I agree with a lot of that Al, but in Scotland, folk music has morphed into an "orchestral exercise" or the young scene which is a form of "Scottish Punk".....the noise is deafening, individual instruments or even voices cannot be heard and it is simply about jumping up and down to the beat. Perhaps this is modern folk music, but where are the story songs which were the backbone of the genre, the chorus singing which involved the audience.
I particularly liked Johnny's comment,
"Many people enjoy this sort of thing but I prefer to share music. i.e. play and sing WITH people rather than AT them.
Now there is a guy who understands something about folk"