The Folk River - Memories From the Early Scottish Folk Club Scene

The folk club scene did not really take off until the 1960s. In fact, in 1960 there were only four folk clubs in Scotland, the oldest of them only two years old. Ten years later there was one in practically every town of any size, several in the cities. This was the same story throughout the United Kingdom.

The folk scene grew in parallel with technology. National television coverage, recording techniques and affordable transport brought the music into many homes and allowed both performers and audiences to travel more around the clubs and festivals to hear the folk music of the day.

In 2019 two of my friends that I had known since I was a young lad at school passed away. They were both beneficiaries of Norman Buchan's hugely influential Ballads Club at Rutherglen Academy, as was I. We had been introduced to folk music in our teens and it stayed with us all of our lives.