Sourdough,

i'd love to gab on and on about this subject, but unfortunately i find that i agree with everything you said. i don't know if i can add more than a good hearty nod.

the woman in my area whose voice i love best (Susan Welch, may god bless and protect her) sings with a rough, scratchy tone that would never get past a bel canto enthusiast. her range is not all that spectacular, either. but man, does she know how to move that voice... her greatest vocal assets are all things that can be learned, making her voice the servant of her musicianship. and she's a musician in the best sense of the word: she takes the music within her, makes it a part of herself, then opens the gates and throws it back out to us transformed, enlivened, and filled with love.

i'd choose her over a host of "purer" voices anyday.