Inspired by vintage bluegrass concert posters, the stamp art features four acoustic string instruments typical of bluegrass bands — guitar, five-string banjo, fiddle, and mandolin — below the word "Bluegrass." Text at the top of the stamp reads "High Lonesome Sound," the title of a 1963 documentary about Appalachian folk music and a familiar nickname for bluegrass.
Antonio Alcalá, an art director with the Postal Service, worked with designer and illustratorHeather Moulderto produce the stamp art. Moulder created the design as a letterpress print, with each layer carved by hand from wood and linoleum.
