I basically agree with Joe, as long as we can define "community" very broadly in the modern world. Growing up in a middle class suburb of Buffalo we had no indigenous music. Via the folk boom I developed a love for blues and Appalachian music and later for the roots of both. I feel a definite connection to the musical traditions with very little legitimate connection to the communities that created them.

I've heard performers who seem anxious to turn living folksongs into artifacts. On the other extreme, there have always been performers who use folksongs as the basis for musical experiments. A good song, that tells a good story, like "Barbara Allen" will shine through in both cases.

That's my two cents. Looking forward to the big fight.