Hey Santa! I can think of quite a few specific terms for inhabitants of the USA, most of which are much more offensive than 'Yanks'. (NO, PUT IT DOWN, I'M ONLY KIDDING!) :-)

I still don't understand how a genre of music propagated and generated in the main by the Nashville Machine can be lumped together with Folk. There's a lot of great 'traditional' music in the USA which does fall into the Folk category, but Dolly and Emmylou don't seem, to me at any rate, to be exponents of it (wonderful though they are). Nor do they seem to be of the same ilk as the 'contemporary' North-American (there, that OK?) folk artistes such as the aforementioned Stan and Gordie, Paxton, Bobby The Zee, and many, many more.

As an English lover of Folk AND Country (and any other Quality Music for that matter) I don't need to have the difference explained to me - it's gob-smackingly obvious when you listen to them. I just wonder why Americans don't seem able to hear it?

Just my point of view, I know lots of people will tell me I'm talking out of the back of my neck!

Merry Christmas to all our readers. :-)

Johnny