As I see it, the editors of fRoots and Songlines are not gatekeepers for folk, but they ARE gatekeepers for their respective magazines. They have some image of what they think the magazines should be like and believe it to be their job to accept or reject material that fits the image of their mags. And quite right too.

On the other hand the opening poster is the manager of the group and wants to do what he or she can to promote them. So I don't think the goal here is to discuss whether the music is or is not folk, as to bring the group to the attention to potential buyers. Again, that's his/her job, and once again, quite right too.

None of which has anything to do with whether the music actually IS folk ...