I may be a bit naive here, but it strikes me that so many aspects of the folk scene seem to spread by word of mouth that a venue that screws its performers or a performer who backs out of deals/ screws venues etc, would not as a general rule survive. People would soon hear about them and stop playing or booking.

In terms of not having the money for big names because you're a small club. Surely the advantage of a small club is you know most people in it. If the performer is worth their high fee, then you can negotiate a one-off higher door fee or whatever with the other club members. (If they don't justify their high fee, why are you booking them?)

Personally, for a genuinely good performer in an intimate venue, (and that doesn't mean so intimate I can't breathe and get beer spilled on me btw,)I'd be prepared to pay a lot more than £6 on the door or whatever it was. Maybe that's just proof I'm a spoiled, bourgeois [insert word], but I don't think so.