I can only answer for myself, Jim. Why do you keep putting the load of everyone else's comments on me. Maybe I am too flexible :-)

There is nothing specialised about knowing what a folk song is or sounds like

Good! I am glad you say that. I know what a folk song sounds like and I have spent many years listening to and researching them as well. But when I say that a contemporary song sounds like a folk song to me, you deride that claim. One thing I noticed about your list of writers of "contemporary songs using folk forms and functions" (Eric Bogle, Miles Wooton, MacColl, Seeger, Leon Rossleson, Woodie Guthrie, Jack Warshaw) is hat none of them were born after 1950. In fact, a lot of them are already dead. There are writers and performers of "contemporary songs using folk forms and functions" born well after then. In fact, some born in the last 30 years and probably later.

There are writers and performers of "contemporary songs using folk forms and functions" who also write and perform pop songs. The two things are not mutually exclusive. I mentioned Ed Sheeran not because I am a fan of him but because he is in that category. Writing and performing popular songs does not stop him from writing and performing anything else you know!

As I said, I know what a folk song should sound like and there are some performers under the age of 70 who can write and perform "contemporary songs using folk forms and functions".

Can we drop the log-winded term "contemporary songs using folk forms and functions" and just use contemporary folk song yet BTW?