Hi Martin - I'll try to bring it back on track:

"Within a fifty mile drive of my house are 6 or 8 regular venues for folk musicians, dozens of long-standing contests for amateurs of every stripe." (West Virginia)

"I think we get a distorted picture of the size and influence of their group on the UK as a whole because they are such a strong presence here within the Mudcat Cafe. However, when you think about it, the fact that one or two hundred folkies scattered throughout the UK all seem to know each other so well might indicate that they're NOT a significant subculture in British society as a whole."


Beg to differ you US folks - but there are a few more folkies than "one or two hundred" (Popagator) - though I think maybe that comment was "tongue in cheek" - if a little cheeky!
I know we're only a blip on the Earth landscape whereas the US is a rather large blot, but within a "fifty mile drive" seems excessive to me. Within a FIVE mile drive of my humble UK home there are at least 20 regular venues for folk musicians.

As for Mudcatters I went on a folk weekend break (this weekend) with 20 of my folk friends from just ONE of these venues and asked the question "Who knows of and contributes to the Mudcat Forum?" - Blank faces everyone - just me then.... Get the picture? Twenty-one dedicated folk performers living within a 5 mile radius, and only one knows of the existence of Mudcat. I'll leave you to do the maths and the extrapolations if you want to get some idea of the UK folk scene. Make some adjustments though; Sheffield is probably the folk hot-bed so to speak, unless other UK area reps want to argue?

God Bless America
Jim