Joe, Joe Joe...

You realise of course that asking what a folk club is might just start a debate? Amazing what might come out of the woodwork.

Years ago, there were many folk clubs that were in upstairs rooms of pubs, running a similar format; singers nights, guest nights with local singers supporting. (I use "singers" in the generic sense, just more of them than those who purely bang tunes out.)

I suspect nostalgia being what it is, many of us hanker back to those days and use today's folk clubs to recapture youth, not to mention having a good night out, seeing old mates and banging out songs.

Sadly, you might see evidence of this when professional musicians of a younger generation are dismissed by some as being too commercial, or that The BBC Folk Awards go to excellent professional musicians who interpret folk rather than sit in a pub singing it in the same way as Fred used to sing it back in the '60s.

So sad. But luckily, just a vocal minority.