The folk song revival movement has been littered with affectations, misinformation,
and a kind of musical elitism. Fortunately, the music is bigger than this.

The absurdity of setting of rules by revivalists for folk music is self-evident.

The power of folk comes from the accessibility and community of people who make music for themselves and (like the sand-lot baseball player are participants) rather than observers in this music.

The future of folk music lies not on the concert stage or the myriad CD's hocked at
coffee-houses but when as in a traditional sense, people use folk music as a recreation
collectively. Much of this is done in living rooms, back porches or in the field when some work is done or as lullabies. It has a social basis and defies the isolated "artistic" expression of the solo performer on a stage with a distant audience. The walls often break down in some churches as well (particularly the African-American ones) between solo and congregation. There is something ironically absurd about creating an "art-song" approach to folk music by spending enormous sums of money in a recording studio to foster a "personality". However, much of this music is listenable and enjoyable despite whether it's called folk music or not.