Her influences can be heard in many younger folk performers, and she set the path for future folk-pop stars Nanci Griffith and Mary Chapin Carpenter.
[2] In 1969, she released a cover version of the Supremes’ hit “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” According to New York Times: “transforms the tune from an urban teen-oriented lament into a mountain-flavored folk song of quiet, adult desperation.”[1] Her musical development was influenced by the western ballads of Marty Robbins, the guitar playing of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, the singing and banjo playing of Hedy West, and the vocal inflections of the Beatles and the Bee Gees.
[2] Writing of McCaslin's Way Out West LP, Robert Christgau said in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), "Without self-dramatization—she favors plain melodies and commonplace imagery and her singing is gamely unhistrionic—this woman explores Joni Mitchell's territory with equal intelligence, more charm, and no drums.
"[3] Her songs have been recorded by Tom Russell, Bill Staines, Gretchen Peters, David Bromberg, Kate Wolf, Stan Rogers, and Còig.
She suffered from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurological condition that can cause problems with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing.