My Back Pages First memories of exposure to the music that has since dominated much of my life involve discovering the songs of Bob Dylan when I was about nine. That set me out on a path that has taken in a wonderful range of music ever since. In 1976 I joined a couple of friends to set up a folk club at the Lord Brooke in Walthamstow, East London. That led to my involvement in the Three Blackbirds Club in Leyton. These two clubs combined to form The Chestnuts in Walthamstow in 1979 and that was that. Next came The Chestnuts Festival and plenty of local programming opportunities alongside Waltham Forest Arts Council. Then came the invitation to become Song Producer at the 1987 Sidmouth Festival. This coincided with the festival coming under the new management of Steve Heap and John Heydon and a two year stint as song producer turned into something more permanent. At the end of 1987 I took the hint that my mind was no longer on teaching and went to work with Steve at Mrs Casey Music, first working on agency matters and then on a number of festivals and events which included Towersey Festival, Farnham Folk Day, Easter Weekends at Butlins Bognor Regis, American Music Weekends at the Barbican Centre among others. From then on Sidmouth Festival became more and more the centre of my work. I became Artistic Director in 1991, working with the festival team to programme over 700 events in more than 20 venues in 8 days at the beginning of August each year. Sidmouth may have been all consuming but time was still found for plenty more. South Bank Folk Week became Folk in the Fall, I worked for a while alongside Martin Frost at Cecil Sharp House as concert programmer, and then in 2001, Direct Roots was born.  I got further involved with the Association of Festival Organisers and started scheduling the annual conference and its showcase concert. Direct Roots 2 followed in 2003 and Towersey Festival continued to get bigger and stronger. And still there was Sidmouth. Despite the ravages of the weather in 1997 and mixed fortunes since, we made it to the 50th festival in 2004 before retiring with a huge, sunny and unforgettable celebration. So in autumn 2004, decisions had to be made. Teaching and “proper arts jobs” beckoned but not very enthusiastically. Having been a self employed arts consultant and event programmer since 1987, it seemed time to make it a bit more obvious. Alan Bearman Music was formed in March 2005.