My Jeep Cherokee sits outside looking for all the world like a Stutz Bearcat. Well, it has four tires, a steering wheel and an engine that runs on gas. Or is it a buckboard that it looks like? They are all on the evolutionary string that began with the invention of the wheel. Or is it the evolution of the platform and wheels are just a part of that lineage? Everything is connected to everything. We just cut up our world and label the pieces. Bluegrass is such a piece. Old Time is such a piece. Most times the pieces can be easily defined. Just look for the shape that was first cut out and labeled. That's your answer. It doesn't have to fit your likes or persuasion. A lot of people who play a certain type of music from a certain time period began calling that music old time. The name stuck and now it's fair to say that's what the label "old time" refers to. It doesn't matter that other types of music were played in olden times. It doesn't matter who the music's mommy and daddy were. It doesn't matter if old time bands or musicians also play other types of music from the same or different time periods. Same is true for other lables. Cabbage, Bluegrass, Jeep etc. We don't have to make our labels more inclusive. The nature of labels is to be exclusive. Always. We already know everything is connected. So......bluegrass is not appalachian folk!
:-), Chip