Reluctantly I would like to take slight issue with Jim Carroll and what he says. (I am NOT being very critical)
The originator of this thread quite clearly says - "Folk musicians" and not "Traditional", and asks simply about how one learns songs, etc.. That should not start a debate as to what is or is not Traditional music or be an excuse for being critical of "revival" performers.
We all sing and play for different reasons, and in our performances we seldom get the opportunity to explain exactly what the music does for us, or explain our connection to each and every song, or even explain the simple joy of making music.
I my opinion all performers are great, even those whose music is not to your taste - you just don't listen to them.
However - I do think it interesting to know why someone makes the choices they do and where they look for their material, etc. And that is what the original question was about!
Tim Radford