Hi Tom - I understand the dilemma you're talking about. I don't think it's ever been easy to be a solo act, in the folk circuit or any other. However, a lot of performers in fields other than folk (social clubs, trades & labour clubs, etc.) often get work through an agency, which can be a slog sometimes but does get you work. Many performers in the folk field act as their own agent - i.e. they don't have one - and find it difficult to break in. Futhermore, it's rarer to get bookings at functions (weddings, 60th birthdays) as a folk performer than, say, being in a jazz band or a covers band.

It's perhaps better to try a mixed economy as a performer - by which I mean being in a duo or trio part of the time, creating a profile on YouTube and MySpace, and perhaps selling CDs and DVDs that way. Spiers and Boden still go out as Spiers and Boden, and Benjy Fitzpatrick has a solo side to his career - and they all perform in Bellowhead and other bands.

The world - including folk clubs - changes and we have to adapt. My sympathies are with you!