Susan, your remarkably insightful comments above just made up for all of your posts that have made me ask, "What in the hell is this woman talking about?" Congratulations! *BSEG*
But seriously, folks, I think that the devotees of musical icons are often more "purist" than the originals they are emulating. They want to believe that the masters' styles just popped fully grown from their heads like Athena from Zeus.
Just as an example, take Kenny Baker, Bill Monroe's long-time fiddler and a man often cited as an example of a "pure" bluegrass fiddler. Baker's fiddle style was greatly influenced by the hot swing of Stefan Grapelli and the Texas Swing of Bob Wills, two very non-bluegrass styles. I personally saw Baker at an after-hours jam at a bluegrass festival playing stuff on a guitar in open G tuning that was closer to Leo Kottke than Bill Monroe. Kenny Baker is no purist, but the folks who strive to imitate him definitely can be.