Ralphie,

You wrote, "And yes the clientel is aging rapidly, but unlike the US it seems, the interest taken by the kids is pretty healthy. They just do it their own way." The same actually is true in the USA. There are plenty of young people flocking to folk music of all sorts, both traditional and contemporary, but as you say, they just do it their own way.

Some of the older folk music clubs go out of their way to be welcoming, or at least to meet the younger generation halfway, and such clubs are holding their own. Others choose to remain stodgy and insular, and they are shrinking. Once again, it is not simply a question of whom they book, although that is an important factor. It is their overall demeanor. Behaving in a manner that turns people off may be unintentional, but it happens. There is no one simple remedy, but a good place to start is to recognize the problem and then take some conscious steps to overcome it.

--- Steve