - new venue and some new events (hopefully)

Good Evening Beau ? apologies for firing an e-mail at you out of the blue, but I?m hard-pushed to know quite where else to start !

In simple terms, I am writing on behalf of a friend of mine who has recently taken over a pub near Sevenoaks ? The Padwell at Stone Street ? and who has a grand ambition to turn it in to a bit of a venue for anything in that falls under the whole folk-arts remit. There?s a Beer Festival this weekend, with morris dancers, drummers from the Sussex Bonfire circuit and live music ? plus we?ve had occasional morris stands over the Summer since he took over in July. The ambition though, as I say, is to establish a place ?on the circuit? and get an established open-mic evening on  the calendar, along with mumming at Christmas, wassailing, our own Folk Ale at some point, and anything else that involves people having a good time !

I guess the starting point would be to ask if you would please be kind enough to list the pub under your ?venues? section, with the relevant details being as follows:

The Padwell; Stone Street; Sevenoaks; Kent; TN15 0LQ

tel: 01732 761532

web: www.thepadwell.com

mail: events_at_thepadwell_dot_com

I imagine it may then be best to try and establish the best day and dates on which the projected evenings can be pencilled in. Thursday?s have been mooted as being preferable as they do not clash with any other regular functions, and the second and fourth such days of the month ? in consultation with your current events calendar ? seem to have no other events that are set to take place too close to the Sevenoaks area (we obviously do not want to clash with any established sessions, or tread on any toes ? and with this in mind there only seems to be an event in Faversham, which is an appreciable distance from The Padwell).

So ? where do we go from here ?

Please bear in mind that we?re really starting from the ground up, with nothing other than the aforementioned Morris events on which to build, so might I be so bold as to ask what you think is the best course to adopt ? Is it considered appropriate to mail as many performers I can find listed on your web site (and others), propose some dates and invite anyone who might be interested to come along, or is this not the way to go ? Are we are best to start off by personally approaching local artists, asking them to come along and then maybe to spread the word if they enjoy themselves and think that we are trying to do something worthwhile ? this sort of organic growth would seem to be a far more acceptable way to build things up, but perhaps the mailing would be a good ?kick start? to get things on the notice board in the first instance ?

I can see from the depth of content on your site that you are clearly a real ?mover and shaker? on the county?s folk scene, and would therefore be very appreciative of any guidance that you can find time to give us and, of course, you will be absolutely assured of a warm welcome to The Padwell should you ever pay us a visit, with a place of honour and an extensive array of complimentary beers yours for the taking !

Look forward to hearing from you

With very kind regards


Rob Merrills