To the above list of new London folk "clubs" I'd like to add Woodburner, The Lantern Society, The Folkroom Fortnightly, Tooting Folk. Noticeably none of them call themselves "clubs", which can give outsiders an impression that non-members are not welcome.

There are certainly plenty of talented young folk musicians around today, and looking for places to play. Just look at Folkstock .

Some established folk clubs work very hard to discover and encourage new, young, up-and-coming talent, whereas others simply book known acts that they know will bring in their regular audience. However the support & main act format naturally lends itself to fulfilling both of these needs. I have new discovered many great new artists originally as support acts.

Folk clubs (and folk music) is bound to evolve and change with the generations, particularly now, having skipped the last one or two generations. So there is definitely going to be a bit of a step change.

I think most folk clubs - and festivals too - could do A LOT MORE to really encourage and support new artists. But in many cases they need to discover these new talented artists first. They're all out there with their own websites, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, SoundCloud etc. and presented to you on a plate by songsfromtheshed.com, Ont' Sofa Gibson Sessions, Sofar Sounds, Folkstock etc. etc.