Bluegrass music has as many definitions, as there are devotees. Most connoisseurs would begin by listing several common musical instruments as either belonging or not, while others name specific artists such as Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, and so forth as examples of what Bluegrass is. In my view, these are good, but not entirely reliable ways of defining the music.
Too-often forgotten are the recurring themes of Bluegrass music:
- Ramblin'
- Mamma and Daddy (Possibly dead or dying)
- going home (to Mamma and Daddy, who may or may not be dead yet)
- (pretty) little (girl / woman / lady)
- killing somebody (often the pretty little woman listed above)
- leaving (usually the female leaving the male, but in any case either preventative or provocative of the previous topic)]
- Trains - especially those that kill people, carry dead people, or take a loved one to some distant place never to be seen again.
- Jesus (gotta have forgiveness for the murders, and comfort in grief that comes along with death or leaving)
- Rivers - especially the Jordan river
- Bluegrass music itself, other bluegrass artists, songs, instruments
- blue moon
- on the farm
- Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama
- cold winter
- drinkin' (whiskey only - no cappuccino, Dr. Pepper, beer, iced tea)
- The mountains (or hills)
- Livestock - especially mules or pigs
- Uncle Pen
- Highways
- High Lonesome (doesn't generally refer to smoking crack by yourself)
The following topics, words and phrases generally disqualify a song from being called bluegrass, and might result in your being permanently ostracized from the bluegrass community if you attempt to label it as such.
Gettin' jiggy with it, knockin' the boots, doing the "wild thang", gettin freaky or any other euphemism for having sex which has come into the vernacular within the past 40 years.
Drive-bys or any euphemism for violence originating in "the hood" - "My pretty little girl left me; I miss that little lass. I pulled out my gat on a drive-by and capped her ass."
Computers, ATMs, pocket calculators, fax machines, ball-point pens, indoor toilets or any other modern convenience. "On the internet, a website I found- my modem sang so sweetly in that high lonesome sound"
The old college days - "Back at my old college in the mountains, when I was a young rambler..."