I found it interesting to read an interview with Lloyd Cole, a great crossover artist in the sense that he doesn't really fit into any regular category.
He was saying that he never used to enjoy playing live when he felt he was only promoting the latest album.
"It's only when I became a folk singer without the band that I started to enjoy it - there's a lot more sponteneity with the audience."

Now I listen to a fair bit of rock, pop, folk and suchlike and had never considered Cole to be a 'folk' singer in the sense many of us grew up to recognise. He is, however, an erudite storyteller and musician who could presumably be a folk singer in a sense.

I don't think folk's dead, I think that the definition is changing just as much as the music has done over the years.