Jim ~~ You write, "I'm not saying that singers, as well as actors, can't 'do' accents other than their own well - of course they can. But I do believe that once you sing a song in an accent that is outside your own personal experience, then you run the risk of placing the song at arms-length from you and it becomes a 'technical performance' rather than an emotianal interpretation."

I do see what you mean: but how would you define "outside your own personal experience"? I repeat, I have played Americans in plays, once getting the comment from American visitors that we were 'lucky to get a real American to play that part'. I have played Irishmen [in 'Shadow of the Glen'], Welshmen [in Under Milk Wood]. I won a Best Actor festival cup for playing a Scouse with an accent which the adjudicator admitted he thought was real. So in what way precisely are the accents demanded by such performances 'outside my personal experience'? Playing a part is personal experience, surely? And singing a song is a performance: I think it no accident that two of the greatest of folksingers, Ewan MacColl & Theo Bikel, were both professional actors. If I can bring them off on stage to convince an audience, why shouldn't I sing appropriate songs in them? I try to sound natural and avoid exaggeration. I have just been back to my Youtube channel & replayed my Skillet Pot, Longhorn Cows, Butter&Cheese... I try to be self-critical, & they do, honest, sound OK to me. Glasgow friends have been most appreciative of my "Day We Went To Rothesay-O".

& remember, I was OP of this thread, so you can tell that I detest accents used inappropriately.

~Michael~