The trouble with the whole folk club movement is that everyone thinks they have a divine right to participate at every level. Performing in any environment should be seen as a privilege not a right. In a perfect world everyone would know what standard of preparedness/talent they are at and whether they should in fact be performing in any given setting.

Sadly probably 95% don't. If people are able to stand up in a singaround and crucify a well-known and well-loved song to such a cringeworthy extent that most people disappear to the bar/loo/go outside for a smoke there is something wrong. That's bad enough....however they then think they are just as entitled as anyone else to stand up and parade the same wares by opening the evening for an Award-winning professional that people have paid £12 or more to see.

It's hard to say no to these people especially when (at an earlier stage in a club's evolution) they could easily get a spot whenever they wanted one. Worse still is when they refuse to support you if you have the temerity to turn them down for a spot (or refuse them free entry). That's happened several times to us. So people who shouldn't even have the opportunity (or audacity) to perform in public are then denying themselves the opportunity to experience people who can do it properly (and who they would inevitably learn an awful lot from) for the simple reason that they consider themselves above putting in a few quid at the door.

So, Tom, if you think artists can get brassed off and disillusioned at times please spare a thought for the event organisers who have to deal with and fend off all these vain time-wasters! We can get just as disillusioned at times!