It's not only folk music where the acoustic/electric issue arises. When did you last sit in a church and listen to a sermon that wasn't amplified, even in buildings where people have managed to make themselves heard for several centuries. I can't explain this loss of confidence. But I do resent heavy amplification in small venues. A solution to the need for more noise (say, at dances) is more players. Alternatively, what is the matter with more people wanting to listen. A single violin still fills a concert hall if the audience is willing to give it a chance.