"In your view, what isn't folk? "

Pop music that was created solely as a commercial enterprise, classical music that was created for similar purpose and designed to be performed and played for a higher ranking of society.

As I have tried to get across, I am not overly concerned with definitions. I realize that what I said in the first paragraph leaves a lot of gray areas.   There is a certain "sound" and "feel" and a sense of community in the music that I enjoy listening to and playing on my radio show. While I admire Bob Dylan, I rarely play his music on my show.

One of the attractions that I had to traditional folk music was the sense of history and purpose behind the songs. Learning not only about the subject matter, but who sang the songs and has always been of great interest.   I've learned a great deal about communities from different regions of the world and about the lives of the individuals through traditional music. Naturally I discover the different traditions that come from different cultures which to me makes the simple term of "folk music" akin the word "fruit" or "vegetable".   It does not describe specifics, but creates a starting point.

When I hear contemporary songs in the same vein, teaching me about contemporary issues and culture in the same fashion that the traditional songs were created - I feel that is following in the folk tradition.

The is also an artistic judgement. You can look at paintings or literature and see differences in style. Go into a bookstore and look under "fiction" and you will find everything from Beowulf to Bukowski. You need more than a word like "fiction" to describe the content, just as "folk music" cannot tell you the content of a CD. I do not expect to walk into a book store and find the Beat writers separated from Mark Twain. Content wise, they are completely different, but you can only have so many sections.

Of course I understand the difference between traditional and contemporary. I understand the desire to cling to certain words, but I differ in the opinion that changes to these simple words are destroying traditional music.

Dick, can I ask you a question - what do you consider "folk music"?