I'll carry on calling what I think to be folk, folk.

I will tell anybody who wishes to listen that the most common definition these days is any acoustic music played in pubs (in the UK.)

There are other manyfold definitions, but these are mainly by those who try to make a science out of evolving abstractions.

In fact, they tend to annoy me in the same way as those who rattle on about "real ale" and buy halves, making tasting notes in little books. Whatever floats your boat, but that doesn't stop me giggling.

Sadly, many treat music in this way. Great if it keeps folk clubs going, but don't scratch your heads too much when every year means the average age of those attending goes up by a year.

I tend to vet folk clubs before asking my wife to come with me. Some of the sadder people tend to embarrass me. I enjoy folk for the music, for the laugh and joke with mates and for the nostalgia. Not for the jobsworth committee types, the ones who could with a good wash and those who go through life with a chip on their shoulder. One prat who posts regularly keeps trying to tell me that folk music is exclusively something to do with the struggle of the workers ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