Thanks, everyone, for your input and your links. Much as I like to read articles, I was most interested in the discussion. As people expressed differing points of view, I could see there are many shades of grey here, just as there are in the "what is folk music" debate that erupts in each new generation. Thanks for taking the time (and if anyone has more to add, here's the thread back again [for today anyway]).

Balladeer