Great topic, Sam! And great to see you around here again!
There will always (I hope) be a small group of intelligent, creative, nonconforming young'uns who will look beyond what's "cool" and "what everybody else is listening to" and will discover great music, be it folk, blues, or medieval contrapuntal. I was at a gathering a month ago when a lovely young woman of 21 turned to me and showed me a cd and said, "Look at this great musician I just discovered!" It was Dougie MacLean- not the purest folkie, but a great introduction!