I think if you're going to call something Folk it needs to be acoustic to have the label. Steeleye Span etc. were folk influenced Pop. Just like many Acoustic singers aren't Folk either. - It should strictly only be for Acoustic bands only.; otherwise it's Folk influenced Rock/Pop etc..
I totally love Nick Drake , Anne Briggs , Vashty Bunyan , Stick in the Wheel , Pentangle , Renaissance, All About Eve , the Strawbs’ Grave New World , the odd song by John Martin & the folksy bits Phil Collins sung with on albums by Anthony Phillips & Steve Hackett but never liked Jethro Tull or most folk rock or Mumford & Sons The Pogues etc . Our district had a Cowpunk band called The Cropdusters since 1986 but my roots of being a bit of a real gippo from a scuzzy council owned home I wasn’t into middle class boys pretending to be oirish . You probably wouldn’t consider most of the artists i mention as real folk bar the first 4 & i understand why but the rest were gateways that helped realise i loved less flamboyant or showman style music for sure. it’ll be interesting to see where these ‘ new ‘ acts above are doing today. 😁👍🐢
