Ok, Jim. Your phrase "To my untrained ear, those you listed are indistinguishable from pop songs" sums it up. You cannot explain to me why some contemporary folk is ok while some is not so It seems that it is all down to personal taste as I have said all along! On that note, I shall take this discussion elsewhere to see if someone else can explain it. Look for a thread called "Different types of contemporary folk". Feel free to join in if you like but unless you have anything extra to add I think you may find it boring:-(

What I would like to add is my thanks for a well mannered and interesting discussion. Isn't it nice to be able to disagree strongly without the rancour and bitterness we see so often from some below the line.

Cheers

Dave.