Festival Press Kits That Teach Editors Country, Not Caricature

Press materials can make or break a country music festival’s media coverage. A well-crafted press kit doesn’t just list facts – it educates editors about the rich world of country music beyond tired clichés. The goal is to help journalists experience your festival’s authenticity on the page, teaching them “country, not caricature.” In an age when many still equate country music with a cowboy hat stereotype, offering depth and context in your press kit can lead to more accurate, compelling stories about your event. This guide provides seasoned, practical advice on assembling press kits that do justice to country music’s heritage and your festival’s unique story.

Get the Genres Right: Subgenres, Pronunciations & Lineage

Country music isn’t one homogenous genre – it’s a family of subgenres with distinct sounds and histories. Make it easy for editors to portray artists correctly by providing accurate sub-genre labels and background context. For each performer or program element at your festival, label their style clearly (e.g. bluegrass quartet, Texas Red Dirt band, Americana singer-songwriter). This helps journalists avoid painting every act with the same broad brush. It also educates media and readers on the diversity within country music (profilbaru.com).

• Subgenre specifics: If your lineup spans honky-tonk, outlaw country, folk-country, and modern country-pop, explain these terms in a brief media glossary or within artist blurbs. For example, clarify that a “Red Dirt” artist hails from the Texas/Oklahoma scene with its rock influence, or that a “Bakersfield Sound” tribute band will bring a twangy West Coast country style. Such details prevent editors from mislabeling artists and show that your festival celebrates country’s many flavors.
• Pronunciation guides: Don’t assume every journalist knows how to pronounce artists’ names, instrument names, or local place names. Provide phonetic pronunciations for anything that might trip up an editor. For instance, if you have Cajun-country or Tejano performers, cue editors that “Tejano” is pronounced teh-HAH-no, or that the city of Tamworth (host of Australia’s famous country festival) is TAM-worth. These guides save embarrassment on air and lend professionalism to any coverage. Even artist names or nicknames (like “Lainey Wilson” – LAY-nee not Lonnie, for example) can be included in parentheses. A quick pronunciation note in the press kit or on the festival website’s media page can go a long way.
• Lineage notes: Country music is steeped in tradition. Highlight the musical lineage or heritage behind your artists and festival. For example, mention if a young bluegrass band on your bill draws inspiration from icons like Bill Monroe or Alison Krauss, or if a singer’s style follows in the outlaw tradition of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. If your festival has historical roots (say it’s in Bristol, Tennessee – the birthplace of recorded country music – or it’s a 50-year-old local jamboree), include a few lines of historical context. Showing how today’s acts connect to country’s roots (or to regional culture) educates editors and gives them richer story angles. An editor will appreciate knowing that a particular fiddler’s great-grandfather played in the Grand Ole Opry, or that your festival’s location has a heritage of cowboy poetry. These lineage notes combat the notion of country as a caricature by underscoring its cultural depth and continuity.

By meticulously getting genres, names, and history right in your press kit, you empower journalists to write knowledgeable pieces. It sets a tone that your festival respects country music’s legacy and variety – and invites the media to do the same. The result is coverage that treats the music seriously, rather than falling back on “yee-haw” tropes.

Include Rich Visuals: Captioned Photos & Rights-Cleared B-Roll

They say a picture is worth a thousand words – especially when those words might otherwise be “cowboy hats and pickup trucks.” High-quality visual assets in your press kit let editors and producers see the real story of your festival. Always include a selection of captioned photos and even short B-roll video clips that media can use, with rights fully cleared for press usage.

Photos with informative captions help editors get the context correct. Instead of a generic stock image of a country singer in a field, provide real photos from your festival or artists. For each image, write a descriptive caption identifying who or what is pictured, the location, and why it’s significant. For example:

• “Legendary fiddler Michael John jamming at sunset on the main stage of the 2023 Rocky Mountain Country Festival – carrying on a bluegrass tradition for a new generation.”
• “Crowds line dance at Stagecoach Festival in California, where modern country meets cowboy heritage under the desert sky.”
• “Singer Jane Smith performs a Maori country song at Boots & Spurs NZ, blending New Zealand’s indigenous culture with country music.”

Captions like these not only tell editors what the image is, but also why it matters. They subtly teach the reporter about the festival’s vibe and the artists’ significance. A journalist on deadline might even lift parts of your caption for their article – so craft them to be accurate and compelling.

