No Martin, there is a large folk music culture here, and it may be even larger for a variety of reasons. The main thing is that both cultures are different. It also depends on how you define "folk". Here in the U.S., the term incorporates a wider variety of styles - largely because our country was built on a variety of cultures.   Bluegrass, blues, sea music, cowboy ballads, Appalachian ballads, urban folk, singer-songwriter, ethnic music and I'm sure I've left out a dozen styles - all make up "folk music".   Now, I don't want to turn this into a discussion of what constitutes folk, but I do think our definition is a bit broader than what is considered "folk" in the UK.