Greetings:

My experiences are in New York City with the Peoples' Voice Cafe, which isn't exactly a folk club -- it presents many kinds of music that wouldn't not ordinarily be considered folk -- but it is organized like one, and it puts on a show nearly every Saturday evening from September through May. Some are "big names" such as Pete Seeger, Eric Andersen, Pat Humphries, and Kim and Reggie Harris, but most are not as well known.

The Peoples' Voice Cafe is run entirely by a collective of volunteers who are organized into committees, each committee with a specific function: booking, sound reinforcement, publicity, finance, food, etc. New volunteers are always welcome, and no one cares if you are a musician or not. We do, however, presume that you are interested in the music that the Peoples' Voice Cafe puts on. Otherwise why bother?

That having been said, the Peoples' Voice Cafe is now in its 27th year, and since the very beginning quite a few of its volunteers, perhaps a majority, have in fact been musicians! Maybe that's who is attracted to the work. In any case, we do not fear being overrun by non-musicians.

Oh, there is one important benefit for musicians who are Peoples' Voice Cafe volunteers. They can perform there once every season. Otherwise, a performer can usually appear only every other season.

--- Steve