Originally Posted by Neapolitan

I guess Zimmie's inspiration for singing the way he does comes from Roscoe Holcomb. ... and maybe his a rabbi or a cantor. I don't know if he was religious or not to go to a synagogue to hear a cantor sing to inspire him to incorporate that into his singing. I'm not sure about the Jewish cantor, that is just a hypothesis. It seems he sounds very nasally when he speaks too, which could be a speech impediment, and with some speech therapy and some practice he can over-come it. Some people call it a "nasal whine." I guess his problem with that probably affects his singing. He really doesn't have the worst voice out there. Once you get used to it, it's no big deal. He does mention Holcomb as an influence though, so maybe that is what Zimmie is aiming for.