"It is interesting that there seems to be an assumption that the question refers to folk clubs and folk festivals."

Hi Unantony

I think there's a reason for that. I personally took 'Earning a living _in_ Folk' to mean in the folk environment, i.e. specifically in folk clubs and folk festivals. If I was taking 'folk' music to other places (village halls and theatres in my case, usually) I'd probably call it making a living _from_ Folk. So I was assuming the discussion was about folk places and how to make a living in them, rather than material perhaps presented in non-folk venues. In the paces you and M Ted mention you can of course do any kind of music and succeed, so the challenges and rewards are different.

That said, now I look again, Kampervan's OP was about making a living as a 'folk performer' which would cover anything and anywhere that performer decided could be called 'folk!'

Tom