My experience is that some folk musicians have classical training, and some don't. The ones who do usually have a bigger bag of tricks to bring to the music. I like working with them because they can often learn music faster, talk about technical matters more succintly, and play in keys other than D and G.

There are also lots of musicans, classically trained or not, who are not folk musicians. Folk musicians are people who play folk music and make it sound like folk music. I don't care much to listen to people, of whatever training or lack thereof, who play folk music but don't know how to make it sound like folk music. It just doesn't sound right. But the idea that a musician would automatically be disqualified by classical training is both silly and elitist.

John Peekstok