"Cap'n mentioned not liking Maggie Barry - I would agree on not wishing to listen to her sing continuously over a long period because of her tonal limitations, but WHAT A VOICE!!"

Just for the record, it was me that mentioned not (much) caring for Margaret Barry, not anybody else. I do listen to her from time to time though, I just find her a bit relentless. Funnily enough, when I first got into folk music, I actually really liked the more abrasive of singing styles - Young Tradition, Margaret Barry – precisely because, as you say, it reminded me of some Central European, flamenco and Middle Eastern traditions. Less and less these days though.

"One situation where both mrsleveller and I have had to think about our technique is when using microphones. Neither of us had had much experience of this until recently and we had to learn to adopt a more intimate approach rather than belting it out"

I was listening to Sam Lee's recordings on his myspace page the other day. He's singing a lot more gently than he does live. I think that's sometimes necessary; you've got to remember that mics and studios impose a whole new context on how things sound.

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-Joe Offer-