Richard - where on earth did you get that strange distinction from ?
Where and when did the term "folk singer" become "technically accurate" - and technically accurate for what? So far I don't think I've met anybody who describes themself as a "folk song singer" - pretty cumbersome phrase that. As far as I recall (and no doubt I'm standing to be corrected ?) from my ongoing research the term folk song was coined in the late 19th century by the folksong collectors of the day - it was not, however, one that they particularly liked or felt comfortable using, feeling that it was a rather non descript and rather undefined term (not much change there then !!).. They quite often veered between that and the use of the terms "rural" or "rustic" singer quite a lot.

Ruth - sounds sensible to me! If we're all using different definitions, how on earth do we know whether we're all talking about the same thing {grin}.