In addition to photos, B-roll footage can be a game-changer, especially for TV and online video pieces. If possible, offer a few short, well-shot video clips (30-60 seconds each) of festival scenes: the opening night crowd cheering, a close-up of a pedal steel guitarist’s hands, attendees enjoying a cowboy cookout, etc. Make sure you have the rights to all footage (and signed releases if needed) and explicitly state that these clips are cleared for editorial use. When local news or international media cover your festival, they’ll gladly use your B-roll to enrich their segments, rather than defaulting to unrelated or stereotypical visuals. For example, a news report in Singapore covering a country festival there might insert your clip of enthusiastic line-dancers instead of a cliché Western movie snippet – because you provided authentic footage.

Pro tips for visuals: Ensure images are high-resolution, and provide a mix of horizontal and vertical formats to suit different layouts. Include at least one wide crowd shot (shows the scale and atmosphere), a dynamic performer shot (artist engagement), and a cultural detail shot (maybe a close-up of cowboy boots next to indigenous drums, if that mix represents your festival). Clearly credit photographers in the file metadata or in a text file, and note “Courtesy of [Your Festival] – free for press use.” Making editors’ lives easy with ready-to-use visuals means your festival is more likely to get featured prominently in articles and slideshows.

Pitch Human Stories Behind the Scenes

Great festival press kits don’t just push performances – they pitch human stories that bring the festival’s world to life. Journalists are always hunting for a fresh angle or a compelling narrative. By highlighting the people and passions behind your event, you steer coverage beyond generic “music festival draws big crowd” reporting. Think about the unsung heroes and unique characters in your festival ecosystem, and introduce them to the media as potential story leads.

For country music festivals especially, there’s rich human interest material in the crafts and trades surrounding the music. Consider including short write-ups or fact sheets on topics such as:

• Instrument makers and techs: Does your festival work with a renowned fiddle maker or guitar luthier? Perhaps there’s a family-owned company that has built the fiddles or banjos many artists use. Or maybe one of your stagehands doubles as a pedal steel guitar tech who has toured with half the bands on your lineup. These individuals have fantastic stories – about preserving traditional instrument-making or keeping classic gear alive on the road. Media might leap at the chance to interview a master fiddle craftsman if you mention that “John Doe, whose handmade fiddles are played by 3 acts this year, will be on-site at our luthier booth.” It’s an educational angle: readers learn about the craft, not just the craft beer!
• Local culture and crews: If your festival takes place on a ranch or farm, spotlight the ranch crew or farm family that hosts the event. For example, a country festival in Texas might feature a ranch that has been in one family for 150 years – that’s a story of heritage. Introduce the media to the ranch hands who wrangle horses for the festival’s rodeo demonstrations, or the farm’s matriarch who cooks chili for the artists. These personal touches paint a picture of community and authenticity. Even at large commercial festivals, you can highlight a specific crew role – say, the veteran sound engineer who’s mixed sound for Willie Nelson and now runs your main stage audio. Humanising the production side (stage managers, lighting techs, even the volunteer who’s attended every year since 1980) gives reporters colourful material to enrich their coverage.
• Audience and fan stories: Country music has some of the most devoted fans spanning generations. Maybe there’s a father-daughter duo traveling from another country to attend your festival, or a group of friends who met at the festival years ago and reunite annually. These human interest nuggets can be shared with lifestyle reporters or local newspapers. A story about the 80-year-old couple still dancing at your Americana tent, or the teenager who saved up to fly to Nashville for CMA Fest, can underscore how meaningful the event is to real people. It’s not just a concert – it’s a cultural gathering.

When you pitch these kinds of human stories in your press kit or media pitch emails, you’re teaching editors that country music culture is deep and diverse. You move them beyond caricatures of cowboy crooners and beer trucks, and into the realm of real lives and traditions. Many festivals have seen success with this approach. For instance, a few years ago at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, the organisers highlighted the story of a veteran Nashville fiddle repair shop that stays open late during the festival to service performers’ instruments. That resulted in a great feature in the local press about this tiny business’s important role, giving the festival a warm, community-focused spotlight instead of just another review of main-stage acts.

Similarly, Australia’s Tamworth Country Music Festival (the second-biggest country festival in the world) benefits from media coverage that looks at its broader vibe and people. Journalists noted that on Tamworth’s streets, you’ll find more diverse sounds and fewer clichés than outsiders expect – you might hear an acoustic punk cover alongside a Slim Dusty country classic, and not everyone is in cowboy boots (www.theguardian.com). By sharing those kinds of observations in your press materials – for example, pointing out that “only at our festival will you see line-dancers next to fans singing along to Johnny Cash and Nirvana covers” – you encourage editors to depict the scene in its full humanity. The result is coverage that resonates more with readers, because it tells a story.

