Why Bells & Whistles?
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I imagine the expression "with all the bells and whistles" originates from the good ole days of steam engines, which had had to be equipped with a bell and a steam whistle.
To illustrate, see the picture from left to right, with really nice and big "luxury items": a smokestack, a whistle, a bell, an engineer's cab. 
More about this term is provided on the link to world wide words page, whose author Michael Quinion shares basically the same opinion.
The steam engine can of course run without a bell or whistle - but try to explain that to a little boy, whom you bought such a toy steam engine for a present. A proper toy engine simply must have "all the bells and whistles" - without them, it ain't no proper toy engine! The same applies for my band - without these luxury items it would not be quite it. I want a band with "all the bells and whistles", with all what it takes to be a great band. The bells and whistles of my band are therefore the individual players' talents and skills, with deep understanding and interpretation of bluegrass spirit.
Well, now so that I don't only speak about those "luxury items", let me say what they mean for my band and my goals. In the sound of this band I want to reflect those often overlooked, yet absolutely most substantial factors - with singing and tight "high lonesome" vocals in the first place, supplemented by good instrumental technique.
There used to be a time, or perhaps it still persists, when most contemporary bands didn't bother with a true "mountain sound". I believe this might be because there is too much "obscure matter" involved that hardly anyone can get any advice on, and hardly anyone really pays much attention to its real substance. The concentration is on more obvious effects - things that can be seen, touched, measured or learned from tabulatures - the effect of the human voice is often forgotten.
I think that one of a greatest misunderstandings of bluegrass singing lies in the interpretation of words "trying to be different at all costs". Often, there is no need to try to be different - for that is sufficient if you try not to copy too much and if you stay yourself. They say that even Bill Monroe used to advise every singer to try to be different. To this topic I have several questions:
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Isn't it a misunderstanding in the interpretation?
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Was that supposed to mean that we should try to avoid even what we call the "high lonesome singing"?
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Should we forsake the original technique just because the high-powered PA systems make up for our shortcomings?
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Was the high lonesome used only in order to be audible without microphone?
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Isn't there more in the style, something that is valid even in times when performing without a microphone is inconceivable?
I believe the magic is lost, once you take the high lonesome sound out of bluegrass. There should be someone to honor the ancient way of singing, from the days when one had to entertain the barn full of people without any microphones and PA system, just like Bill Monroe was once able to do.
Singing is a part of the human civilization since the times unknown, the PA systems and electronics far less than mere century. Can you imagine, what changes has the singing technique undergone since then? Much of it is to the good of things. However there is also a question if a baby wasn't thrown out with the bath water.
And when I look around the contemporary bluegrass bands of our times, I feel that the likes of Del McCoury or Ricky Skaggs use this original recipe very well for their success. If Bill Monroe was the Creator of this music, then Del McCoury and Ricky Skaggs are his prophets. Their singing and band sounds prove their correct understanding of Bill's message. So there is one thing for sure: I don't strive for the sound exactly like the Del McCoury Band or The Kentucky Thunder. If you can spot similarities, they are there because I strive to build on Bill's heritage with the correct understanding of the bluegrass substance.
So I don't want to create any early days bluegrass "museum", where we would "glaze its shape in" once and for all as if in some mausoleum. On the contrary, from a certain viewpoint, I admire bluegrass as a form of american folk music for its ability to evolve, and yet remain the folk music. It does not need to set its form in concrete into rigid and unchangeable templates as much as many folklore music bands do here in the Czech republic. It is able to move those boundaries and change them, yet with a sensitive consideration of the music origin, without necessity for its pioneers to graduate any LSU ("Lidová Škola Umění", Folk School of Arts, a Czech republic educational institution, attended by children on a non-compulsory basis since their primary school years. It takes eight years of some after school evening effort, at the end of which one graduates - this certificate used to be compulsory pre-requisite for participation in folklore bands).
For this reason I believe it's not relevant if this band should be ranked as a traditional or contemporary one, because if there is anything useable left for the enhancement of the original idea as I understand it, I will be glad to use it.
