Folk clubs come in all shapes and sizes.

Ah! To live Sheffield, where every pub hosts a different sort of Folk Club & every night you've got at least a dozen to choose from - from Ballads to Wyrd and all points in between.

Round here they come in one size-fits-all, and woe-betide the hapless traddy I(or newcomer) that dare venture therein. Still, we found our wee residential nook and there's no finer place in the country in my experience. Not sure about stars or hopefuls though - everyone I know just does it for the love of the music & regards making a career out of it as anathema to the nature of the beast, involving all manner of compromise and botheration which only serve to detract from the real essence of the thing. And whilst it's nice to pop one's head above the parapet occasionally, to dazzle & baffle a wider circle of audience & critics, it's good to get home & snuggle back down by the hearth for another good old blow. Nothing depresses me more than seeing guests in Folk Clubs doing the same stuff they've been doing for decades. What's the point? I even got bored of seeing Bellamy after a while. After all, how many times do you have to hear On Board a '98 and still believe in what you're hearing? Still, towards the end I say he wasn't getting out much. But when the music becomes an act, all polished & professional with routinely intros, I'd just as soon not bother to be honest. That's one of the reasons I love open sessions, where nothing ever turns out the same way two weeks running. That, to me, is what Folk is all about.