"why do we have the likes of Kate Rusby, Eliza Carthy, Spiers & Bowden etc? Surely something must be right?"

These oft-mentioned 'Young Tiurks' did get a start in the clubs - when they were more numerous and healier than they are today, along with some other very talented youngsters. The J's do still do clubs, but not Kate and seldom I think Eliza. Certainly none of them could sustain a living worth having if they relied too much on club work.

There are usually some younger artists working the clubs - usually with a bit of media backing generated by one award or some other achievement, but you may notice that not many of them do so, exclusively, for long. Because there is not enough work available. A few do manage to heft up the ladder to the theatre circuit, a majority go back to the day job and merely do occasional gigs and trips - and festivals, of course.

There are almost no new 'older youngsters' entering the job - for reasons I could write a book about.

The end result is that there are very few new people becoming career club performers - developing the skills and profile that only full commitment to the circuit can generate. (There are quite a few new retired performers, but that's a different thing again, involving a different type of commitment and different implications for the industry).

So the average age of the full-time guests is keeping tabs with the calendar too.

You can plot the long term projections for yourselves.

Tom