Thank you all for your considered and creative replies.

Its interesting that both Dick and Brian stress the importance of communicating with an audience.

In many of the folk clubs of Brum I visited and took my uncommitted pals to back in the 1970's - the style was actually confrontational. It was almost like a competition to come up with the most grotesque singing style. It was like 'repel all boarders'. Frequently my friends left the folk club totally bewildered.

To be fair this was a trend that was going through avant gard jazz and and acid rock at the time also.
I agree that to be Pavarotti or George Jones or Robert Johnson - you need to start early and stick to your last. However as financial necessity kicked me out of my comfort zone - as I went from folksinger, to country singer, pub singer, Irish theme bar singer, old peoples home singer - each time I gained something. Icouldn't do these jobs initially - but there were important skills to be learned.

In contrast I was really sad when Noel Murphy told me he didn't clean up in the great Irish theme bar explosion because the audiences ( abit of a stretch calling them that!) weren't quiet like in a folk club. And Doug Porter told me that Derek Brimstone had cancelled a a gig because he had to go on after a disco.

Like I say thanks for your insights

One last thing that resonates with me. Les Worral asked me to do a few spots for his festival of Scarecrows at Faldingworth in Lincolnshire. Must be about 15 years back. Anyway tin the time honoured fashion, the rain pelted down all day - sometometimes torrential, sometimes heavy sometimes semi trpical in its intensity. Key Largo had nothing on it.

So the cream teas were held indoors -steam coming off busloads of pensioners,
'Aren't they wonderful?' Les asked me as some kids (everyone under 40 looks like kids!) banged a hob nail boot, to a totally unfamiliar acoordion accompanied song, and two hundred and fifty pensioners endured a lugubrious Watersons style lump of unintelligibility.


I'm not telling this story to say - ain't I great God knows we're all old enough to have war stories of dying on our arse. But my feeling is that 'the tradition' - if there is one, it is more spiritual than anything.