Doing some research on VOA transcription discs I came across references to this English folk singer / minstrel.

He had quite a discography and a reputation as an accomplished banjo player and folk singer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dyer-Bennett

In this reference he states that many who are termed folk-singers are not but are in fact minstrels ...

http://richard.dyer-bennet.net/

Quote:

Among contemporary folk singers, Dyer-Bennet singled out Joan Baez--who later recorded his arrangement of Byron's "So We'll Go No More A-Roving"--as a talent after his own heart. "She has the loveliest voice. When I first heard her I thought she had the makings of an extraordinary performer."

But, by Dyer-Bennet's definition, Baez, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and all the other singers of traditional folk songs were, like Scholander, minstrels. In a landmark article written for Hi Fi/Stereo Review, Dyer-Bennet maintains that

"this distinction between folk singing and minstrelsy is more than a mere semantic quibble. If you are born and raised among rural people who know the songs, and if you can carry the tunes, and do, you are a folk singer, like it or not. If you are born and raised in the city, you may copy the intonation and accent of a true rural folk singer, but you will be, at best, an imitation of the real thing. What you can become is a minstrel."

Unquote: