Even though I may have started (or at least contributed to) this controversy by "chiding" Bill, I've gotta tell you that I really do lean towards his point of view ~ or at least, I feel no need to denigrate his viewpoint. Certainly, there have to be general definitions of categories if we are to be able to communicate with each other at all.

I just don't expect this forum to be restricted to discussion of only that music that fits anyone's relatively narrow definition of Folk Music. There has to be room for all of us and all of our interests; no one has to read every thread, any more than anyone is obligated to agree with everyone else about anything.

If you're not interested in a subject, it's easy enough to just skip over it. And if you ARE interested in a given subject or question, start a thread! Don't wait for someone else to do so, and then complain that no one wants to discuss the things in which you're interested.

Just because I have no knowledge of, or interest in, say, Morris Dancing, I wouldn't think of telling anyone that they shouldn't be allowed to discuss their interests here. Same for songwriting: whatever our many songwriters are doing, even those who successfully emulate traditional styles, it's by definition contemporary and NOT traditional ~ but so what?

For that matter, ALL music is immediately contemporary insofar as it exists only in the fleeting moment. You can sing the oldest song you know, it's still YOU, alive today, recreating the song as best as you know how, based upon something you heard and learned during the last few decades, i.e., during your modern-day lifetime.

Indeed, the way we hear, learn, pass along, and "folk-process" songs nowadays (and forevermore into the future) is radially different than it ever could possibly have been over the centuries prior to the invention of recording media. Every individual certainly has the right to his/her own tastes and preferences, but now that we're in the age of instant worldwide communication, "traditional" is just another category, no matter how strictly defined.