Apparently the IFMC is a British invention. I've never even heard of it over here. But then, I am not a musical scholar. I just play stuff. If I had, I'd not feel bound by their definition. You are correct, this thread is not directly concerned with the definition of folk music. There are umptybillion threads on Mudcat that have explored that question with no agreement. It's a valid discussion, and perhaps yet another thread can be started. I wanted to talk about the whole process of how music evolves, and what role music of the past has to do with that evolution.

Thanks for the post though, SoP.

Jerry