Will,
Sorry - I always do this - get involved in an interesting discussion which I can't finish (off across the Shannon for a couple of days break shortly).
Yes, my experience was mainly in London, where there was a great mix of all sorts. I know there were session type clubs elsewhere, but I can't speak with any experience how many, which is why I asked the question.
I have to say I am a bit ambivilent about these as, while I enjoy them greatly (when the singing is good), I feel that the future of the clubs lie entirely in lifting singing standards - you will not maintain and build your audience levels with poor singing, no matter how good the material at hand. It takes at least three well-sung songs to lift the evening after a poorly sung one.
While I want to see new singers flood the scene, I am totally against the clubs being used as rehersal platforms, which, sometimes they are.
I felt that the clubs I was involved in encouraged new singers by running workshops where they could develop rather than put them in front of audiences before they were able.
I don't think you judge the success of the music by a specific club, some clubs can be doing well while the whole scene can be bombing: the litmus test has to be how well all the clubs are doing and how many of them there are.
If they are getting less and less (as I get the impression they are) and the standard is dropping rather than improving, you are in freefall and need to get a grip, and the first step is to assess where you are honestly, not through rose-coloured glasses (you can get them in Specsaver).
Sorry, a bit garbled.
I'm off,
Jim Carroll