I only spotted this thread when it was in danger of slipping off the bottom; I revived it with a post o' my own but I think I'm rather beginning to regret it now. It started off positive, now it's revealing a darker heart which I'd like to think is anathema to folk but to be honest I've seen more shit go down in folk clubs than in any other type of music I've been involved with. Even a cheerful optimist like myself can depart utterly down-hearted.

A folk club is where folk music happens - and folk music happens best in an atmos of muso-free informality where egos are checked in at the door and all hell is let loose by way of communal celebration. No gaffers; and certainly no 'stars'. I've seen some canny turns in folk clubs, mind, where the key to the thing was an extension of that informality. Jim Eldon, Martin Carthy, Ivor Cutler, Peter Bellamy, John Kelly, seem to breathe the same rarefied air as Derek Bailey and Lol Coxhill.

If I want formality, I'll go to a classical recital. If I want overweening self-importance and ruthless backbiting ambition, I'll watch The Apprentice.