Big Al Whittle...obviously it's difficult to respond on forums like this, for a number of reasons, such as not being able to hear the "tone" of what is written, not knowing the person personally and not having a clear, universal definition of "folk music".

However, I might have a bit of good news for you (or bad, if you're the bitter and jealous kind), but I can assure you that of almost every "big" folk performer I know, every single one of them has really grafted for their "right" to be as successful and popular as they are. This means years of unpaid gigs, years of learning their instrument/style/songs/history, learning aurally from others (usually in clubs like all of us here seem to do) travelling up and down the country for little or no money, playing to people who don't appreciate their genre, playing to people who heckle/shout abuse/threaten/laugh/belittle, putting in hours and hours of admin, self-promotion, handling their own accounts/expenses/wages/etc.

I thought it may be nice for you to actually know what you're talking about in future, instead of making and preaching wild and inaccurate assumptions about people you've probably never even had a conversation with, let alone have the right to spread absolute shit about on the internet...

You talk about people who you meet in sessions who are talented but don't make it...well, maybe it's them who haven't tried hard enough. I know plenty of talented musicians- genius musicians in fact- who, unfortunately, lack the hard work, self motivation, drive, and multitude of skills it takes to be a self employed musician- basic maths and english skills, a knowledge of businesses, a knowledge of the law, who can drive, who are confident, who are socially able, blabla, etc. etc... it's about more than just being a good musician or having a good voice- otherwise we'd all be at it!