But it is my voice ...

... I hear what you say and I understand the point aboout authenticiity, however I also understand that there is much more to music than rhythm and tune.

Start it up by the rolling stones would sound ridiculous in a tralee accent, and "ride on" by christy moore would sound hammed up and embarrassing in ... well ... Mick jaggers singing accent (a mid atlantic drawl?)

There are some songs where my natural clipped and pompous diction are very appropriate.

Generally they are written by me and so they reflect my turn of phrase as well as expressions and sentence construction etc that are consistent with the accent in which I usually speak.

Being of an eclectic background though, and having been subjected to many cultural influences, I sometimes write in different linguistic as well as musical styles.

These may not always reflect my immediate life experience or indeed "who I am" (in the eyes of the ignorant judgemental observer), however it is often appropriate for the way I use my voice to be manipulated to achieve the most rewarding musical result. This includes a little "accent bending".

Ultimately though, I consider myself to be lucky as I see myself (despite the garbled nature of my posts) to be a gifted communicator. Perhaps it could be argued that insisting on using one accent and expressive style in either music or socially might be seen by some (more judgemental than me) as being a bit like going abroad and then just speaking louder when someone doesn't speak your language.

It depends - conversation and performance are seperate things - one is generally immediate and spontaneous, while the other is generally preprepared.

I could go on for ages trying to pin down the essence of my point but instead I will trust that the gist of it is clear enough for you to kinda see where I'm coming from.

Ultimately, in being myself, it is all something that happens naturslly - I wave no flag and adhere to no prescribed formula. Nothing is imposed on me. I am myself in as many possible dimensions as I can be.