I was interested to see someone choosing Loreena MacKennit. She makes absolutely gorgeous albums. I was not aware that she actually wrote very muvh from scratch. It appears to be a lot of excellent arrangements of tradition things. I realize she does some writing but I didn't think it was all THAT much. As to the shortage of ladies on the list...how about Tracy Chapman, Mary MacCaslin ,Suzanne Vega, Laura Smith,Dolly Parton, sylvia tyson,Jann Arden, ..so on. Also, while I'm here.. How about Bruce Cockburn...