Sian wrote:

Something to do with "folkies" forgetting that the wider community is where the music has to resonate

The music/dance/custom doesn't just resonate out there but chunks of it actually exist without knowing (or caring) that the folk scene exists.

For example, we tend to think that 'the folk dance scene' belongs to the ceilidh circuit, the festival field, the barn dance societies, etc. But who has the most ceilidhs in the UK? - the Caravan Club!

Ok, you're not going to find chunks of the community singing Child Ballads while isolated from the folk scene (or are you?) but there are significant numbers of people who dance, sing, celebrate ritual, engage in seasonal customs, etc. without ever going to a folk club, or folk festival, without ever reading a folk magazine, or listening to a folk cd or radio programme.

I said I didn't like the word 'folk' but it does work in the sense that it's folk who do it and when they get enthusiastic to an extreme I suppose they become a 'folkie'.