Just to clear things up a little: when I said we were trying to run a folk club a few years ago and that it faded away miserably, perhaps I should have come right out and said it no longer exists for several reasons. First off, the local we had (a room in an MJC, Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture/Youth and Culture Centre) got burned out and then torn down for what is euphemistically known as "urban renewal". We moved the club to a local bar, but it only survived there for a few months due to the ambiant noise, even though the people running the bar tried to help us keep the noise level down. The organisation Giboulées (who put on the yearly do) were even willing to help fund us a little bit so we could have space in another MJC and keep going, but the "professional" musicians belonging to Giboulées raised such a fuss on the grounds that a folk club would keep people from attending their concerts that the idea got dropped. I should add that someone who was running an Irish music session in Nancy at the time did a pretty good job of badmouthing us as well. We stuck it out for a year, but as they say, push came to shove.

I should also point out that we have nothing to do with organising any local dances and thus do not have a say about what happens at them. We have in fact suggested some of the very things spoken of above, only to be met by blank stares and remarks like: "No, we can't do that; people won't like it".

Jo, thanks for your comments. Looks like rural Normandy isn't lots of fun either and is much like rural Lorraine. Interestingly enough, there is also a huge demand for Irish music over this way as well, so I guess you could say there's hope. Unfortunately, there are several persons and/or groups who seem to think that Irish music is their private little oyster as well. Sigh.

At the present time, we've teamed up with a couple of storytellers and play a bit of music in between stories to give them a breather. . . and at least the people who come to listen to stories also listen to music. It ain't a folk club and we don't play a lot, but it's certainly better than nuthin'.

cheers, Auxiris