I hope my comment didn't sound nasty or sarcastic (especially not in this thread :) I just think the use of the word "folk" is beyond anyone's control.

About a year ago I read where the record industry was trying to introduce a category called "Americana" which would include singer/songwriters, "new country", roots-based rock, and (by some strange record company logic) contemorary Irish. My first thought was "dumb idea" but this is all music that ends up in the folk bins and the artist themselves are not happy about it. Maybe if it is successful, folk can go back to being folk.