"Perhaps they weren't meant to be heard in the clubs in the first place"
Interesting that there was not one voice raised in protest to this outrageous statement.
Walter Pardon's 'natural environment' was to sit at home alone for thirty years , reconstructing his familiy's songs and keep them alive in his memory with the help of his melodeon. I wonder if anybody here ever saw him perform at a club and hold the audience in the palm of his hands with his beautiful singing.
Or Mikeen McCarthy, Traveller singer and storyteller - there is a wonderful warm review of his performance at the Musical Traditions Club in one of the magazines (Dance and Song?).
I was lucky enough to see The Stewarts, Wille Scott, Harry Cox, Willie McFee, Charlie Wills, Tom Lenihan..... never got to see Sam Larner, but have heard enough descriptions of his handful of legendary public performances to wish I had.
Which of us was "meant to be heard in the clubs" - can't recall hearing of anybody born in front of an audience.
These people were the glue that has kept my interest alive for coming up to half a century - yet the attitude appears to be "give us your songs and feck off home and leave them to the experts".
Thank you for making my point far better than I could Ron.
"The problem arises when there is a lack of tolerance for the tastes of others."
You mean like those who would cut out all the ballads as being "too long and boring", or who sneer at unaccompanied singing as 'finger-in-ear', or the "sorry, we only book folksingers" mob.
Not so long ago I heard of a US festival of traditional music that only booked artists who "had written their own material" - how far away from your music can you get and still call yourself 'folk'?
Jim Carroll