I've never said I haven't been near a folk club in years. I used to go to two or three a week - now it's two or three a year. That's not the issue - what matters is how we appear to 'outsiders'. I have on occasion taken non-folk friends to clubs and sessions over the past couple of years, and they have remarked on the oddness and the sheer bloody amateurishness of much of what they saw. To quote one back in February, "F**k me, if anyone was that bad at my local music venue they'd be laughed off the stage. It was a comedy act, wasn't it?". It's got to the point where I either don't try to introduce people to the stuff at a local level or I spend ages making excuses for it. However, I'm getting to an age where I can't be bothered to make excuses any more. And I'm not rubbishing anyone's taste in music (de gustibus... and all that), merely the presentation.
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