To answer the original poster's question about the 80s, popular American names from the 1980s include Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman and possibly Tori Amos. Of course Paul Simon rejuvenated his career in the 80s, initially with Graceland. Another name that came along in the second half of the 80s was Michelle Shocked - while she is American she based herself at that time in the UK, and was maybe therefore more popular in the UK and Europe.

The late 80s/early 90s is when I came across British and Irish bands like The Barely Works, Chumbawamba, Levellers, The Pogues, The Men They Couldn't Hang, The Housemartins, Half Man Half Biscuit. Some of these had been around since the early 80s. While some may stretch the term, they were all influenced by folk music or moved into folk music as their careers progressed.

Peter Gabriel started WOMAD in 1982 which set off a whole world music movement. While WOMAD incorporates a lot of "cross-over" today, up to the early 90s there was a great deal of pure tradition from around the world, including the UK, Ireland and the USA.