Over the 50 plus years that I have been in and around folk music, I have seen people dressed like young bolsheviks, frowsy housewives, prim maidens, cowboys, hobos and farmers in bib overalls. Some of the early success stories revolved around groups of young collegiate types in pinstripe Gant shirts and Ivy League haircuts. They have been clean shaven (yes, the women too), bearded, professorial and tweedy - often seedy. In short, there is no "image" in folk music. It reflects us and our history and we reflect it in all sorts of unique and diverse ways.

When you start trying too hard to package this genre of music, or any other, the package becomes the focus, not the music. If you need to package yourself as a performer, that need may well transcend the music itself.