quote: It didn't just mean she didn't do shows - she didn't go to anybody else's either.
No contact with the folk scene at all - and given how energetic the Edinburgh folk scene is (from Scottish trad to Americana), surely she'd have had some involvement in it if she was the least bit interested?

Jack, your failure to meet Vashti Bunyan has nothing to do with the question of whether she sounds like a folk singer and whether her fan base consists primarily of people who think of themselves as folk music enthusiasts.

No one has suggested that she's "interested," as you said, i.e. that she wants to be thought of as a folk singer, or that she particularly likes Scottish traditional or Americana music or various other styles that can be included under the folk umbrella, or that she has any other reason to want to rub elbows with the local folk fans.

The Wikipedia article says that in her early career she felt closely connected to Dylan and Donovan, who were then thought of as folk singers at least here in the U.S., but that may have changed, and that type of "folk" music may be nothing like the folk music heard in the energetic Edinburgh folk scene. And there may be other reasons to stay away from local concerts and festivals even if one likes the type of music they offer.

In my local area there's an energetic folk scene, but a "folk festival" here usually means loud, distorted P.A. systems pumping out bluegrass music by what I presume is the same band returning to the stage over and over in different costumes, interrupted only by the occasional Neil Young impersonator. And lots of little tents barbecuing greasy meats and deep-frying lumps of batter. I do think of myself as a folk singer but I have no interest in any of that.