The terminology used to describe the band's Status and Music Styles on the Bands and Performers Directory can be confusing. This glossary is designed to help users get a better understanding of how to use this information. BAND STATUS The application of the following categories can be somewhat arbitrary but should help clarify whether the band/performer might be available at specified times. CORE: A core band is one which has primary claim on all of its members and is considered to be available to play at any time. PARTIAL or SOLOIST: Often members of core bands will perform as solo artists or as subgroups of the larger band. Partial groups or soloists from the main group are not available to play when the core band plays. They can be booked for performances during the day on weekends or weeknight. They may also perform on weekends when the core band is not booked. ONE-OFF:A "one off" band includes players that are members of one or more core bands, but not all of the players are members of a single core band. In most cases, one-off bands cannot perform when the related core band is playing. In a few cases, the remaining players will perform with the remaining players (Roseblood is the most conspicuous example). EVENT PERFORMERS:Some bands are not available to perform at all times due to where the players are living. In other cases, the band operates as a "pickup band" which uses players that do not perform together very much. In some cases, the event band uses players from other bands, but unlike a typical one-off band, the event band usually has primary claim on the players. INACTIVE:An inactive band is one that is unable to perform as a band due to the fact that one or more key players is unavailable for an indeterminate period of time. The band is placed into the inactive status. MUSIC STYLE
Any attempt to apply labels to bands is inherently difficult. Each band has its own unique style and lumping two bands together into the same category is often unfair. None the less, when someone is interested in checking out a band, it is helpful to know at least a little bit about what to expect. The primary category has to do with whether the band is a "pub band" or not. PUB STYLES Pub Traditional: The pub traditional band does predominantly up tempo standard Irish songs popularized by bands such as the Clancy Brothers and the Dubliners with some instrumental tunes mixed in. Pub traditional bands will do some original and contemporary material, but it is a much smaller proportion of the material than a Celtic Rock or Pub Contempoary Band. Celtic Rock: A Celtic Rock band is louder than other Irish/Celtic bands, will use a full drum kit, and plays a high proportion of "non-traditional" material including a high proportion of original and contemporary pieces. Celtic rock bands generally will do some traditional songs and will typically include a lot more instrumental pieces than a standard rock band. Pub Contemporary: A pub contemporary band/performer is generally louder does a lot more contemporary and original material than the typical pub traditional band. However, when compared to a typical Celtic rock group, the pub contemporary group is not nearly as loud, rarely has a full drum kit, and does far more traditional material. Celtic Eclectic: Celtic eclectic bands routinely play Irish venues. They do a lot of material that is not identifiably Irish/Celtic, but do at least some Irish/Celtic material. They are not as loud as Celtic rock bands but may have full drum kit. Entertainer:Entertainers on this directory are primarily Irish born vocalists that cover a wide variety of different types of music besides Irish including classic rock, country/western, jazz, blues, folk, etc. NON-PUB STYLES Many bands do not play pub style music. They may do occasional pub gigs, but it is not primarily what they do. Traditional/Ceili: Traditional or ceili bands focus primarily on instrumental pieces with only occasional vocals mixed in. Not all traditional bands are prepared to play for ceilis (a form of Irish social dancing) because of the specific requirements of timing and meter. Contradance :Contradance is a kind of social dance from New England that is vaguely similar to square dancing. The music played is clearly descended from Celtic styles although it has been Americanized. Most contradance bands play Celtic music when they perform in concert. Folk:A number of folk singers routinely do Irish/Celtic folk songs. They rarely perform at pubs. As a rule, folk singers do a smaller percentage of up-tempo pieces than pub traditional groups and most do not do pure instrumental pieces (most pub bands include a fiddle player. Celtic New Age:In Arizona, Celtic New Age music is slow tempo, instrument music that often has a dreamy feel to. Celtic Pop:Celtic pop emphasizes up tempo original material while mixing in some high energy Celtic pieces (usually instrumentals). Celtic/Blue Grass:Irish/Celtic music is an extremely important influence on old-time and blue grass music. A few blue grass bands include people who play in Irish/Celtic bands and play some of their material in an overtly Irish/Celtic style. Bagpipes:This directory includes pipers who play Scottish highland pipes and/or Irish uileann pipes.
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