I am very troubled. I am a performing folksinger and I a lousy musician. I don't read music, I don't play an instrument, and I have to struggle to memorize lyrics. Its tough for me to maintain a repertoire because I have to go over lyrics periodically or I forget them. I struggle with meter to the extent that when guitar players try to play along when I'm singing, they often give up because my tempo is so ragged. In short, I'm about as bad as it gets. The only reason I have any success as all is because of my voice,a happenstance of nature. When I sing people's mouths drop open. I remember once when my wife and I were in a large piano bar. Over on one side of the room was the piano and a circle of drinkers where were involved with the music. The rest of the large room was filled with the buzz of people involved in their own individual group conversations. I was chatting with the piano player and I mentioned the tune (admittedly not folk) Old Man River. He invited me to sing it. He played an intro and I started to sing. The entire room quickly became quiet except for my voice. When I finished, the room burst into applause. Although it usually isn't this dramatic, this sort of thing happens a lot
    Recently I went to a folkmusic camp on the East Coast. A sucessful folksinger who also produces a large number of shows and books a large number of acts told me that she doesn't hire people like me. "In folksinging," she said "the music itself and the message of the music and the lyrics are what is important. Your unusual voice draws so much attention to itself that it gets in the way of the music. You need to go sing opera or something. You don't belong in folk music."
    This is not the first time I've run into this kind of problem. One of the best banjo and guitar pickers I ever known told me that I was much too "theatrical" for folk music. (I am very antimated when I perform.)
    I'm sorry, but I don't want to be in other types of music. I've tried them. You can only sing the notes and harmonies that are written or that the director, etc tell you to sing. Folk Music is the only genre that provides me with the freedom to experiment.
    I'm thinking of "tossing in the towel."   To hell with my "amazing voice." However, I was rather curious what other folk musicians think about this. Please forgive the length of this message, but I just had to get this out.