I do the website for The Topic in Bradford, the soi-disant longest-running weekly pub-based English-style folk club in the world (est. 1956, and this Xmas Day will be the first dark club night in 5 years) and there were quite a lot of women performing in 2008, more than usual (anyone wanting to analyse this can look back over all the gigs for all the years pretty much to 1970 on the site).

Not all of these were headliners. Some - Tuppenny Ceilidh Band, Pillowfish, Danyluk and Card - are male-female duos. Some acts - like YLEM, Celtish, Bandersnatch & Dark Horse - are bands with more males than females. But there were several solo women and also "duos" - such as those with Debra Cowan, Emily Smith and Kirsty McGee - where I think it fair to say the woman is the driving force and/or lead attraction.

Plus there were three all-woman acts - Ember is two, Bryony three and Soundsphere four women (and all were headlining).

Here's the whole list for 2008:

Dark Horse
David Moss and Masha Kaestner
Katriona & Jamie Roberts
Emily Smith with Jamie McClennan
Jackie Oates
Pillowfish
YLEM
Ceri Rhys Matthews and Christine Cooper
Debra Cowan and Pete Smith
Peter & Barbara Snape
Danyluk and Card
Chris and Siobhan Nelson
Fil Campbell
Ember
The Tuppenny Ceilidh Band
Pamela Ward and Paul Cherrington
Kate Bramley
Soundsphere
Ruth Notman
Paul Wrigley & Sue Burgess
Bandersnatch
Kirsty McGee and Mat Martin
Bryony
Celtish
Fiona Katie Roberts

My brother John booked the acts for 2008. Next year booking is being done by Rahel Guzelian, and so far she has booked:

Marie Little
FYRISH
Acoustica
Janet Russell
Landermason
Gina Le Faux
Flossie Malavialle
Wendy Arrowsmith