I'm sorry, I'll post that again..

Most coffeehouse performances that I've seen and been involved in are not "recitals." They're pretty informal, with a lot of interaction with the audience.

Sounds idyllic, Don - although I must admit I get jumpy if I drink too much coffee. Seriously, the Ecology of Folk is important to me; it's as much about the Context as it is about the Content, though both have got to be right for it to work. I've polemiscised elsewhere about Feral Folk Music (my Mudcat posts on this matter I've collected onto a Myspace Blog HERE) in which the nature of the music is determined by its immediate context / ecology, but when it comes your Actual Traditional Folk Song, then we must deploy a very careful nurturing to ensure we get the right balance, be it in formal or less formal contexts. I do Formal Stuff too of course, and an appreciative sober audience is something to treasure.