Alan, you've touched on a valid point, and I ask myself when I read your note, where has all the fun and bon-hommie gone from many folk clubs ?.
Over blown Egos and 3-chord learners with heads as big as ten shilling piss pots , it really is tiresome , and you just have to live for those occasions when people would rather see the guest perform, than someone who has been religiously learning some 24 verse dirge, sing it badly with stops and starts, and eat into the guests time.
Blame Thatcher - is the ME,ME,ME attitude.
Oh woe is me.