The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #101256 Message #2060489
Posted By: Folkiedave
25-May-07 - 04:54 AM
Thread Name: Collapse of the Folk Clubs
Subject: RE: Collapse of the Folk Clubs
John Foreman, is he still around? I used to like him - haven't seen him for a long long time.
He was last time I heard and unless my memory fails me - which happens more and more these days - he appeared at one of the Lewes Clubs last year.
http://www.tommcconville.co.uk/
There is a real danger in describing the collapse of folk clubs with the collapse of folk music.
When there were loads of clubs there were few festivals. Talking to a group of aging folkies gathered together last night we could only think of the National, Sidmouth, Whitby, Cleethorpes, and Fylde in the early 70's.
Now there are something like 350 (AFO figures) catering for a wide diversity of paying customers and style of festivals.
I was at a festival last weekend and there were loads of young people some local, some who had travelled, and a look at the guest list will show there were a lot of very good young performers both singers and instrumentalists.
Sheffield does not really support a traditional style folk club in the city centre - though there are a couple of excellent ones just outside the city. In he late sixties and early seventies it had about five. They stopped because the pubs changed and the organisers got exhausted.
But we have a folk festival in October with loads of sessions and concerts and dancing, we have sessions most nights of the week all over the city, and on some nights more than one.
Good places for people to try their voices out in public without too many problems.