I agree that folk clubs are a recent cultural phenomenon, but they developed because the tradition had become marginalised and people needed someowhere to go to "find" folk music. That was also a recent phenomenon.

Around the world in all civilisations, traditional culture soon dissolves in the face of mass marketing and consumerism. Well, either it dissolves, or it becomes mass marketed to consumers!

The club phenomenon now exists, and although it may not be the only answer, or even the best answer, it is *an* answer to how we keep the flame burning.

We live in a society where for most people the ideal is to avoid making any effort, ever. Status is achieved and displayed through possessions and brands, rather than through personal achievements and skills. "I want it now, not next week."

Folk music isn't competing on equal terms with rock and pop music. In some ways, it has more in common with model engineering or judo: it is mainly kept going by a tiny minority of people who still want to invest effort in a craft.

Even in this forum, there is a thread asking which is an easy instrument to learn...