The folk and acoustic music clubs I go to are still mostly “Elderly people”, although the tendency to play untuned instruments largely faded away with the introduction, and ready availability, of digital tuners - having tin ears is no longer an acceptable excuse for an out-of-tune instrument.

And the youngsters are mostly to be found at the amplified Open-Mics, reading their pop-songs’ lyrics from their Smart-phones, and playing far better than many of us old-timers have ever been capable of.

Not saying this is indicative of the general situation, but it’s certainly my experience in my corner of the Backwoods.

And - confession time now - I’ve been known to occasionally bang out Smokey’s ‘Tracks of My Tears’, Ricky Ross’s ‘Dignity’, and several other songs of their ilk. I feel no shame. ;-) :-)