Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

Lynn Miles now calls them the big three, but it wasn't always that way.

Though her music is reminiscent of these great troubadours, Miles says they have only been recent influences.

"I never listened to any of them when I was a kid," she says.

"One of my friends said I had a voice like (Joni), so I never listened to her because I didn't want to sound like I was copying her.

"As for Bob Dylan, I could get around his voice. I didn't like it."

Miles admits she has been compared "to so many different people it's hard to keep track," but says she hasn't heard too many lately.

"Whether it means I have my own voice now, or there's no one else to compare me to, I don't know," she says with a chuckle.

On her fourth CD, Night in a Strange Town, Miles took a cue from Cohen and simplified her lyrical content.

"I used to write lyrics that were very, very poetic. I used to cover things up with poetry," she says.

"But I wanted to tear it all off now and expose the real heart of the song.

"I want the lyrics to be real ... like Leonard Cohen's, simple and beautiful, not complicated. But I still want it to sound poetic."

While on the topic of Cohen, Miles -- who plays Nov. 26 at the Engineered Air Theatre in the Arts Centre -- voices her disappointment at Canadians' general apathy towards our country's strong singer-songwriter community.

"It's one of our great art forms," she says.

"We have such amazing talent here, from great poets to authors, but it's not celebrated at all."

Miles is going it alone on her latest tour across Canada, and says it can be a little difficult at times.

"When I play with a band, I tend not to work as hard on getting a good rapport with the audience.

"But the solo thing is a great thing for a musician to do," she says.

"You can learn a lot."