Texan Accent and Singing

If you have any been part of  a choir, I'm sure the choral director made some reference to getting rid of your "Texan" accent. 

As someone who has lived in Texas most of his life (I moved here as soon as I could!), I love a good Texan/Southern accent.  That being said, a Southern drawl is very detrimental in most genres of music.  A Texan accent is characterized by a fairly tight jaw, tendency to spread the mouth on 'ee' and 'a' vowels, and a vocal production that is fairly tight and low.  If you have taken any voice lessons or sung, you know these habits are not conducive to good singing.

The good news is that removing your accent (Texan, New York etc...) from your singing voice is relatively easy and also works toward better vocal production.  A lot of work is done by simply watching your mouth and jaw in the mirror, ensuring that the correct motions are occurring for singing.  These include, but are not limited to, dropping the jaw vertically, reshaping certain vowels with the tongue, and conceiving of a new vocal tone quality for yourself.

DWS