The suggestion that a "fundamentalist folk-Nazi police force" is cruelly denying deserving singer-songwriters the exposure and esteem to which they are entitled seems slightly crazy to me. And yet … and yet… perhaps there is a crumb of logic in this apparently ridiculous grouch.

Here in Britain there's a shortage of venues where aspiring musicians of any kind – Classical, Jazz, Rock, Pop, Punk, Funk, Folk or whatever – can hone their skills in front of a live audience. For many musicians, singers and songwriters, the most accessible option (sometimes the only option) is their local folk club.   But – and here's the rub – to get in there, they have to define what they do as "folk".
   
Over the years, some clubs have embraced this definition so enthusiastically that the kind of songs some of us used to think of as "folk" are rarely heard there. Well, that's democracy. Meanwhile, other clubs have chosen to exclude songs which fall outside what their membership thinks of as "folk". That too is democracy. And there are also clubs where you can hear many different sorts of music and song, some of them "folk" in the old sense of the word, and some not. Democracy yet again.

If you are a contemporary singer-songwriter whose only local venue happens to be a "traditionalist" folk club, that's tough. But the answer, IMHO, is the provision of more venues for new music, rather than a redefinition of the word "folk".

Wassail!