"Folk music has been carried on by the unknown artists passed on to uknown artists and eventually one of them will be known. Top 40 music would not be passed on in this fashion. That is the magic of folk. "

I think you hit it!   Traditionalists look at me as if I had three heads when I try to explain that singer-songwriters of today make up a community in much the same fashion that rural communties used the oral tradition to create their community in previous centuries.   These traditionalists will also claim that if we follow that definition then anything can be labeled folk. Not so!    Spend time listening to these artists and observing how they create music and you will see the difference between "popular" and "folk".

It is all about knocking out stereotypes. That "Hee Haw shit", "Mighty Wind" and the all-time worse - the scene of Belushi destroying a guitar after listening to Stephen Bishop sing "The Riddle Song".   These images and more have become roadblocks that keeps people from sampling the music.   Likewise, an electric quitar or contemporary fashion keep other generations from trying something new. In the end, we will like what we like, but if we continue to judge books by their cover - we are potentially missing some incredible music.