Jim,

My point is this. I also love the traditional singers that you have talked about.
Why limit the human voice to any style? Folk singing is music which means that
there are many different ways to approach it.

Once you place limitations on the creative aspects of singing or using the voice,
you run the danger of setting up some academic principles which can be misused.
You have already said that Jean Ritchie is limited and that Jean Redpath leaves you cold
which is your opinion and that's ok for you.

But it's not ok to make it a dictum for approaching folk music because it limits
the creativity of musical art.

Frank