> However, and to its benefit, the Blues genre has not decided to cling so tightly to its past traditions but rather, it has allowed itself the freedom to be transformed and move beyond the past in many ways and in doing so, transformed the greater world of contemporary music like no other genre ever has.

That seems to me to describe how "folk" has evolved too; from Cecil Sharp's piano arrangements via folk-rock and singer-songwriters to EFDSS's current promotion of "folk art" (which means newly-written material). We're entitled to our personal likes and dislikes among all that, but it has certainly "move(d) beyond the past in many ways".