John Tucker
"You don't need training for folk music,"
Oh dear! Always the bridesmaid, never the bride!
Of course you need (not necessarily training), but at the very least, work to master the basics of singing - any singing, unless you are going to demote it to its most mundane and artless.
I can see a number of people on your list who would have benefited greatly from a good dose of 'training' in order to improve the ability and understanding of the singing of folksong - but that's another argument.
"you are getting confused with CLASSICAL music old chap! "
Not me old chap - talked to too many traditional singers about what went into their singing - how about you?
Jim Carroll