I, too, would be very interested to read your essay, Bill D. I hope I misread the discouragement in your last post. People do get argumentative (me more than most) but all, I think, within the boundaries of the respect they seem to have for one another.

Speaking of boundaries, let's not get overly silly: they exist for traditional* music, and, for example, Olivia Newton John, however much we admire her early-80's spunk, does not fall within them. It might help people feel better if they realized that a definition is not a policy. The digitrad will not lose its inclusiveness just because we are discussing this matter. But a definition is a useful analytical tool, and for some, an interesting topic to hash out in and of itself. To those who do not feel it's a useful or interesting discussion, thas' cool. To those who sense the impending tyranny of the definitional autocrats, relax.

In fact, boundaries may not be the right word at all, and if "definition" is defined by boundaries, perhaps we should change our terminology to something less scary. Categories, maybe. The key is to follow Bruce's idea of a flexible box. Wittgenstein (actually in an attempt to "define" art; close to our quest here) came up with the idea of family resemblances. You cannot say before a child is born that she will look such-and-such a way. But once she is born, you can say, "yeah, I see her father around the eyes." In other words, it's not something that you can rigidly define, but there are certain characteristics of traditional music that you can recognize as such when you see them, characteristics that limit the category. Anyone who thinks otherwise, should go out and buy "Let's Get Physical".

*Because I also follow Bruce in his preference for "traditional" over "folk", I am using that terminology. Who are the "people" anyways? They don't really exist as their own unit except in a very amorphous, socially-constructed way. To call the genre traditional puts the emphasis foremost on the music as opposed to the performers which is appropriate. After all, it is the music which persists.