Offer Expert Contacts and Context

When journalists are learning about a niche or community – like country music culture – they appreciate having experts or insiders to consult. A savvy festival press kit can thus offer expert contacts or ready-made context to elevate the media’s understanding. This not only helps ensure accurate reporting; it also signals that your festival is a credible source of knowledge about the genre.

Consider compiling a short list of media contacts for expert commentary. This could include:

• Genre historians or scholars: Perhaps a professor who studies country music history, the curator of a country music museum, or the author of a book on bluegrass. Note in your press info, “For additional context on the Appalachian folk influences at our festival, Professor Jane Smith (Author of Mountain Music Roots) is available for interviews.” If your festival has an archival aspect or partnership with a museum (like the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville or the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame in Tamworth), leverage that connection to provide media access to their historians. An editor writing about your festival’s focus on, say, Western swing, might love a quote from a Western swing historian you’ve linked them up with.
• Industry and community leaders: This might be the festival director or talent booker (speaking about why you chose certain artists or themes), a prominent artist willing to do press, or a local figure like a country radio DJ or club owner who can speak to the festival’s impact. List their names and titles in the press kit with a note like, “Available for comment: John Doe, founder of XYZ Festival, can discuss the resurgence of outlaw country acts in this year’s lineup.” Make sure those people are prepped and truly available in the festival timeframe, of course!
• Cultural experts or unique voices: If your festival highlights a particular cultural crossover (for example, a Native American country music showcase, or a Celtic-country fusion band), consider providing a contact who can speak about that fusion. The British Country Music Festival in Blackpool, UK, for instance, emphasizes the Celtic and British influences on early country music (profilbaru.com) – their press materials could well include a folk musicologist to discuss how British and Irish folk songs shaped American country. By the same token, a festival in Texas might offer a local cowboy poet or a rancher as a voice on how country music interweaves with ranch life. These expert voices help journalists add depth and legitimacy to their stories.

Beyond contacts, enrich your press kit with contextual notes and resources. A one-page fact sheet titled “Understanding Texas Red Dirt Music” or “The Roots of Country in Our Region” can be incredibly useful. Imagine a festival in Spain or India that has a growing country music scene – the press kit might include a paragraph on how country music found its way to local audiences, or stats on the rise of country dance clubs in that country. By teaching the editor a bit about the context, you prevent them from writing something ignorant or dismissive. Instead, you arm them with facts and perspective that they can pass on to their readers.

One more way to add depth: if you have any statistics or survey data (perhaps from ticketing data or attendee surveys) about your audience, share a few key points. For example, “55% of our festivalgoers are under 30, debunking the myth that country is only for older audiences,” or “Over 10,000 attendees travel from outside the region, including international visitors from five continents.” Numbers like these, properly sourced, give journalists clear evidence to counter caricatures (like “country music is only popular in the American South” – which is not true, as thriving festivals from Argentina to Australia prove (profilbaru.com)). They might even include these stats in their coverage (“The festival draws 40% of its crowd from urban centers, reflecting country’s broad appeal…”), further spreading the narrative that country music today is global and diverse.

Small Festivals vs. Mega-Festivals: Scaling Your Press Kit

Whether you’re running a small-town country jamboree or a massive multi-stage festival, the principles of an effective press kit remain similar – but the execution can scale. Here are some considerations based on festival size:

• Boutique & local festivals: If your festival is a community-oriented event with a few thousand attendees or less, your press kit might be more modest – and that’s okay. Focus on local angles and personal touches. Provide stories about community involvement (maybe the high school fiddle club performs, or the town’s mayor hosts a barn dance). Local media will eat that up. Make sure to include quotes from organisers or artists that emphasise the festival’s intimate charm (“We set up the stage in our town’s historic barn, and everyone brings homemade pie – it’s like a big family reunion,” says festival producer Jane Doe). Even if you don’t have an extensive media team, do include at least basic photos (last year’s crowd at the fairgrounds, etc.) and a clear contact for press inquiries. Sometimes small festivals skip press kits entirely – don’t make that mistake. A simple one-sheet with key info and a human-interest story can be the difference between getting a nice piece in the local paper or not.
• Large & international festivals: Big festivals such as CMA Fest in Nashville or Stagecoach in California deal with press from around the world and dozens of media on-site. Here, a more elaborate media guide or press portal is common. Still, ensure it’s not just corporate boilerplate. Even as a large event, you can maintain authenticity by incorporating the elements discussed: genre guides, cultural context, and story angles. At this scale, it’s wise to offer daily press briefings or releases during the festival highlighting notable moments (“Day 2: Surprise guest appearance by [Legendary Artist] and a tribute to [Late Country Star]”). Big festivals often have diverse lineups – leverage that by briefing press on the distinct styles on each stage (e.g. Stagecoach’s Palomino Stage featuring alt-country and folk versus its Mane Stage of top 40 country). International media especially will appreciate a cheat-sheet on who’s who if they aren’t deeply familiar with all the Nashville stars. Also, for large festivals, invest in professional photography and videography – outlets will be likelier to run a full-page photo spread if you hand them stunning shots from your official photographers. An example to emulate is Country to Country (C2C) festival in Europe, which provides detailed media notes on visiting American artists and local opening acts, helping bridge the knowledge gap for European editors covering the primarily U.S. talent.

