Venturing into this minefield, I would say that for me there are two Anglo styles, which are identifiable, and have something to do with the spacing created in the interplay between the instrument (usually guitar) and the voice. To take advantage of Rick's classification scheme -- One of these styles is what I would call the Gordon Lightfoot "Winter Night" style - come in out of the cold, it is death out there, but warm in here, look at those bleak streets out of the window, or the guy driving along the road with the rain on the windshield. The huddle together against the loneliness and get warm song. The other is the "big open spaces, big rolling boats" song, with the driving rhythm and the striving voice -- also Gordon, Canadian Railroad Trilogy. You can hear both the styles, flipping back and forth in Stan Rogers, Ian Tyson, and others. Occasionally the two styles appear in the same song -- Northwest Passage is a little like that -- the verses have the broody style, and the chorus the big open spaces. Canadian Railroad Trilogy ("the sun is declining..."). They just kill any Canadian who listens to them. I am sure there are other styles, but I throw this hypothesis into the ring for the hell of it. Just thought of another: Joni Mitchell's River -- both styles in one song -- the brooding against the cold, and then the release along an icy open river. Classic Canadian rhythm.

yours, Peter T.