When my kid was in his punk rock phase (he's 46 now), I wondered why he thought he needed to sing in his impression of a British accent. Now that he's doing techno, he has tempered the accent a bit but still doesn't sound like the Californian he more-or-less is (but he was born in Berlin). Maybe it's just as well he doesn't perform with a California accent - Californians pronounce "house" with every vowel in the alphabet - "haeiouse."

I always appreciated that the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton sang blues with at least some effort at authenticity in their accent. Blues wouldn't be blues, without at least a nod to authenticity.

My first visit to the West of Ireland was about 2003. Every place I went, the music was American-style country music, and the singers all sang with a twang - they all sounded more American than I do, fer chrissake. But maybe that's not so bad. I can't imagine country being sung with a brogue.

So, I guess I'd say that appreciate songs being sung with a "nod to authenticity," as long as that accent doesn't become an affectation.

I usually sing in what I think is a Wisconsin accent, despite the fact that I lived in Wisconsin for only 12 of my 70 years. I'm sure my accent is tempered by my first 9 years in Michigan, and my life in California since 1971.

When I sing in languages other than English, I try to be fairly accurate in my accent, but I know I'm not.

-Joe-