In both cases, remember that the fundamentals apply: accuracy, great visuals, human stories, and accessible info. A small festival can be just as vivid in a journalist’s eyes as a giant one if its press materials capture what makes it special. A mega-festival can still feel personal and culturally rich if its press kit goes beyond the basics and showcases the festival’s heart and soul.

The Payoff: Depth Earns Lasting Coverage

All these efforts in crafting an in-depth press kit pay off in the quality of coverage you’ll receive. When you feed editors a feast of genuine content – not just names and dates, but context and narrative – you encourage them to write substantive stories rather than surface-level blurbs. Depth begets depth. A journalist who learns something from your press kit is more likely to produce an article that teaches their readers something about country music or about your festival’s significance. This kind of coverage has lasting value: it positions your festival as an authority and a cultural event, not just another concert weekend.

In practice, festivals that emphasise depth and authenticity in press outreach often see more positive and detailed media attention. For example, when a festival provided context about the revival of western swing dancing at their event, a major newspaper ran a full feature on the western swing dance hall experience – an angle that gave the festival weeks of extra buzz and even drew new attendees the next year who read that story. Similarly, by highlighting a social issue or trend in your press materials (perhaps your festival’s efforts at sustainability or diversity in country music), you invite broader arts and culture publications to cover you. We’ve seen country festivals that promoted their community engagement – like sponsoring music workshops for local youth or hosting charity drives – receive kudos in the press for being more than entertainment. That not only earns goodwill but also cements the festival’s reputation as an annual institution with deeper roots.

Above all, providing a thoughtful press kit shows respect for the media’s role in telling your story. It says, “we value our music and our fans enough to present them accurately.” Editors and reporters will notice that care. Instead of churning out the same old “country festival brings cowboy hats galore” piece, they’ll have the tools to craft a story with nuance: one that might talk about how your festival is part of a wider cultural movement, or how it honors tradition while embracing change (perhaps noting how today’s country festivals feature everything from classic fiddles to cross-genre collaborations with EDM DJs).

By teaching the editors about the real country music world – its terminology, its people, its heritage – you help steer the narrative away from caricature. In return, your festival gets coverage that truly reflects its identity and impact. That’s a win for you, for the artists, and for country music as a whole.

Key Takeaways

• Teach, Don’t Assume: Use your press kit to educate editors on country music subgenres, proper names, and historical context. The more they know, the more accurate their coverage will be.
• Visual Storytelling: Provide high-quality photos (with descriptive captions) and B-roll footage. Visual assets should capture the true spirit of your festival and are cleared for media use – this encourages outlets to feature your event prominently.
• Humanise the Content: Highlight human interest angles – instrument makers, crew members, devoted fans, and community traditions. These stories differentiate your festival and give journalists compelling material beyond the performances.
• Provide Context & Experts: Include brief backgrounders on genre or local music heritage and offer contacts for expert insights. When journalists have authoritative sources and context at their fingertips, their stories will have more depth and credibility.
• Adapt to Your Scale: Whether a small local festival or a giant international one, tailor your press kit accordingly but maintain the core elements of authenticity and detail. Smaller festivals should focus on local charm, while larger ones can leverage more extensive media resources – but both should aim to inform and inspire the press.
• Depth = Better Coverage: Ultimately, a comprehensive, thoughtful press kit leads to richer and more positive media coverage. When you help editors understand the real country music culture (and your festival’s place in it), you move them beyond clichés. In turn, they’ll write pieces that capture the heart of your festival, giving you lasting coverage that resonates with audiences.