"hog lyrics make T S Elliot look like a part-time poet who works in a bank"

Makes perfect sense to me, Richard - what is difficult to understand is the need for this sort of sniping.

Whatever the case, open-mic or whatever, it seems people are so deafened by celebrity driven glitz & razzmatazz (even folk razzmatazz) that they can no longer hear the beauty (or see the point) of ordinary people getting up & singing a song.

I use razzmatazz in the sense of a flashy action or display intended to bewilder, confuse, or deceive, believing that we have been deceived, confused and bewildered in the name of entertainment for too long.

Folk Music, the antithesis of entertainment!