title: mod_rewrite url from php variable
body: <p>I'm having this issue which I can't figure out, I'd like to use mod_rewrite to do the following:</p>
  
  <pre><code>http://localhost/The+Beatles
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>into</p>
  
  <pre><code>http://localhost/artist.php?a=The+Beatles
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I've tried following some examples on here and other sites and tayloring it to my needs I'm come up with the following but it's not working:</p>
  
  <pre><code>RewriteEngine on
  RewriteRule ^(.*) artist.php?a=$1
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>It seems to set the a variable to artist.php which I can't seem to figure out? Hope someone can help.</p>
  
  <p>Dave</p>