On reflection Jim - I think some your problem with seeing like the rest of us might lie with the fact that you never stuck with learning the guitar.

you see to us, the relationship between all these different kinds of music is so obvious

fred jordan - martin carthy - broonzy - lightnin hopkins - status quo

those swooping notes you hear in irish fiddle playing -so very similar to the way lightning hopkins slides his fingers down the low strings.

no one has formalised all this stuff. its just all there. everytime you pick the guitar up. and we call it folk music. we're all drinking from the same cup.