Spleen: I can listen to plenty of traditional music done well at non-folk venues.

Can you? Where?

Spleen 2:With the exception of the Beech singaround, I always seem to end up at nights where there is hardly any trad folk.

M3 T00, which is why I don't generally bother going anywhere but the Beech these days. (I'm considering giving Chorlton another go this Thursday.) But if there's plenty of traditional music going on at non-folk venues, lead me to 'em.

MikeL2: I can't understand why traditional and contemporary folk music can't exist side by side.

Up to a couple of years ago, I would have said exactly the same thing - I liked having the chance to hear whatever people felt like playing & sing whatever I felt like singing. Then I started going to the Beech & realised that, back at my usual venue (which I think you also know!), trad and contemporary weren't existing side by side - trad was existing in a small corner, with contemporary songs making up 75-95% of the average evening. This was rapidly followed by the realisation that an evening of (mostly) traditional song (mostly) done well was a damn good evening.

The reason I prefer to hear traditional folk songs in folk clubs is that, like Jim, "I prefer to be able to choose what I listen to and when" - and I'm concerned, like Dave, that "contemporary music has other outlets but traditional music is being squeezed out of its only outlet".