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Luck of the drawl
A study by Andy Gibson of the Auckland University of Technology has found that people lapse naturally into stateside mode because it's actually easier to sing that way.
According to Mr Gibson, the rounded edges of the American accent make it easier to sing with and its use has become so commonplace in music that it should be called the "pop music accent" instead.
Mr Gibson reckons this also explains why so many of us end up sounding like cheesy rock stars when we sing our favourite ditties in private.
"We do it automatically; it doesn't require any effort to sing with an American-influenced accent," he said. "It actually requires effort to do something different.
Source: UK Daily Telegraph 
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Among the numerous points I make in my history of 1960s Australian pop music, 'The music goes round my head' due for release in late August/early September I regretfully note that many local singers of that era chose to adopt the American twang. Whether it was unconscious, inherited from the decades of American influence since the 1850s gold rush, or a deliberate emulation, hoping that Australian music could surreptitiously take its place on the world stage (or, worse, fearing that it couldn't survive locally), I personally believe this artifice to be totally unnecessary. While the exaggerated Strine accents of some are equally, cringingly artificial, no-one can deny that, for example, Rolf Harris's, Judith Durham's, Peter Garrett's or Shane Howard's singing styles are not simply extensions of their natural speaking voices. Aboriginal artists predominantly shun any imported affectations, naturally projecting their own distinctive inflections. And it's refreshing to hear local hip hop artists beginning to eschew black American idiosyncrasies. So sing out proudly Aussies - you may just discover that fame can come from being just that little bit different, not just the same as everyone else.
Hi David...ta for the comment...and let's not forget the likes of Angie Hart, Missy Higgins, Holly Throsby et al, proud purveyors of the Aussie twang...!
And I might respectfully add Mr Mick Thomas of Weddings Parties Anything to this list as well - a proud Australian singer, and all the better for it as well.
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