Do any of your songs or potential songs require accents different from your own?

Just wondering.

Some of mine feel the need to be sung in some kind of pseudo European accent...most use the standard neutralised American accent even though I'm not American...some feel the need for a more extreme American type of accent, southern maybe...some feel they deserve a bit of a British accent...

Eh?

Practically everything I've ever turned out seems to fit a specific accent -- anywhere from my 'natural' voice as your basic Southern Country hick to a more polished high-brow American accent. I've also a number of reggae-ish songs and naturally fall into a pseudo-Jamaican accent when I sing them. No matter how much I try not to -- I guess it just fits the rhythm.

And lets not get into the ones in an Irish style...

Yes... I guess all of my songs written in English need a good american accent that I could never provide myself... heck even my songs in Spanish would need someone with at least better pronunciation/phonetics... I never written a song with another accent in mind though (maybe cause I usually create songs in the same genre...)

Back at the old indie-musician dominated mp3.com, c. 2000, I had a 'station' that played all the bands I could find from my town of a half-million or so (Long Beach, California). The thing that cracked me up was that most of the bands from the eastern/northeastern part of the city, where all the family style suburban tract homes are, sang with UK/English accents and seemed determined to recapture the magic of the lost days of Joy Division and Gang of Four. So much dark, Manchesterian angst from the sunny suburbs...

I've been reading "Finishing the Hat", by Stephen Sondheim, and he spends a lot of time making his lyrics work for a specific character's diction and accent. For myself, while I do write for different characters they all speak with my voice.

It's not one of my songs but when I perform the old sea shanty, "Jack Tarr, the Sailor," I find myself pretty well driven to sing in my take on a 19th century UK accent.

I do that song and end up channeling some old British sea-dog. I'm pretty much acting a role anytime I sing, anyway.

We should swap versions some time. Seems like there are a few different sets of lyrics flopping around. And, of course, a few different songs featuring a character of that name.

Where did you first learn it? I'll admit I learned it from the Byrds, although I believe I'd heard an earlier, straight folk version in the early 60s during The Great Folk Scare.

My 'model' for character singing is Mick Jagger. Maybe it's just because his take on rural American accents cracks me up so much. (I got sick of "Sweet Virginia" back in the late 70s when the LA stations figured out they could play it and not get fined [that was then, not now], but it still tickles me, nonetheless.)

But I really appreciate what his inflections and delivery bring to his vocals in the best cases.

I know the Byrds recording but learned it via the folk scene as 'Go To Sea No More.' Reasonably similar versions, as folk songs go.

Jagger, eh? I chose a different bluesy Brit for my model back when, Eric Burden.

Burden was a fine, gutsy singer in his prime, no question.

When I was referring to Jagger, I wasn't so much thinking of my version of "Jack Tarr" but just sort of 'character actor' singing in general. I've often enjoyed how Jagger put on different voices for different songs without ever quite stopping being Jagger.

So THAT'S what it's called? A model? When you kinda get someone in your head and then sound like them?

I have several models for speaking in different accents.

American - either Stevie Nicks or Kourtney Kardashian (hey. I can't control who pops into my head, ok? I didn't CHOOSE either of thse people, though Stevie is a-ok in my book)

English - Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) or Jennifer Saunders (from Absolutely Fabulous...you know that show?)

Part-Russian - Regina Spektor

Meh.

Sometimes I come to question.. Do I have an accent in my singing?

I think I do. But I have no idea what kinda accent it is...

I find it goes with the song. I'm from the Canadian maritimes where the accent is so think, they often subtitle it on TV when the news interviews a local. Though, my mother was from Central Canada, and my father's family was only 2 generations in the Maritimes. So I honestly can flit in and out of the broad range of Central to Eastern Canadian accents quite easily. My sea-shanty singing gets quite thick with a fishermans tone.

Funny thing, I never think about it. It just happens and follows the tune. Except when I'm drinking, then an accent does come out