I feel quite strongly on this as a lot of my political knowledge has come from hearing songs and then being moved enough by them to research the events that caused the song to be written. Raise your Banners is an event I've never attended due to work but my wife goes whenever possible and comes back enriched and energised from it. Your friend should ask why they listen to folk music if they are not paying attention to the story being narrated in the songs, perhaps she doesn't like ballads either. An example of the emotions that political songs produce can be seen in the thread on the 1913 massacre. I hope you enjoy Raise Your banners, I wish I was going too.