"Redscowl Bluesingsky" or "Redscowl-Bluesingsky"?

A continuing source of confusion among music journalists is how to spell the name of the band Redscowl Bluesingsky, also referred to as Redscowl-Bluesingsky. It's no wonder the journalists are confused — the band itself doesn't seem to agree. We decided to settle the matter once and for all.

Our initial investigations didn't shed much light on the question. When we phoned former manager Matt Cutts and asked him for the definitive word, this is what he had to say:

"It really depended on the context and how much we'd been drinking at the time," said Cutts. "When we were a little tipsy, the words kind of just slurred together, so that 'Redscowl Bluesingsky' became 'Redscowl-Bluesingsky' and finally 'RedscowlBluesingsky'."

The way Mr. Cutts spoke the names was telling: the first version had a definite pause between the Redscowl and Bluesingsky, a much shorter pause in the hyphenated version and no pause at all in the single-word version.

We asked Mr. Cutts what version the band used most often.

"They're a rock band," he said, laughing, "they drink a lot, smoke some pot... I can tell you that they sure don't pronounce it 'red...scowl...blue...sing...sky'!"

Further conversation with Mr. Cutts didn't yield any more information; he seemed to be more interested in promoting his new web startup than anything else. "Psst... I can get Redscowl Bluesingsky a good ranking if you'll link back to my blog..." was his parting shot.

Redscowl Bluesingsky who?

Our next stop was the band's record label, Eusew Records. The official Redscowl-Bluesingsky page uses the hyphenated form, but that could have been for the convenience of the webmaster. So we decided to talk to the band's PR rep to get some clarification. Surely the record company would know!

Our first challenge, though, was getting past the receptionist.

Us: Can we talk to the person who handles the PR for 'Redscowl Bluesingsky', please?

Receptionist: Who?

U: The band called 'Redscowl Bluesingsky'.

R: Can you spell it for me?

U: R - e - d - s - c - o - w - l - B - l - u - e - s - i - n - g - s - k - y.

R: I'm sorry, but I don't know that band.

U: It's two words: 'Redscowl' and 'Bluesingsky'.

R: Is there a hyphen?

U: We're not sure, that's why we're calling.

R: (Grumbles.) Oh, alright, I'll try both. Please wait... yes, I've found them in my database.

U: Hyphenated or not?

R: No hyphen. I'm putting you through now, have a nice day.

(Phone rings three times. No answer. Voicemail greeting.)

Greeting: Hi, you've reached Andrea Siltar, PR rep for Redscowl-Bluesingsky. I'm sorry I can't take your call right now, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

We left a message, but we doubted they'd call us back, so it was time to try a different track.

More to come...

Send comments or questions about this investigation to redscowl-bluesingsky@cluelessabout.com.