If you’ve attended the IBMA World of Bluegrass and registered for the conference, the organization hereby thanks you for not being a freeloader. No, what I really started to say was that if you’ve registered for the conference and thereby made your email address available to other attendees, you probably receive lots of bluegrass artist, label, management, and publicist press releases.
Even in these boarded-up times, there’s still plenty of activity in the business. A lot of videos and singles are still “dropping” right and left (they’re all made of non-breakable material now, so you can drop them all you want; just don’t jump up and down on them once they’ve dropped).
If you’re not skilled at translating some of the promotional jargon and hyperbole used in bluegrass music press releases, perhaps the following will help. Exaggeration is an essential part of this style of writing, as is putting the best face on a band or artist’s characteristics. We expect this, of course, but it’s also nice to have some idea of what these flowery descriptive terms actually mean in real life. I thought it might be a good idea to provide you with this handy glossary of terms for the genre. Note: I’ve opted not to include “hard-driving” because according to press releases and bios, every bluegrass artist in the world is “hard-driving,” even the brother-sister duo The Somber Siblings who hum versions of Louvin Brothers and Blue Sky Boys songs, accompanying themselves with mandolin and harp.
Acclaimed – The lead singer’s girlfriend has raved about it
Award-winning – Second place in the annual Bluegrass Under a Canopy festival’s band contest
Authentic – Out of tune
Chart-topping – #1 on Jim Whittaker’s Bluegrass in the Very Early Morning show
Crisp – thin, plays close to the bridge
Criticially acclaimed – The lead singers girfriend and one blogger liked it
Cutting edge – T-shirts worn on stage
Diverse – One band member has different colored hair
Driving – Just short of “hard-driving”
Dynamic – All-purpose word, generally meaning nothing
Eclectic – Doesn’t excel in any particular style
Expressive – Dramatic, overly ornamented
Exciting – Bass player bobs head on stage
Exuberant – Bass player bobs head, plus frequent whooping
Heartfelt – Lead singer closes eyes
High Octane – Faster than it should be
Innovative – Can play Crazy Creek
Legendary – Old
Old school – Wears hats
Raw – Unskilled
Roots – See “dynamic”
Solid – Primitive
Smooth – Non-traditional, slick
Soulful – Someone is singing
Tight – Has heavily processed recordings
Traditional – Covers bluegrass standards
Unbridled – Band rushes
Youthful – Under 70
