"He has mastered the guitar styles of Mississippi John Hurt and several others"

So why not listen to Mississippi John Hurt and the several others? Sorry to sound pendantic but the great blues artists sounded like noone except themselves, which is why they sound so great 70 years after they made their recordings. Nic Jones doesn't sound like Martin Carthy, he is distinctly Nic. Nor do I thik he is God. I merely think he is the greatest performer that English folk music has ever produced.

After saying all that, I went to Amazon to check on Chris Smither. There are quite a few people who fully agree with you. I can't play the musical samples because, for some reason, my PC wont accept the download, which sucks, so I still don't really know what he sounds like. Sharyn, you have me intrigued.