Dave Polshaw

Hey - It worked, Dave! Don't knock my sales technique;-)

Too many Captains, too many Daves. No wonder this submarine is in trouble.

I am a bit surprised that you chose to translate 'anything could, and often did, happen' as 'what is going on here is a load of crap'. Everyone else I explained it to seemed to have no dificulty in understanding it to mean there may be some rough with the smooth. I think most people were glad that they took the chance but, what the hack, we are not all the and if it would have put you off then it is no skin off my nose:-)

Just a little hyper bowl. You did seem to imply you were warning people off. Never apologise for folk music.

People have paid to see a particular artist and I do not believe that we should impose our particular tastes on 'paying guests'.

Whyever not? The booked artist is to our particular taste. We're running a folk club, not a profit making business. We're putting on what we want to hear and hoping that others will want to hear it too. Experience suggests they do.

In making a decision as to who is on, is it not only fair that those who have done their homework and practised are rewarded while those who do not know the words and have not tuned their instruments go to the end of the que?

Naming no names, I've heard professionals fluff their lines and , naming names, Martin Carthy and Tom Paley have raised tuning to an art form. Should they be banned?

I have looked briefly through the thread again and could not spot anyone advocating that poor performers should not be allowed on a singers night or at an informal session. Can you give me an example?

Oh dear. It's a long, long thread and a fairly depressing experience looking through it for examples. I'll just say that Jim Carroll seems to be saying that nobody should perform in front of any sort of audience, paying or not, till they've achieved some required standard, Folkiedave says that he doesn't go to singarounds because even one bad singer is enough to spoil the whole thing and Diane Easby (as far as I can make out) thinks that performances should be either professional standard or free in the public bar with nothing in between.

And surely, if newcomers to the 'scene' are kept informed, in the manner I suggested, the conflict between the people who want only the best and those that are more forgiving would not happen would it?

Not sure what this means. We advertise our programme. The paying public makes its choices.

There is plenty of room for everyone and every style. It just seems a pity that the poor performers do seem to add to the caricature image of folk singing that the popular press seem to love! Maybe if everyone was honest enough to admit that there is some dross out there we could formulate a better way out?

You seem to think that the folk clubs are awash with poor performers, drowning in dross. This is not my experience.

Sorry - forgot to add the the very first people we drop in the event of too many singers are us - the residents!

As DAVE said, same here.

Thinks, might change my nickname to Captain Dave.