Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I didn't really know Karen Dalton that well, so I listened to 'In My Own Time' a lot on Yahoo music. Stylistically she reminded me of Joanna Newsome, and historically, Billie Holiday, but I guessed you would have thought of both of them. You could try Mary Coughlan. She still records, but I really liked her first live album, 'Tired & Emotional' back in the 80s. On her earlier material in particlar there is some similararity in vocal style, her writing is top notch and she seems to have similar bluesy roots. Another Irish singer/songwriter, this time contemporary is Eleanor McAvoy. Her first album was called 'Early Hours' and it features a killer cover of 'Memphis Tennessee'. Her own stuff is wonderful though. On the male side, I would always push obscure Brit John Martyn. "Outside In" is an eclectic but great way to start! I don't know if this helps, but you never know!

Yeah, I will put together a mix of singer songwriter types for you to try. I just got in from work and I need to sleep but give me a couple of days and I will come up with something

Hey you johnny_luddite can you reccommend some female (or male would do) singer song writers in this vein of Karen Dalton? I thought you might know...I have officially worn out my copy of In My Own Time and it seems like nothing can compare!

There hasn't been a funeral mix competition yet, but there has been much talk on forums and such. I think a lot of folk here would be up for it.

Thanks for the nice words about my mix. At least all of the tracks had a pretty direct Bowie connection (he either wrote, produced or covered them if he didn't perform them himself!) I tried it with the Beatles first but got stuck on too many!

Sorry about stealing your number 1, glad you liked my mixtape. I am not sure if I do actually, but it all seemed a good idea at the time.

A lot of British bands covered Maggies farm as an attack on former priminister Maggie Thatcher!