By the way, when did folk music "touch a whole generation"? Nearly all the people I know in their 60s and 70s (the age range I assume is being referred to as the "last" generation) have absolutely no interest in folk music and as far as I know (especially as I'm nosy about people's record collections) never have. They may half-remember a few old songs they learned at school and know some of the pop-folk-light entertainment crossover hits, but essentially, folk wasn't their music. I suspect that when we talk about "a whole generation" grooving on folk way back when, what we really mean is that some long-standing folk singers who once had some crossover success had considerably bigger audiences in the past than they do now. You can substitute a plethora of sixties rock and pop acts and find exactly the same effect. All this means is that the young people who make up the biggest group of gig goers aren't digging the heritage circuit, daddy-o!

I also wonder if there's a little bit of longing for the return of one's own youth and rueing it's passing in all this ... and whether it's significant that this thread has appeared as autumn gives way to winter...

Far be it from me to indulge somewhat crassly in low rent psychology, tho'...