After reading Mudcat threads about the English scene, I think 'folk clubs' there might be closer to what I think in the USA would be a step above a neighbor bar. My sense of a neighborhood bar in the USA is a small, public establishment that sell liquor and sometimes cooked food. Most importantly, these neighborhood bars {as opposed to other bars} are most often frequented by 'regulars' who usually but not always live nearby. Some American neighborhood bars have a room or an area where you can play darts and games of pool. I get a sense that is the same in these English folk clubs. Am I close to describing English folk clubs?

As a result of my reading Mudcat threads that mention English folk clubs, I wrote that it seems to me that they are "a step above" American neighborhood bars in that these English folk clubs seem to me to be also like American nightclubs as [I think] that both have live, featured artists {vocalist{s}, musicians}. But usually if not always in the USA people have to pay to get into a nightclub to see a show and then also have to pay to buy their drinks, and any food if they want it. Is that the case with English folk clubs?

I think {but since I don't go to bars I'm not sure} that American bars {neighborhood or otherwise} don't have live artists performing. But I also get the sense [again, from reading Mudcat threads] that the atmosphere during these performances, and in these folk club themselves, may be more informal than what I believe the atmosphere is in many American nightclubs. I'm curious as to whether my sense about this is correct. Also, is there a dress code for persons who come to English folk clubs? Another way of asking this is do persons who frequent these clubs wear casual clothing or more dressy clothing? At one time, in the USA persons going to nightclubs "dressed up", but I think it depends on the nightclub now. In the USA, people dress more casually now for most events and even church than they used to. But the overarching sense that I get is that these are more informal establishments where alcoholic beverages {mostly beer?} is served and people who know each other along with occassional strangers gather to relax, socialize, and {perhaps?} share some live entertainment. Most nightclubs have a small area set aside for dancing [to dj selected recorded music]. os. I think that this is usually not the case at neighborhood bars.

And speaking of "case", I attended a predominately White college in an Eastern state of the USA. During that time, I attended a few {very few} parties that were given by White students from that college. One major difference between these parties and the Black parties I attended [besides the dances and the music and the more casual dress at the White parties] was that the alcoholic beverages of choice seemed to be beer. At the Black parties {or if they were larger, and more open to the public, they were [and I believe still are] called dances, there'd be much less beer, and more hard liquor. I'm wondering is beer the drink of choice at English folk clubs?

Also, I'm wondering do English folk clubs have an age restrictions {for instance, are people under a certain age not allowed entrance?}. Sometimes American nightclubs have under 21 nights. No alcoholic beverages are served at those nightclubs at that time. Is this the case with English folk clubs?

About a year or so ago a couple of my friends and I attended a peformance that Seamus Kennedy gave at what I would call a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania neighborhood nightclub. But again, it was more like a neighborhood bar/nightclub as it seemed that many people there knew each other. I was struck with the fact that most people who were drinking alcohol {and that was most people there} drank beer. Now that I recall, we didn't have to pay to get into the club. I was sruck by the fact that Seamus' 'set' was so interactive. The audience sang along and some kept time by beating on table. It reminded me of a summer camp singalong. Partly I'm sure because Seamus is such a good performer, people there {including myself} had a good time. As I wrote about it in a Mudcat thread, I can't think of any comparable experience Black American adults have.

It just occurs to me to ask-is a 'pub' the same thing as a folk club in England? I don't think that "pub" is not a term African Americans use to describe our bars or nightclubs, ["our" meaning those in the neighborhoods we live in -segregated by race or more or less integrated}. However, the word 'pub' might be used by other Americans.

All of this to say, I'm wondering if my sense of English folk clubs is accurate. If English folk clubs are like I've gotten a sense of them [again only from reading some Mudcat threads], the small neighborhood bar/nightclub without an admittance fee fits, then I would say that-apart from the types of music featured there-which is a whole nother comment- it might not be surprising that Black people or other people of color who may not live in the same neigborhood where these folk clubs are, don't frequent them.