Talk about 'preserving the tradition' is meaningless, whether applied to folk-rock or other revival styles.

The 'tradition' is on the verge of extinction because, like other endangered species, its habitat has been all but wiped out. Tradition has to exist within a community, and most modern communities no longer have a need for tradition, at least not the old musical traditions we are talking about here. There are of course exceptions, but these are comparatively few.

What has happened is that a minority of enthusiasts have picked up the dying embers of the old traditions and reinterpreted them to create their own. In some cases there are close similarities with traditional practice, in others this is less so. A concert, whether or not amplified, seems to me some way from 'tradition' and in the realm of (to use the current buzz-word) 'folk arts'. I don't say there's anything wrong with that, but let's not kid ourselves this bears any resemblance to 'tradition'. Neither am I saying that only performances within, or close to, the 'tradition' are valid.

The paraphanalia of a rock band, with its amps, PA, microphones etc, mean that folk-rock can really only function as a concert. That alone, in my view, makes any claim to be 'preserving the tradition' a nonsense.