"Is it a place to hear traditional folk singers"
I think the clubs were a compromise for urban audiences - for me they worked and were infinitely preferable to concerts
Many singers took to the clubs with no effort - Sam Larner loved his visit to London
He had sung before larger audiences in the Fishermen's Concerts when he was at sea and sang weekly at the local pub, 'The Fishermen's Return, but he made the point that "the serious singing was done at home or on board the trawlers"
Granger's Linconshire singers described singing concerts and competitions
Walter Pardon had never sung publicly before he was 'discovered' but he enjoyed the clubs
He described how he developed the technique of "looking down my nose" so the massed faces didn't put him off

"PFR.....its like Shakespeare said - When sorrows come, they come not single spies"
I thinks he might have said "come in mutton pies" in Titus Andronicus - but he did have a twisted sense of humour at times :->
Jim