I must say that I am grateful for the likes of uberfamous folk (Rusby, et al) because they ushered me into the earthy much more satisfying real world of the music.

Yes. In my case it was James Yorkston. I still like JY as a songwriter & arranger, but he's not the greatest interpretater of traditional songs. And yet, his versions of Rosemary Lane and Lowlands and Patrick Spens were the first versions of those songs I heard, and without them I wouldn't have discovered Anne Briggs and Nic Jones and John Kelly. And without *them* I wouldn't now be spending half my free time working up songs for the next singaround.