Date: Monday, May 5, 2008

To: Bluegrass Friends Music Committee Members

Thank you for participating as a member of the Bluegrass Friends Music Committee.

The mandate of the Bluegrass Friends Music Committee is to evaluate music (vocal and instrumental) and make a decision as to whether a given musical selection is Bluegrass or not. The majority decision from the committee will decide if certain musical works are "Bluegrass" enough to perform at the Bluegrass Friends Weekly Jam Sessions. The output of the survey results will provide two lists of songs; a Yes list and a No list.


Please keep the following points in mind when evaluating the music presented in the surveys.

• Newgrass is Not Allowed - Newgrass will be considered a genre of its own and is NOT allowed at the Bluegrass Friends jam sessions. The term Newgrass is as elusive as Bluegrass and is open for interpretation by some people. Here are some examples of what I would consider Newgrass to be.
  
  
  1. Example 1
  2. Example 2
  3. Example 3
  4. Example 4
  
  
  
• Set Aside Personal Preferences - The creation of a fair system dictates that we must disregard our personal preferences toward certain artists and styles. All of the music must be evaluated fairly, without our personal preferences getting in the way. For example, as much as I admire almost any song done by Alecia Nugent, I could not give much of her material a passing grade regarding Bluegrass content.
  
  
• No Favouring of Artists - By this I mean to say that just because a song is being performed by someone that most of us consider to be a Bluegrass artist, it certainly doesn't mean all music performed by them is automatically Bluegrass.
  
  
• Ignore Song Titles - Don't let the title of a song fool you.
  
  
• Evaluate Each Song on its Own Merit - Evaluate every song on its own merit, not by the artist, title or "what it's supposed to be." Consider the arrangement of the song, both vocally and instrumentally. Does the vocal style and/or instrumentation lend itself to what you consider Bluegrass to be? Is the music Bluegrass, yet the vocals are country or vice versa? Try to imagine you've never heard any of the songs before.
  
  
• Leave the Feelings of Other People Out of the Equation - Our goal is not to offend anyone. However, worrying about what someone else might think will not allow you to make a fair evaluation of the music. For example, if you have thoughts that resemble "how can I tell insert friend's name here that his selection won't be allowed at the Bluegrass jam, you may not be able to make a fair decision.

The music must be evaluated on its own merit and in a fair way, without personal biases interfering. The rules must apply to every song without exception and without worrying about who might want to perform certain tunes at the jam sessions.

When it comes time to perform songs at the jam sessions, the rules must apply to everyone without exception. I will handle the task of informing people whether they can or cannot perform certain tunes - unless you want to.

Thank you for being a Bluegrass Friends Music Committee member.

Regards,
Michael Floyd
(506) 738-2988
Bluegrass Friends