I suppose you'd have to ask someone who relies on them to earn a crust. I would think most artists in the folk world have to diversify - teaching skills, touring abroad , playing at ceildhs. working as an extra/background artiste in television used to be the province of many folkies in my day.

Guitars have got cheaper, but squeezeboxes have got more expensive (it seems to me). And harmonicas. I bought some as a present recently and they seemed incredibly expensive to me.

I'm only really in contact with one guy doing the folkscene regularly as principal source of revenue. he seems to work regularly enough.

I notice that alot of artists nowadays seem to do concerts in village halls, which I can't remember in the 1960's. Programmes like Artsreach.

as you say - things do change. Perhaps folk music has gone a bit up market from the old folkclub. I suppose the price of petrol made that inevitable. When Peggy and Ewan used to play the clubs for £60, and Tony Capstick cost £35, you could fill a car up with petrol for thirty bob.