"Listing your own personal favourites doesn't make any of them good singers - just popular with you"

The fact that they, and others, have succeeded in attracting audiences all over this country and beyond suggests that they are popular with more than just Some Bloke, and just might be OK singers.

Jim, what you don't appear to recognise is that the Singers Club was not typical of most folk clubs, which is partly why it has attracted so much interest, and criticism. Most of the clubs I attended were fortunate to have a fairly high standard of floor singers, but none of us would have considered we were qualified to tell others what to do, let alone run workshops. We were able to learn and improve mainly from watching and talking to the weekly succession of professional performers, who did much to raise standards and introduce new ideas and new material (including discovering forgotten traditional songs). Most were very willing to chat and to give advice when asked.

Some clubs functioned very well without guests, but for me the opportunity to hear such performers was one of the main reasons for going to a club. One of the reasons I now don't go to folk clubs often is because few of them now book guests, or do so only infrequently, and have been taken over by the idea that everyone can sing, when it is all too evident that many cannot and show no inclination to improve. However when I do I usually hear folk songs, according to most people's understanding of the phrase.