Did somebody say guitar? How about a Strat or Les Paul as folk instruments...

Thin Lizzy
Van Morrison
The Byrds
Jerry Garcia
etc., etc., etc.

Just a few of the young groups who have brought traditional/folk music to masses of young listeners. This is not a fully researched idea, just the seeds of a thought, that the traditions of the past will always have an effect on the present/future. There will always be folk about who can 'freshen up' the past and present it in palatable form to current generations...though not alway as enjoyable to the more traditional. Those who are touched by the traditional will find more, and the dance goes on....