Strikes me this thread explores two questions: is it "folk" and is it any good? Both questions seem to have elicited somewhat priggish replies.

Will says it ain't folk because it doesn't have the familiar structure of folk melodies. Where's the A part? Where's the B part? Because folk doesn't really have a tradition of extended extemporisation, it must be something else: noodling. By contrast, Suibhne and Al suggest that since it could readily be performed in a designated folk context, ergo it's folk.

The other question – is it any good? – seems to hinge on notions of showing off and lacking emotionality. Is the former a direct consequence of the latter?

I await enlightenment on both questions. They're both worth asking.