"I don't believe that folk means anything different today than it did yesterday."

I totally agree with that.

The word folk IMHO needs qualifying to describe the precise sub genre under discussion.

Followers of the genre known as Jazz don't have a problem with that word being used to describe three sub groups; i.e. Trad, Modern, and Progressive. There may be others. I am not that knowledgeable about Jazz.

So why do we collectively have so much difficulty living with the idea of a similar set; e.g. Traditional, Revival, and Contemporary.

Nobody has, to my knowledge, suggested that 20th century composers should not be allowed to use the term "Classical" to describe their works.

Are Folkies really the most narrow minded people on Earth? I had always thought that we were rather liberal in our attitudes, but I do wonder.

Don T.