A brilliant thread title, because it goes to the heart of what folk music is and why it should always be important.
I enjoyed the article and it made me smile. What I am more interested in though, is the environment in which folk lore, story telling and singing can flourish nowadays. I have long feared that the industrial revolution effectively severed many people from their folk culture. I also fear that the ensuing vacuum was so filled with the arrival of mass media, that it may never be able to effectively re-establish itself. I fervently hope I am wrong.
Art Thieme and I would define "folk music" or "folk culture" differently, perhaps. However, a few weeks ago, I read a brilliant post from him, which conveyed to me the thrill he feels of being able to enter a bygone age - simply by hearing or singing a song from it. Now I would include newer songs as part of this culture. In fact, I would say they are essential to keep the culture alive. However, where I think we both have something in common, is that we are talking about a simple, unadorned medium - simply passing on songs to each other face to face, to get a glimpse of other parts of our world. This is seen as unhip, archaic and very often as ridiculous in our hi tech age. That is obviously not what Mudcatters think, but I think we need to get the message out that we are losing a hugely important part of our humanity if we do not keep it alive.