There seems to be an assumption that Folk Clubs close down purely because they no longer fulfil a need - they don't satisfy or inspire, they fail to attract or retain audience or supporters. Things are never that simple. A change of landlord anyone? One of the best attended, best publicised of clubs in our area closed last year so the new owners could squeeze a few more restaurant tables into their village pub. This was a club which attracted a lot of people from the immediate vicinity and who had not previously been habitues of the folk scene.

You can blame the economics, perhaps - young people tend to spend more and if they are not attracted to the club (or session) then the bar takings from an ostensibly successful gathering (in terms of numbers) can look pretty disappointing to someone wanting to maximise their investment.

And it is true of most clubs I go to that the overwhelming majority of regular attenders are older - so it's 1 drink each half of the evening. The generational thing is unfortunate, not deliberate - I often take my son and some of his friends along and they are amazed at the amount of music they hear, and its quality. They'll buy the CDs, and even go to concerts, but are very unlikely to come along again unless it's with me. Yet they get just as much out of a Singers' Night as they do from a Guest one, so the oft repeated contention that younger people respond more to a few negative moments than to a lot of positive ones may well do them a disservice. It's almost as if they feel they have to be invited, because it is someone else's club ... however enjoyable they find the music.

As for quality thresholds for guest nights, I am sure most hosts are well aware of the qualities of their regulars and the appropriateness of inviting them to perform. Floor spots (around here at least) are usually one song or tune, maybe 2 for duos/groups, and there are limited opportunities on a guest night anyway. Most professional artists stay and listen to the floor spots; in my experience this encourages better performance (and better preparation beforehand). This is still a sharing thing, too, because on the one had it offers encouragement, advice, and endorsement, and on the other it can provide new songs/tunes or interesting approaches to old ones.

Biggest problem, as far as I see it, is that the only way to get a younger audience into the folk clubs is to introduce an upper age limit ... we'll all have to go somewhere else .

Henry