According to both the Horse Definition and the 1954 Definition, all music is Folk Music, though in the latter case we must pay special attention the words Folk and Community which in terms of a revival mooted entirely in terms of class condecension means the lower uneducated orders of society entirely innocent of the significance of what they did, much less to have had any hand in its creation. Personally, I don't think any music is truly Folk Music, because I don't believe the Folk existed outside of the fevered imaginations of Cecil Sharp and his merry band of cultural pranksters - certainly not in the form they were perceived as existing (and patronised accordingly). It would be easier to talk about Folkie Music, the music not of the Folk, but the Folkies - we Folkies indeed; we disparate band of cultural reprobates who not only derive pleasure from such anachronisic hollerings (however so misbegotton or else acquired) but perceive a contemporary relevance therein over and above mere preservation, God Forbid.

As for 4'33", it was never so much about silence as it was about deep listening, especially in the context of a concert hall. One reads of Cage spending time in the anechoic chamber of Harvard University and experiencing the sounds of his own nervous system - this much, and more, features in the WIKI entry for a piece which is frequently used by Mudcatters to express their wide-eyed bafflement on the nature of such music. Personally, I find Bob Dylan more baffling than John Cage, and would opt for even the most uneventful rendition of 4'33" than having to sit though anyone singing Mr Tambourine Man, but there you go. Of course there is that special circumstance when during a performance of 4'33" a busker pitches up nearby and proceeds to sing Mr Tambourine Man and thus, unwittingly, becomes part of the piece itself as peceived by that particular audience.

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Talking of Mr Tambourine Man, I read the other day that Joe 'Habao' Texidor passed three years ago, October 2007. In terms of both the 1954 Definition and No, really -- what IS NOT folk music? I wonder what 'catters make of this?

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - I Say A Little Prayer - Live 1969 - featuring Joe Habao Texidor (tambourine & vocal)