Irvine folk club, 50 continuous years last year , I believe, has all sorts of acts from young ( sunjay 23 yrs old... next week) and old, I mean well established ( Bob Fox... 2 weeks ago) It is not full of weirdo loners either. Houston folk club is a performers club, again not full of loner weirdos. Not all folk clubs are the same and many are thriving. The BBC folk awards is a showcase for current folk music and some recognition of the folk heritage, hence Norma Waterston last year, Ry Cooder and Al Stewart this year.

If there is no commercialisation to a degree then the artists ( whose skill level is phenominal nowadays) do not sell CD's or dowloads, do not get any air play, or show some booking agent at the opposite end of the country what is happening in the distance between Orkney and Lands end, do not stimulate us all to look at folk music in a different way or think, I am determined to improve even just a little.