Round here you can, if prepared to travel 40 miles, be out every day of the week at a folkclub. Mostly they survive on singers nights with a fortnightly or monthly guest, but principally they survive on participation. But which is a club and which a session?

Agree with the point about sessions- I think more people now go out to perform and fewer solely to listen- and once a session reaches a critical point, about 15-20, they don't get their go often enough and decide to start their own session, likewise if they feel the emphasis has become a genre which they don't want to play all evening. Sometimes it's ego, let's be honest! OK, so hardly any of us are ploughboys, but we sing and play for the same reasons: to bring a bit of joy into our lives.

We've discussed all the ins and outs of the professional scene on a couple of other threads. I agree with the postings above. Folk music is a world apart from commercial use of folk music. Once you think 'club' you have committees and accounts, these days you have to tread carefully through licensing laws and avaricious 'bar managers'- small wonder that professionals are finding that fewer venues exist which can sustain them.The future of folk clubs would be greatly enhanced by making the process less draconian- but of course this would mean the big interests who want to shut down the minnows would have less control. Or am I too cynical?

All the best from the fishpond