Oh, sorry--I forgot part 1.

I don't think modern folk is obsessed with the past at all, but I also think that what qualifies topically as modern folk isn't always what people are looking for stylistically when they seek out "folk". Case in point, Steve Earle is extremely outspoken on social and political issues but stylistically is more rock & country.

I don't know if that's the general trend or not, though, or if my views are skewed because of region and/or personal taste. Texas has a lot of very strong folk/country/varying-degrees-of-rock musicians who don't mince words when it comes social and political commentary. Not all of them are Texans (I think Earle is based in Tennessee, and people like Fred Eaglesmith, etc. are also pretty popular), but we like them anyway. I sort of have to slip them into folk because they are clearly not mainstream country or rock and, in general, don't appeal to the same audience.

If you mean folk in the more common stylistic sense, then I'm really not sure because the people that I tend to think of as better fitting into this genre (Nanci Griffith, Patti Griffin [sp?], various UK artists), appeal to mes less so I'm not that familiar with them and cannot speak about the content of their repertoires.