Having been involved in folk music for ** years, I have some perspective on this. It is true that the folk clubs don't have the atmosphere which they did in the 60s and 70s, but they still have a role as they do enable singers to perform material that would not get a fair hearing in other settings. That said, although I still do a lot of singing, but relatively little of it is done in folk clubs. My main outlets these days are - singsongs after a Morris do, other random pub sessions and house parties and other random gigs including barn dances. However, you have to chose the right song for the right context - singing 'Lord Bateman' at a post-Morris do would probably clear the pub, whilst singing The W*** R**** in a folk club will not get the ready reception that it used to.

Bottom line - there is a lot of folk song and music around, but the focus has shifted away from the folk clubs.

Tradsinger