One4KC wrote:
A Southern accent is easy for the British to pick up, because
the phrasing is still strictly Elizabethan.  Words and phrases
are still in use in the South that are Old English.

There is quite a distinction in Southern accents.  Texans
and Kentuckians sound almost identical.
  Georgia, Alabama
sound alike while, Tennessee, North Carolina and
Virginia have very different accents from region to region.
I don't pick up much of a distinct accent in Florida.

The very heavy accents are in Mississippi and Louisiana and
are what I call Southern.  Arkansas, very country.

So many people hear a Southern/country accent and automatically
think stupid.  Big mistake.

My brother-in-law from Chicago says we don't even try to say the syllables.  Ha. 
     
I've never been to Texas or paid much attention to the accent on TV - but I am a Kentuckian and that must be why! It just sounded normal to me. Also, during the Breakaway Tour I met Kelly in Columbus, OH. I talked to her for a couple of seconds and then she said "YOUR SOUTHERN - I LOVE YOUR ACCENT." I said "Kelly, YOU have a southern accent." She picked me out from all the Ohio peeps accents. Now I can tell me safe she was reaching out to her own.
On a side note about accents I'm currently doing an internship in Naples, Fl in which I get teased (in a friendly way) about my accent on an hourly basis. Those darn i (ice, nice, right, tight) words get me teased every time! I draw them out. When I first said ice....they thought I said ass.smiley: eek