"it is more important to have suitable places to sing the music , "
That's the truest thing anybody acn say about folk song and the snide comment about your being professional certainly sorts the white hats from the black hats in this difference of opinion
I have my reservations about how important paid singers have to the future of folk song - it depends how much they take out and how much they put back (and whether the latter should be, to some degree mandatory - but evry singer of folk song needs a decent listening venue or else they are being degraded and exploited (if they are paid)
Out binman works to an agreed standard and I'd never have been able to d my job with a crowd of noisy drunks getting in may way
Why sould singers have tio settle for second best or rely on only what the media and music industry think they can profit from
That's where a no-club (or even an "unimportant club" scene would invariably end up
Keep up the pressure
Jim