I think I'd like to rephrase what I said above - Mudcat is a music site, not a fan site (and not a musicians-only site).

I'm trying to pinpoint what it is about these "Lizzie threads" that always causes such contention, and why I get such a steady stream of demands that Lizzie be barred. Lizzie means well and isn't a bad person, but I think maybe the problem is that Lizzie just doesn't speak the language spoken here, or at all the other music forums she says she's been banned from.
As I read these threads and the contention they cause, they all seem to express views of:

a. Music as popularity contest
b. Music as commodity (i.e., making more money and thus proving popularity)
c. Musicians as objects of veneration (i.e., popularity)

Certainly, there's a place for audience and organizers and agents and all that stuff - but is it about music, or is it about selling more stuff? We've all seen people on the business side of the music industry that are the musical equivalent of used...er, pre-owned car salesmen.
We've also seen fans who are so overbearing in their affection for their "stars" that they scare the poor performers. I remember a couple of fans who showered one group with multiple expensive gifts and flew all over the country to get to every concert - and the musicians felt they were being stalked.
So, it's not about the popularity - it's about the music.

As for Eddi Reader, she's not a bad musician, but in Simple Soul (which is a pretty good song), she sings in a way that seems like she's trying to be Sinead O'Connor. Heck, even Sinead O'Connor doesn't try to sing like Sinead O'Connor any more - and as a result, Sinead is a much better musician than she used to be. In many other videos, it seems that Eddi's trying to affect a folk-pop persona, instead of just singing the song the best she can, like she does in My Love is Like a Red Red Rose.

I've been defending Lizzie for years, and I see no reason why she should leave us. But I think she'd fit more comfortably here if she'd simply learn to speak the language, that it's the music that matters, not the popularity or the hype.

Now if you are a follower of the musical Wicked, you know that to Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, the most important think in life is to be Popular. But the rest of us know that Glinda's pursuit of popularity is shallow. It's just not where it's at, and it leaves other people talking behind your back. It's the music, silly. That's what we're here for. But don't leave us, Lizzie - just learn the language. I suppose there's a place for popularity - I don't mind the fact that the I'm the father of the leader of a band that has 4,900 YouTube Videos (Eddi Reader has 337). But I also know that band members have a certain contempt for the popularity, because it gets in the way of the music.

-Joe-