I don't think it's a case of them not being able to sing - I could quote loads who can - I think that a lot prefer to play. If that means in a band, then most FCs can't afford them, or at least the fees they WANT to be paid, so they get agents who get them the village touring/arts centre/concert hall gigs, all of which pay better than FCs. For that matter, that applies to a lot of the young singers as well as many of them tend to work with or as bands.

The (other) reason why many clubs hesitate to book purely instrumental acts is that, as someone has already said, many FCs are song based, and certainly those who attend the club I run, which is perhaps not really just a 'folk' club, would not sit through a whole evening of instrumental music - they do require 'entertaining' and prefer to be able to join in with choruses. Although they're happy to sit and listen to the occasional instrumental, they seem happiest if they can engage with words, either listening or joining in.

Barbara