The fallacy that wrecks all discussions like this is the assumption that some people make roughly along these lines: if someone runs a club for traditional song singing, it means they disapprove of non-traditional songs.
Which is transparent nonsense, but it is endlessly repeated, as an attitude to be attacked, often in the most vicious way. Ewan McColl(see remark in previous post), for example, was perfectly relaxed about listening to, and performing, music from outside his own cultural experience.He recorded "John Henry", for example. What he actually did that gave rise to this myth was to be involved in the running of one club which tried out the exclusive policy of singing songs from peoples' own indigenous experience(however you decide the meaning of that is another question!).He never said that other clubs should be like that.
I've got shelves of CDs of trad songs. I've got shelves of Cds of singer/song writers.
I go to pubs that serve beer. I go to Moslem cafes that don't.Each type of establishment has its own style, and why not? Live and let live. surely?