In support of what John Kelly is saying.

There is another folk club that is not far from here that we attend on a pretty regulat basis. It is a pure type 2.....no paid guests, a weekly singaround.

This club has definitely served as a very useful learning ground for a number of up & coming acts and really brought other people on. There is a mixture of standards from the dire to the superb.....all of whom clearly have a right to sing/ play.

However......a large proportion of the the pub locals hate it. And this is getting worse. It has got to the stage where on most folk club nights the rest of the pub is deserted, the Landlord is now considering the future of the folk club as his regulars drink more than the folk club crowd (it is in a medium sized village with no public transport links). This representation of "folk" music cannot being doing any of us any good.

The landlord has, in the last few months, started booking bands every few weeks on a Friday or Saturday night, including a local folk band, most of whose members also attend the folk club. Initially the locals were put off thinking it would be like the singaround folk club. However, they've slowly been converted either by word of mouth or by "accidently" catching a bit of the band. The feedback from the latest "gig" was really, really positive and obviously shows "folk" music in a far better light than the singaround club.

Interestingly not that many of the regulars from the singaound club have supported the "band" nights.....but a new section of local folk "listeners" has been discovered in addition to the pub locals (i.e. paople prepared to travel in from a bit of a distance).... so the landlord is happy. (They are also now starting to attend KFFC....which is also very good news as they understand that they will see "professional" standard acts there as well without having to run the gauntlet of floor singers who may or may not be acceptable TO THE AUDIENCE!)

I'm not sure what the conclusion is that can be drawn from this but it is a factual account of what is happening locally.

Just to make it clear, I really enjoy singarounds and happily take part and listen to others...... however there is an audience out there for "folk" and related music that clearly doesn't.

Paul