The BBC have an annual best folk club award. The clubs are voted for by a selection of performers (I believe, so please take this as hearsay). The winners are therefore concert type clubs and while I have no axe to grind here, concert clubs are not my personal idea of a folk club.

My idea of a folk club is where like minded people, both performers and audience, go to share a common interest. In my idea of a folk club, audience can become performers by encouragement and effort. I would slightly change Clive's quote by saying a folk club is as good as all it's singers nights (and some of it's concert nights too). The Bothy club in Southport is a fine example of such a club.

In a purely concert club no overt encouragement is offered to help audience become performers except by showing just how good some performers are and thus encourage by example.

Didn't mean this to sound so damn clinical...sorry.

Spot