OK - No probs, Bryan. You run a sucessful folk club. So do I (and a festival btw - No bragging, just to complete the picture). You would let anyone up to sing at your folk club. So would I. You would let a poor performer sing to an audience expecting better. I wouldn't. You see no difference between collecting important source work and recording a pub singer murdering 'my way'. I do.

I make it that we are in full accord on 50% of the points. I also feel that the points we agree on are the more important ones - Ie we run clubs that promote live music and we encourage people to get involved. The third point is one that I will stick to my guns on - There are some people, albeit a very tiny number, that I would not inflict on an audience who have come to my club to see a concert artist. The last point I am happy to be convinced on but at the moment can't see how:-)

Rather than keep agreeing on points 1 and 2 and disagreeing on point 3 I am going to take point 4 out of this thread and start another called 'Source singers - definitions?'. This thread is, after all about the (non) collapse of folk clubs rather than how we define what we should collect.

Cheers and keep up the good work in the deep sarrf:-)

Dave.