I think electric guitar and bagpipes sound great playing in harmony. I think Middle Eastern drumming enhances some Western European tunes. I think lots of British ballads become a bit more exciting when played in 7/8 time. I also like bagpipes by themselves and straight-up unaccompanied ballads. The two ways of playing don't detract from each other. Lots of hard-core, acoustic-loving folkies list Steeleye Span as their gateway band.

I'm curious as to which musical additions are considered tumors and which are not. I play the cittern, an instrument that was invented and become popular for folk music within my lifetime. Are citterns tumors? What about guitars? What did folk music sound like before everyone started strumming? My own tastes tell me that piano accompaniment to dance tunes terrible. Is it also a tumor that ought to get a put-down on Mudcat? Is there a cut-off date before which there was "real" folk music and after which various things became tumors? Or is the problem more specifically with musicians who combine genres? How, then, do we explain away Cajun music, blues, bluegrass, etc. etc.?

A side note is that rock music not as much a genre as a format. Any genre of music can be played with bass and drums and made to sound like rock music. Most people in the world grew up listening to rock music of one kind or another. Why shouldn't music of any type get played in a current format?

And, mostly, how does it hurt any other form of folk music? And why should anyone care what other musicians do, other than saying, "I like that" or "I don't like this"?

John