I didn't mean to "Drop a clod in the churn" but, maybe I did. I guess I was a bit perverse.

It's all opinion, and one is no better or worse than another.
My own opinion is simple. Folk music is traditionally acoustic, and handed down from years ago.It's about lyrics, not hot licks.
Lord Randall is one. Then, in recent years, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald will certainly be a real folk song. In my opinion, it is now.