Bert

Thanks for expressing your views in more detail. I had noticed that you do slip the odd song in here and there, and very welcome they are. However I didn't want to turn this into one of those "what is Folk" threads so remember that you were the first one to use the 'F' word (*Smiles*).

If I understand correctly, what you say is that you do not like hearing original songs, sung by singer-songwriters, being called folk and you object to going to your folk song club and hearing forgettable songs that are not folk.

I would suggest if you went to the folk song club and took the same charitable approach that you take to the songwriters club, that you may find that not all of the songs being sung by the singer-songwriters at the folk song club were in fact so forgettable. They may not be what you would consider to be folk, but is what you label things really that much of a problem?

Is it OK then if you go along to your folk song club and hear forgettable folk songs? The problem with that of course is that once you know a folk song it is not really possible to forget it, though it might be performed there so badly that you may not recognise it. Would that be better?

Is there not a danger that we may be confusing what is forgettable with what is familiar and comfortable and is not true that you cannot forget what you have never remembered?

Which brings me back to the point I made earlier, that we just have to work a little harder when it comes to listening to original (or unfamiliar) material.

Of course I am not making a claim for this to become a singer-songwriter forum nor am I saying that it is any more worthy than any other of the music forms discussed here. Just asking that the honest toil and creativity of a lot of people not be so easily dismissed by generalisations and prejudice.