I'm a PhD student and mediocre guitarist from the States, and my doctoral dissertation is on contemporary folk activity in the US and UK. I'm currently in England doing research, and have taken notice of two interesting developments: firstly, the effects of the 2003 Licensing Act on folk and small-scale music in general; and secondly, the increase in closures of pubs, where much club and session activity obviously takes place.

While I've been talking to a number of people involved with these two issues, including a couple of folkies, I've yet to get a great deal of 'folk-centric' perspective. Thus I'm putting up this post in the hopes of hearing from any folk devotees who have dealt with any effects or difficulties caused by the Licensing Act and/or the struggles of some pubs to stay open and remain profitable.

If a club/session that you organize or attend has in any way been affected by licensing (whether since the 2003 Act or before), or if you've had any issues holding your local club/session in a pub, I'd really like to hear about your particular experience, as it would aid me greatly in assessing exactly how these two developments are affecting folk activity. It need not be an extended and lengthy story--I'm interested in absolutely any situations relating to these two topics.

You can contact me via private message or e-mail me at jclapp@sas.upenn.edu. I'm currently staying in Brighton, so if you're in the SE or London area, I could come and talk with you in person; otherwise we could chat by phone.

Thanks,

Justin Clapp
University of Pennsylvania