Dave,
you know its virtually impossible for anyone to come up with evidence.
so much of this back scratching is verbal, but that doesnt mean it doesnt happen

there is of course an old boys network,its probably not intentional,but it happens,the folkscene is no different from any other walk of life,be it Freemasons .RAOB,FreeForesters or whatever.
its called you scratch my back, ill scratch yours,and the folkscene is not exempt.
I always find it quite amusing to see so many performers networking at folk festivals,quite naturally everyone wants to get their noses in the trough,and quite naturally all those little piggies who have their noses in the trough,are not going to turn round and let the others.
lets stop pretending that the folk scene is the home of free music.
it is unfortunately rife with old boys networking,trying to prove it is however a waste of time ,and probably would only result in one group being replaced by another.
the folkscene is rife with little cliques,all jockeying for position,fortunately they often cancel each other out.