Folkiedave wrote: "I am not sure that we are being pushed into large concert venues as Brian suggests unless you are including festivals in this - I still see the small informal groups of people. I go to one each Monday evening, and this past week to another."

Well yes, Dave, I certainly was including festivals which - great entertainment and vibrant occasions though they are - are leaning more and more towards the large stage, the bright lights, and the performers on pedestals. Of course there are still many lively sessions, often attended by numbers of young musicians. But what I am talking about is the kind of venue in which you can see an excellent performer at close range in a relatively informal setting. It's often the best way to appreciate a soloist, and it has the additional, desirable effect of keeping the artist's feet on the ground. This is what the folk club setting has provided. Maybe it's just a historical artefact with no significance beyond the period 1960-2010, but that's what I grew up in and what I still believe in.

Melodeonboy wrote: "at the Greyhound Folk Club in Maidstone we have a bunch of young musicians who are not only bloody good at what they do, but who also appreciate being in a singaround setting and have sufficient humility not only to enjoy listening to and joining in with people who are significantly older than them, but who also indicate that they are willing to learn a thing or two from them."

On the nail, melodeonboy. The key word there is "humility". What all of us in this business need. Once you stop learning you are dead.

Dave: "I don't see a glimmer of hope for folk clubs unless young people start running them themselves."

Dead right. It's not for you or I to tell them what to do or how to do it. What *they* choose is what will happen.