"If "most people" didn't have this wider understanding of the word, your complaint that it devalues the real meaning of 'folk' wouldn't matter"
Yes it would Howard - the devaluation of the term has done much to prevent folk music being taken seriously in Britain.
If the performers are not going to understand what the music they are performing is enough to be able to define it, how the hell are outsiders going to come to it.
The Irish crowd took the stance that if you want to put traditional music on a firm footing you have to be clear about what you are promoting.
"You're wasting your time repeating this over and over. It will never sink in!"
Never thought I'd read this from a researcher Steve - as you rightly say, sad indeed.
Singing has some way to go here, but one of the exciting things that has happened is that when a singer or musician dies, some towns have honoured them with a singing week-end or even a school.
This town hosted the fortieth annual week-long traditional music school dedicated to piper Willie Clancy, who passed away at the beginning of 1973.
Joe Heaney in remembered with a singing weekend in his native Carna.
In a couple of weeks time, the Frank Harte weekend is taking place in Dublin.
Clare has the Cooley/Collins weekend in Gort in December and there are rumours that the Mrs Crotty weekend is to be revived - that part of Clare also has the Mrs Galvin weekend.
Seamus Ennis, Mary Anne Carolan and Geordie Hanna are singers remembered with singing weekends.
Some of these events not only honoured the singers and musicians but they have proved a fair source of income for some of the rural towns struggling with the results of the Irish banker's shenanigans which brought about the death of the Celtic tiger.
Some time ago I wrote a letter to the Living Tradition magazine lamenting the poor health of folk music in Britain ("Where Have All the Folk Songs Gone")
I received a fair amount of stick in return, including a particularly sarcastic one from the firm-of-solicitors sounding folk group, Coope Boyes and Simpson, which suggested that I must have had a lot of my time on my hands in the long, cold winter nights in Miltown Malbay, puttig together such a letter.
We have weekly wall to wall traditional music throughout those cold winter nights - I wonder if C. B and S. are in the position to make the same claim!
If we survive the present downturn in the economy, traditional music will have played a large part of us doing so.
Jim Carroll