When I was a kid my mam used to take my Nanna to something called a Darby and Joan Club ( early 1950's) "What for Mam ?". My mam explained that she met other peope her age and talked about local things - only they knew about. The also had cups of tea , biscuits and a sing song.
(Those were extremely austere times don't forget).
I see a bit of a parallel here in that the Folk clubs seem to comprise people who have retired or are reaching that stage.
Young ones seem reluctant to engage unless they are given the opportunity to perform and preferably paid.
Also in the mix are many people who have taken up the guitar and want to perform with their beloved Lowdens , Taylors or Martins, which many of them only play to a very basic standard.
They want to on THAT STAGE and who can blame or deny them?
Organisers are delighted to have their numbers in attendance and it also helps develop a social side and friendship within the Club. However , as with the Darby and Joan club situation, the Folk club will slowly die out in its' present format as a natural part of social decay.
It may well re-invent itself, but I fear that, todays young people lack( no fault of theirs-just times are different) the things which drove-on the "revival generation" , and e.g. those songs ( which many of us find a pain in the arse now ) i.e. the Wild rover etc etc were an absolute wonder when first we were exposed to them.
There was originally much merit in chorus singing, and, effort by performers to " get the chorus across", all done without the aid of a P.A. system which has to my mind created a barrier between performer(s) and audience in smallish (max 100 folk) rooms.
I still rejoice at listening to Christy Moore , Barbara Dickson , Maddy Prior with Tim Hart , Aly Bain , Matthews Bothers , Carthy - he list is endless - all performing witout P.A.
For me, the P.A. in a smallish room has created an amateur "X factor" feel.
Affluence has been a contributory factor in my thoughts about the Subject matter ,and I'm left with a song which was compiled by Gene Raskin (spelling ) which was rarely sang at folk clubs - because it entered the hit parade and I shall sing it whenever I think about all the lovely people I've ever met in the Folk scene over these last 50 years - " Those were the days my friend(s) ".
If I look to the future and don't forget our British society is rapidly changing from the WASP (plenty of Catholics as well!!) of the REVIVAL, my guess would be that there will be acoustic clubs ( with P.A.) which will incorporate Folk music (as we generally term it) and combine it with the likes of the Beatles, Kinks and other enjoyable music which young folk might regard as nostalgic and entertaining. Who knows ???
The Folk clubs are coming to a dignified end, purely related to the ages of their attendees - no worries - let's hope it's just like a dying fire and that there's still plenty of wood around to get it blazing again.
Might see yaz at Saltburn next weekend Friday 8th August if not , all enjoy what you're doing .
Cheers Betsy