My abject apologies to Mr. Donegan! Indeed!

I take a dim view of someone who adopts an accent or manner of speaking more or less permanently in an effort to create the impression that they are something they are not, such as the urban-born singer of folk songs who consciously "roughs up" the sound of an otherwise fairly smooth singing voice in order to sound "folkie." There are quite a number of those people running around (including a few quite well known singers), and the word that springs to mind is "phony."

However, the ability to adopt—temporarily—an accent or dialect for an acting role or to deliver a particular song is part of the well-rounded performer's art. But this demands that the performer do it well.

Hugh Laurie, probably best known (at least in the United States) for his work in television, portraying characters such as Bertie Wooster or various vacant-skulled characters in "Blackadder," assumes an American accent for his leading role as an idiosyncratic physician in "House." He does it so well that American viewers who are not familiar with his previous work (or where he's from) automatically assume that he is an American actor.

I don't see how I—or anyone—could sing a song such as "Bonnie Dundee," "McPherson's Farewell," or particularly, "The Braes of Killiecrankie" without adopting a Scots accent. The song would sound bizarre without it! And there are other songs that call for other accents in the same way.

I've done this ever since I first started singing, never assuming that there was anything wrong with it, because I had heard many well-known and respected singers doing it. But—I also made note of the fact that unless it is done well, it doesn't come off. Therefore, before singing a song that requires an accent or dialect, I listen to speakers of that accent or dialect until I can mimic it as exactly as humanly possible.

The ability to do this well and convincingly is an essential tool in the kit of any singer or actor who aspires to perform professionally and who does not wish to limit themselves to a single category of songs or roles.

Of course, there are people such as David, who maintain that one should not be allowed to sing songs other than those of their own "culture." But what is my culture, exactly? Urban-born and raised in California, moving to western Washington State at the age of nine where I have lived most of my life, descendant of Scots on my father's side and Swedes on my mother's side, exposed to a wide variety of cultural influences and hearing many different accents and dialects—so again, what is my culture?

David seems to imply that as an American, I should set my guitar aside, play a drum, and do native American chants.

I have heard some native American music, but nowhere near enough to grasp the broad, multicultural aspects of it, and I've seen one performance of Northwest Indian dancing in live performance. Although interesting, it is totally alien to me, and I don't know how anyone could consider this to be even a minuscule part of my culture.

I am not restricted to one single culture. I am a citizen of the world—nay, a citizen of the Cosmos. I reserve the right to sing any songs I chose, regardless of whatever culture they came from. I have always done this. People have paid good money to listen me do this, enough so that I've been able to make a living at it. And those who have heard me sing a song in a dialect not my own know perfectly well what I am doing, and I have never heard anyone object or comment negatively.

No one is holding a gun to anyone's head, so if anyone doesn't like what I do and the way I do it, they don't have to listen. There are plenty of others who do.

I am not particularly fond of Klingon opera, but if I found the songs of the inhabitants of the second planet orbiting Epsilon Eridani appealing to me, and if I could wrap my mouth around these songs, I would learn them and sing them.

Don Firth