I am fairly new to dealing with folksongs and struggle when asked “what is a folksong ?” to come up with a coherent answer. Songs that folks sing seems too easy, but certainly does fit. Some have told me that they have to be old songs handed down through a verbal tradition. So can a new song be a ‘folksong’ and if not when exactly can it become one. I am happy to be told if there is a real answer.
As far as I am concerned if Max Hunter recorded someone in the Ozarks singing a song that for me is an Ozark folksong !
Of course, as I am finding out Max Hunter was not the only collector of Ozark folksongs.