I don't see why being of a higher social standing would prevent someone striking up a rapport with the 'common man'

It would be a useful skill in many middle and upper classes jobs. Being able to get on with and be liked by the servants would for most be better that the opposite. Many of those younger sons of the minor gentry who became parsons would have been able to empathize with parishioners undergoing the trials and tribulations of live.

I guess they could have feigned interest in the common folks customs, but Sharp clearly had an aesthetic appreciation of the songs and the way they were sung.