I think Murray has hit upon it there. We all have different criteria in our minds for where folk leaves off and country, singer-songwriter, bluegrass, old time, blues, whatever begins. It is not an easily discerned demarcation. I can't tell you why (in my mind) Charlie Poole absolutely belongs, Hank Snow almost certainly does, Don Gibson probably does, and Garth Brooks does not. It is not entirely based on the age of the music involved, for there are things being sung or played this very day which I feel has that affinity to folk, yet there are others from many years ago which do not. For instance, I have not seen one solitary reference to Conjunto music here, and very few to Cajun music, yet they are much more folk in their own way than a great bit of what we do talk about.

I know there are others whose definition is far narrower than mine. I am just thankful that the climate here is such that we are all able to live in relative harmony (good word there) despite our occasional differences of opinion.