The Special Consensus

The Special Consensus is a four-person acoustic bluegrass band that formed in the Chicago area in 1975. The band has released 19 recordings and has appeared on numerous National Public Radio programs and cable television shows, including The Nashville Network and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. International tours have brought the band to Australia, Canada, Europe, Ireland, South America and the United Kingdom. The Special C has appeared in concert with many symphony orchestras and has brought an informative in-school presentation, the Traditional American Music (TAM) Program, to schools nationally and internationally since 1984. Band leader/banjo player Greg Cahill is the former President/Board Chair of the Nashville-based International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), the former President of the Nashville-based Foundation for Bluegrass Music and the recipient of the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2011. Other band members include guitarist Rick Faris, upright bass player Dan Eubanks and mandolin player Nick Dumas. The 2012 band release Scratch Gravel Road (Compass Records) was GRAMMY nominated for the Best Bluegrass Album award and songs from the 2014 band release Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute To John Denver (Compass Records) received IBMA awards for Recorded Event of the Year and Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year. Long I Ride (Compass Records) was released in 2016 and a tune from this recording received an IBMA award for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year. Rivers And Roads (Compass Records) was released in March 2018 and received IBMA awards for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year and Album of the Year in addition to a GRAMMY nomination for the Best Bluegrass Album award.