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Customers were equipped with a large paper bib and some pliers whilst they worked their way through a bucket of crabs and every hour, staff entertained the diners by standing in the centre of the restaurant and dancing to the Macarena albeit with glazed, embarrassed expressions.

South by South West is the world's biggest music festival, where 1500 unsigned bands and internationally renowned artists from all over the world descend on the many venues scattered densely across Austin. Many gigs are organised into showcases for particular regions or genres; I spent a lot of time at the venue watching bands from Wales, Yorkshire and Liverpool. Each showcase is heavily marketed and flaunted during the weekend to ensure that as many music lovers, delegates and music industry movers and shakers are there, hopefully to open the door to more opportunities in The States for the artists.

Our showcase, '', marked the culmination of months of careful planning, marketing campaigns and funding applications by British Underground, fRoots and Arts Council England. , , , , and , along with author , Sam Lee, and visual artist David Owen, were all involved in the showcase designed to fly the flag for English folk music - with the aim of showing the U.S. music industry the rich wealth of material available and the exciting musical directions being taken by this new generation of folk artists.

To help spread the word, David Owen designed a range of 'Looking For A New England' logos, postcards and badges, fRoots wonderful 'Looking For A New England' CD was handed out in droves, and there was a beautifully designed booklet with articles from and Will Hogkinson which appeared in every delegate bag.