Also be respectful of different musicians abilities... Dave Brubeck couldn't read music, and some traditional musicians also never learned how to read music, picking up tunes by ear instead. If this is the case, sending tunes a few weeks before a show is simply not going to work. Musicians have their own culture apart from dancers, so temper your expectations and be patient and respectful.

Consider not hiring a "band" but hiring a fiddler. I don't know what the remote situation you're in is like, but if you have any professional musicians in your area, they should know how the gigs work. If you can find a single fiddler and hire them, they will find someone else to play with them as a duo or trio, as long as you explain what you're looking for (reels at 120 bpm, playing for dancers, etc.) and the pay. If you can pair less experienced musicians with more experienced musicians, this will benefit you in the long run, bringing up a new generation of fiddlers in this tradition. For example, many musicians have students. Ask if one of their students is up for the task of performing and they can join in on a few tunes. It also broadens your dance base when the parents come out and participate.

You'll want to go over with whomever you hire a series of signals that indicate "speed up", "slow down", "keep playing", "stop immediately" and "stop at the end of the phrase / last time".

You'll want to ensure that they start each tune with a 4 beat introduction ("Four for nothing" as Winton Marsalis says, and "Four potatoes" as is the phrase around here), which is a cue for you to cue the dancers. Musicians are NOT in the habit of doing this on their own, and waiting once through the tune instead is too long.

Forcing a square peg into a round hole is not what i would consider setting anyone up for success. Expecting your blue grass band to convert to a contra dance band lickity-split is, in my opinion, not a good approach. I would suggest letting it be what it's going to be. Maybe your group likes blue grass tunes, and you form a contra/bluegrass syncretism. This is part of the folk process. Everywhere, everyone, is different and cherishing that and encouraging appreciation is what i would consider setting people up for success - my previous recommendations and advice support this idea, I think. For example, in my area, fiddling is heavily influenced by many repertoires, particularly Metis, which was originally used for Metis step dancing. I doubt the Metis fiddle tunes get played anywhere else, but they make for excellent contra dance tunes with their own flare and feel. I'm leaning into this, it's part of the Manitoba sound!

Best of luck! Happy Dancing!

Greg, Winnipeg