I use the term Roots music in my blurbs and discussions to describe the early sources for songs in two genres, Old Time Country and Rock N' Roll. Here in DC the term Roots Music came up and gained in usage because we have audiences here (young and old) that appreciate knowing that The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Emmett Miller, etc. and their music, vocal styles, etc. are the 'roots of Country music and Bluegrass. It first surfaced when Billy Hancock and Tex Rubinowitz began to seek and perform the Jump Blues classics of the 40's, like Cadilac Boogie and Goodrockin' at Midnight by people like Clarence Gatemouth Brown, side by side with Gene Vincent's Race with the Devil. It's an education factor that people never fail to question. If I said "Folk music" they have a pre-conceived notion, the same with Bluegrass and Blues and so on. I use 'Rootst to move people beyond to where the musical lines blurr and intersect. There' nothing wrong with Folk Music as a term, but if you want to take folks a little further...Cheers, Chance.