Well, am I allowed to say that I don't care for Eddi Reader's music? In most of the recordings I viewed, like Simple Soul, it sounded like she was straining her voice to sing, and it made me have a strained feeling in my throat. She sings in a more relaxed fashion on My Love is Like a Red Red Rose, and that sounds much better to me.

Still, I guess I'd say she's a pretty good singer. Her music is very commercially viable, for those who go for music according to its commercial viability.

So, anyhow, Lizzie, you've attracted some negative responses here, and I'm wondering why. I think it's because you talk a different language from most of the rest of us. You look on music as a marketable commodity, and most of the rest of us look on music as - music. For most of us, it doesn't matter whether Eddi Reader is popular or underrated or whatever. All we care about is her musicianship and the quality of the songs she chooses to sing. Her marketability doesn't interest us at all, and we get irritable when people start talking to us about music as a commodity. Primarily, music is something we make, not something we buy. If you discuss music from a fan perspective, then you speak a language that we do not wish to speak.

Mudcat is not primarily a fan site - it's a site for musicians, and musicians often get annoyed by fan talk. So, if you insist on talking about music as a marketable commodity, you'll find a lot of negative response to what you have to say. I suppose that's why there are so many negative comments in the thread about Sing Out! Magazine. The magazine is too fan-oriented for many of us musicians.

-Joe-