In East Tennessee, where I live, much of this has never changed. Festival season starts in two weeks(Dillard's in Rome, Georgia), and there will be about 1500 people there who play all of those songs.
    Last summer, I ran into an elderly mandoline player who used to
drive Uncle dave Macon around to his shows. He had hundreds of great stories.
    Last night, I played with a guy who grew-up with Gid Tanner's family. His son was in his band for a time amny years ago.
    Music by people like James Taylor, Bob Dylan, or the Kingston Trio are put in the same category as Wayne Newton, N'Sync, and Manilla Vanilla: fabricated creations of an commercial urban culture, fed by a entertainment industry.
    I suspect that, if you're in a urban setting, things are very different.