Vic Smith wrote: A young couple walked into a folk club in Brighton recently. No-one on the door...they had no idea of the etiquette and no-one had greeted them and explained what was going on...

As the organiser of the club in question I hold my hands up and admit that it was a toe-curling moment but at the time felt that the whispered conversation between the young couple might well have been on the subject of the dismal performance of the singer in question - and shared by the rest of the audience.

As he is well known in the area to be one of those performers whose self belief is in inverse proportion to his talents, I felt that a subsequent reprimand would have been water off a duck's back.

Having decided against charging an entrance fee, we do get a good number of curious drop-ins (walk-ups?) who put their heads round the door. Ours is a buzzing music city, bursting with music venues and, unlike the couple in question, many's the stray punter who has stayed to listen to the perhaps unfamiliar sound of traditional music.