I think the organiser needs to be ruthlessly honest with him or herself. Theres a lot of bloody cold nights in England. Nights when theres something quite good on the telly.

people aren't going to travel miles to somwhere that is uncomfortable and then be asked to pay over the odds for a boring experience.

Quite often, I feel I should like to support someone who I'm quite friendly with on the scene - and thirty years ago - I would have done. No question. As you get older and your stock of days and nights start to dwindle - you ask yourself, is it fair to ask a friend or family member to accompany you to some dirty dump to be bored shitless. Come to that, do I want to devote a night away from the home I have made comfortable?

I should like to see the ethic of the entertainer restored - particularly amongst the professionals. presentational skills improved and the value of them re-emphasised to the young. It never was enough to smile and play. okay if you've got the recording contract behind you - you can hope it will work out. However developing performance skills will hopefully help you if you're hoping to make folk music a career.

I'm not suggesting that young performers go on joke telling courses (though it might not be a bad idea). However folk club audiences tend to be the more intelligent end of the community. The best performers have always found some way of registering that fact and showing their respect for the audience.

Okay some people have been very famous and successful by being glum as buggery and serving up the music with quiet industry (I've suffered for this music and now its your turn) - but they ain't the ones that tempt me out of a winters night.