I think Valmai made an excellent point above regarding having a few traditional dance tunes to start off with. This is something we do at The Beech Singaround and I have to say I never really thought much about the impact it has on other people (speaking as someone who joins in the playing). I guess it must help to set the tone for the evening and its interesting that other clubs do the same thing.

Of course, as has been said before, a singaround is not the same as a Folk Club, but I reckon it could achieve the same effect in that setting.

cheers
Ged