The best way I could understand the article was to see it as a piece on lesbian culture rather than on music. Hadju draws a parallel early on between 'folk music' and lesbian culture, and disco and gay male culture. I think that's the heart of the matter.

It seems as if he's made the shocking discovery that lesbians are devoted fans of contemporary acoustic music. Members of that subgroup even rise to great mainsteram popularity -- which might not have been possible, at least in an overt way, 30 years ago. He tries to introduce tension by saying that the audience can be as finicky as it is loyal. That puts artists like Dar Williams, recently outed as hetero, in somewhat of a pickle, ahem.

As an artist, it is an amazing boon to be adopted by avid folkgoers of any stripe. It is news to a lot of people that there still are avid folkgoers in this day and age!

I wish Hadju had been more clear (or less lazy, depending on how generous you feel). 'Folk' was a misnomer, but most people don't know what a Child ballad or sea shanty is, so he slapped on some axel grease and slid right past it.

ah well.