TwickFolk

Re The Claque. No, I haven't heard of them....judging from the mollusc's reaction this is obviously to my eternal shame

Well, I wouldn't put it quite that strongly, I just found it a little surprising that a folk club organiser in the south of England had never heard of them. (Sorry about the "north of the Thames" crack; it was irresistable.)

I was more concerned with what point you were trying to make when you said "Who?". Of course Lau are excellent and nobody could possibly begrudge them their award but the implication of your last posting was that they won not through their talent but because they had a pushy agent and a powerful publicity machine. Apparently you can only get your profile raised by an award if you've already got a high profile. I doubt if The Claque are losing much sleep about not winning anything.

We do seem to move in different worlds. Yours is a (relatively) big venue holding concert style performances. Those of us with more modest ambitions need to look further afield than awards ceremonies and the internet. MySpace and YouTube can never give a real feel for what a performer is like in front of a live audience and by getting out and about, we find some real gems.

Nobody, at least not in folk, can leap to instant stardom. They need to serve their apprenticeship somewhere and that is the function of grass-roots clubs like ours. I notice you've got the Askew Sisters booked for the 29th March. Excellent choice. We gave them their first folk club booking a few years ago.