in my opinion, and it is only an opinion, the best way to approach traditional music or any musical genre is to listen to it a lot and absorb and practice.
I did not like the policy of resident singers sitting behind performers ,i think it creates a them and us situation, it was not a policy of the singers club but of Nottingham traditional music club. But no one was ever forced to go to a particular club there were plenty of different clubs with different policies, people had plenty of choice. People should be free to learn the history of songs if they want to without being criticised for it, however presenting background to songs in performance requires avoiding being long winded and didactic .