"To sit through a succession of 10 minute ballads can lead to day-dreaming and eventual eye-dropping-saliva-spilling and gutteral- snoring-syndrome."

Exactly the same can be said for sitting though an evening of hopeless wannabe pop singers who come to a folk club because it's the only place they get a chance to play. Note I didn't say "to be listened to" - the only time I've been to a place like that recently, most of them left after they'd done their bit. Nobody came to listen, and I'm not surprised.

Quality control is certainly a tricky issue when running a club, but there's no simple solution like cutting out trad music or (and I've really seen this too) banning guitars.

Anahata