Guest Gene Burton's defintion of "folk" by instrumentation is almost persuasive; until recently, I might have agreed with him.

Back in August, I attended a Wednesday evening ceili at a hotel ballroom in County Rocommon, Ireland, where instrumental dance tunes were played by quartet that included an electric keyboard and a modern-type drum kit.

While I was not the only tourist in the room, most of the participants were local folks who immediately recognized each tune and knew what dance to do. They were obviously engaged in an activity that was/is part of the local folk culture.

Was the music folk music or not? If the definition is determined by intrumentation, the answer would have to be no, but I believe such a decision would be incorrect.

Was the music good, or ideal, or appropriate? Well, not necessarily -- but then, that's not the question. My cousin who brought us to the event didn't like it at all, and was quite apologetic -- he had expected a different group with a more traditional sound (i.e., traditional acoustic instruments).

However, the dancers didn't seem to mind at all, and their participation was what really made the event memorable. I contend that I was able to witness a social event that was quite firmly part of a venerable folk tradition, even while evolving within a present-day context (perhaps for the better, perhaps not). And it centered around music -- so how could that (electrified) music *not* have been folk music?