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