Artist Information
SPECIAL CONSENSUS is a four-person acoustic bluegrass band that formed in 1975 and released the first band recording in 1979. In 1984, Special Consensus created and began bringing the Traditional American Music (TAM) Program to schools and community centers nationally and internationally. The band has appeared on countless cable television shows (including The Nashville Network), on National Public Radio programs and on the Grand Ole Opry at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. International tours have brought Special C to the United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, Ireland, South America and Australia. The band has also performed in concert with many symphony orchestras in the USA and Canada. “Scratch Gravel Road” (released by Compass Records in 2012) was nominated for the Best Bluegrass Album GRAMMY Award. Two songs from “Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute To John Denver” (Compass Records, 2014) received International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards for Recorded Event of the Year and Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, and the tune “Fireball” from “Long I Ride” (Compass Records, 2016) received the IBMA Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year Award. The 19th band recording “Rivers And Roads” (Compass Records, 2018) garnered two IBMA awards for Album of the Year and Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year and a GRAMMY nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. In 2020, Special C released the 20th band recording “Chicago Barn Dance” (Compass Records, 2020), which received the IBMA Song of the Year award. The most recent band recording, “Great Blue North” (Compass Records, 2023) is the band’s tip of the hat to Canadian songwriters and included Canadian musician friends of the band on several songs. The Gordon Lightfoot song “Alberta Bound” won the 2023 IBMA Collaborative Event of the Year Award. The Special Consensus members are Greg Cahill, leader/banjo; Dan Eubanks, upright bass; Brian McCarty and the 2023 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year Greg Blake, guitar.
