Modern audiences have been trained to think of the pop and rock sound as folk. Retraining them is an uphill battle. My college roommates insisted that Ani, the Indigo Girls, and Dar Williams were all folk. Fine performers, I'm sure, but not what I think of as folk. But then what I think of as folk may not be what you think of as folk. (I'm a bit unclear on the meaning of "folk club"--around here that means you pay a small annual fee and then come to monthly meetings, open lessons, and jam sessions. No performers. Is yours an actual, physical, building that serves as a place of performance for folk music?)

I'm with Willie-O on this one--do you want submissions or not? Musicians who are trying to get a toe in the door are told to keep trying, keep trying, keep trying because you don't get any attention unless you're a little pushy. They're probably doing exactly the same thing to every other venue in the county. Don't take it so personally. Just write them a No Thanks form letter and move on.

As far as influences--I've listened to stuff that listed Musician X as a main influence, but when I hear the recording I think, "What the Hell? Where did they get the idea that there was any of Musician X in there?" but maybe they got something different from Musician X than I did. I don't know. I can't read minds.