In centuries past...the farmworkers did their weeks toil and gathered in the Landlords Barn on a Friday or Saturday night for jugs of home made ale, provided free by the Landlord..strong ale it was....and all took turns singing. It mattered not whether a man had a good voice or not, he was expected to sing whatever.......so many of the traditional songs of the land were sung by these peasants. Similarly it happened at sea with the sailors filling their time making up songs about the sea and some to sing whilst they worked at hoisting sails and swabbing decks.
No-one of course paid to get in and no-one was offered a gig as such but I would assume that these were perhaps some of the earliest Folk get togethers...when the term clubs was used, who the heck knows? I guess they have evolved much the same as Folk music has.