I definitely agree, we all strive to find our own unique voice, but I'm curious about how much you can "colour" that voice - a good term used by Owlkat -- and what some of those dimensions are, without becoming a crude imitation of some singing idol ?

Some of the directions I can imagine would be: (1) to add more bass (basso profundo ??) like an opera singer. I was doing that one night, sort of satirically, and another musician told me I should sing more songs that way. ('course it was a banjo player, so go figure!) (2) to do the bluegrass thing - high, lonesome and through the nose (I can go a long time without doing that) (3)The whispering/soft approach - this is one I haven't tried, and it makes sense for certain songs. I'm used to really projecting in non-amplified venues though, so it would be hard to learn to back off. (4) Adding an accent - I don't feel right trying to do Irish, Scots, etc., when I'm not. However, here is a comic song that has a "male" and "female" voice that I try to do. (5) Putting a little "growl" in the voice for rougher blues songs, as indicated by Lox (6) Yodeling - I came, I tried, I failed.

Others ????