Well, it's my occupation, but earning a living? - you're 'avin' a larf! I'm known to the tax man as a musician. They don't ask for specifics. They never challenge my figures either; I think they accept that most musicians in this society are wretchedly poor - unless they discover - as hinted at by Tom - that you are moonlighting as a musician, while telling them you're something else. I've always had the impression that teachers were the biggest group of moonlighters in folk music. As Tom suggests, the number of people doing nothing else is minuscule; but considering the size of the UK population, even after leaving out all the groups who wouldn't be interested, I still think there should be at least a few hundred thousand people who would pay to listen to folk music on a regular basis. I think that a lot of the problems are within the workings of the folk scene. Not that that answers KV's question.
John Kelly.