Freightdawg, I'm not sure if the medium EVER overpowers the music intentionally.   I would like to think that in terms of folk music, the message is the "draw".   However, the definition of "what is folk music" comes into play. Would dance music be considered "folk"? A good contra dance band, morris dancers, etc. where there are often no words at all. How about Scottish "mouth" music or Irish lilting?   There are no "lyrics" in the sense that we define "lyrics".

I don't mean to go off on a tangent, but that is what happens when we try to put music into tight definitions.

As to whether the instrumentation drowns out the lyrics I would say that is often the effectiveness of the performer.   Often I find the message is clouded, but that is usually poor production and/or poor execution by the performer.