I'm wondering if one genre's audience tends to include more people who actually play (or sing) than the other's.

Much of the awestruck commentary you hear about a picker's speed and/or technique comes from amateur players who only wish they could do the same themselves. There has always been a lot of this type of adulation for rock lead-guitar players, and I think the same thing goes on for bluegrass heroes. On the other hand, a very large proportion of the fans of *any* folk genre are also participants, so I'm not at all sure that the bluegrass audience includes would-be pickers than does the audience for other types of folk music.

But I'd of course be interested in anyone's thoughts...