"I see the point regarding folk clubs, but they are diminishing and lots of knowledgeable singers are no longer getting to sing at them "
At last - agreement
Our folk music has always been a social activity - the tradition was just that and the clubs became a perfect compromise for many years
What happened at club nights often spilled ou into the other six days, workshops, rehearsals, lectures, classes, local research sorties into the libraries, searches for local singers..
We would spend at least three nighs a week visiting Traveller sites and many weekends were spent in Norfolk
All this added to our knowledge and enjoyment of the music and thre masses aof new material and information into the public domain
Malcolm Talor, gawd luv 'im, organised regular Library lectures on his own initiative and set up a cassette series despite the lead weight of his employers hanging around his neck
Folk music in England is getting to be, as someone once described Comhaltas in Ireland, a pursuit with a great future behind it.
I argue here as I do because I believe that situation to be reversible (just about)
It is not the argument and opposition that depresses me, I welcome that in a masochistic way) - it is the "my club's doing well so everything in the garden's lovely" complacency
Sorry if people regard that a "rant" - that's how I feel
Jim