I think in many cases the "sense of place" has been lost. In a lot of cases it was probably quite nebulous to start with! Many "trad" songs, for example, exist in different versions around the country (or in several countries!) with place names and protagonist names changed accordingly. But a lot of the songs work in a variey of "place settings" anyway....a generally pastoral song can feel equally "at home" in Somerset or East Anglia. But in general, I'd say that the sense of place is less intrinsic to the music than it perhaps was in the past.

There are some "local traditions" still, however. The sessions I go to in Kent/ Sussex seem to call on a fairly localised set of "standards" for starting and finishing, while those I go to when visiting Devon have a different character.

And there are people writing new (or newish) material who make great use of the setting. Just locally to me, there's Bob Kenward. Many of his songs are *absolutely* tied to Kent..."Man of Kent" or "Dr Syn" to take just 2 of many possible examples, are completely defined by location. I've sung both to "non folky" audiences locally and they've been pleasantly surprised to hear songs featuring their immediate environment...and asked why they're not more widely known in the area! His "Old Country Train" is about a specific line, but it has a more universal application in the nostalia of looking back to days of steam and a vanished life. I think that singing "Man of Kent" in, say, a Devon session wouldn't go down as well as it does in Kent, but "Old country Train" would transfer very well, because, although it has a strong sense of place, it also has a universal emotional appeal.

Distinct from the lyrics though, there's often a "feeling" to the music itself that can place it in a more local tradition...for example, Scottish and Irish tunes can sound superficially similar, but to me there's often something about the structure or embellishments that says "Scotland" rather than "Ireland", or vice versa. I think that was brought out rather nicely in the recent TV programme "Phil Cunningham Meets Mark Knopfler" where Phil showed that the structure of some of Mark's guitar riffs was quite similar to Scottish trad structures he played on the accordian.