An old topic, but that doesnt mean it shouldnt continually be discussed.It has a remarkable specific relevance in the UK at the moment with the trickle of public arts money reaching folk music being on the increase; various bodies constitute themselves as folk agencies or whatever in order to qualify for funding, so just how these bodies define the music they are funded to promote is a matter of interest. It would not please me, for example, if this money were channelled into the pockets of singer song-writers, by means of paying them to run song-writing workshops with children; I would prefer the major part of the money to be devoted to bringing the traditional culture of their own area to the childrens' attention. Other folkies will take an opposite view, and since the singer-songwriters tend to come more from the classes who are better at the technicalities of setting up appropriately constituted bodies, dealing with regional arts boards and so on, it seems to me likely the balance will tip away from the those traditional aspects of folk culture that make it distinctive, lively, relevant and local. basically, the folk world has got to decide what it means by folk, because if we don't it's going to be decided for us by a handful of arts officers in big cities.