Sarah McLachlan
Billie Holiday
Patsy Kline
Hands down.
Honorable mention to Courtney Love before she became so commercialized.
Kristen Hersh by a bizarre, tormented, chain-of-consciousness mile.
When I was younger I was into heavy metal and so when a friend said he had some free tickets to a Michelle Shocked concert I wasn’t that enthusiastic.
It was the best concert I was ever at and got me into fock music . She has to be added to this list IMO.
Oops, forgot one.
Blue grass singer and writer Alison Krauss - She has a voice like an angel!
I like Alison (seeing her Sunday night)…don’t think she writes her own songs though…
However… here is THE list
Loreena McKennitt
Connie Dover (American folk/celtic)
Julie Miller
Nanci Griffith
Kate Campbell
Dar Williams
Lucy Kaplansky
Kim Richey
occasionally Mary Chapin Carpenter