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! wrote: on Dec. 18, 2006: After celebrating 30 years as a band, The Special Consensus will kick of the 2007 year with a European tour through Ireland, England and Scotland.
Beginning January 11, 2007 in Belfast, Ireland, the band will perform in Naul, Sixmilebridge, Listowel, Kilworth, Middleton and Lurgan, Ireland. Then, the group makes a stop in Edinburgh, Scotland before heasding offto England. Bluegrass will be heasrd in Kenilworth, Steeple Morden, Nottingham, Bristol and Rainford Junction in the United Kingdom.
On the return, the band will again find themselves in Ireland as they pass through Rathfrailand, Grange, Armagh, Athy and Carrig-On-Bannow before returning to California. The Special Consensus is a four person acoustic bluegrass band that began performing in the Midwest in the spring of 1975. The first band album was released in 1979 when the band began touring on a national basis.
In 1984, The Special Consensus initiated the Traditional American Music (TAM) Program in schools across the country and began appearing on cable television and National Public Radio shows. The band has since appeared on The Nashville Network Fire On The Mountain show, toured for three seasons as 4/5 of the cast in the musical Cotton Patch Gospel (music and lyrics by Harry Chapin), and released twelve additional recordings. Songs from the 1998 Our Little Town, the 2002 Route 10 and the 2004 Everything s Alright releases appeared on the National Bluegrass Survey chart in Bluegrass Unlimited and on the Gospel Truths chart in Bluegrass Now.
A video production of the TAM Program, sponsored by the Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association, has been archived at the Nashville office of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and sent by the IBMA to hundreds of schools throughout the United States. In 2000, Pinecastle Records released the first band performance video, filmed for Iowa Public Television s Old Time Country Music show, and The Special Consensus 25th Anniversary recording to mark this milestone year for the band. The 25th Anniversary and Route 10 recordings each received a Highlight Review in Bluegrass Unlimited, and Route 10 was included in the Top 10 Recordings of 2003 in both Bluegrass Now and the Chicago Tribune.
In November 2003, The Special Consensus received a standing ovation after the first band performance on the Grand Ole Opry at Nashville s historic Ryman Auditorium. The 2005 Everything s Alright release was included in the Top 10 Recordings of 2005 in Bluegrass Now and Greg was featured in the September 2006 cover story of that periodical. The band was featured in the August 2005 cover story of Bluegrass Unlimited.
International tours have brought The Special Consensus to the United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, Ireland and South America. In 1993, the band performed the first of many concerts with a symphony orchestra, complete with orchestral arrangements of songs from the band repertoire. The Special Consensus is included on the touring rosters of the Illinois Arts Council (Artstour) and the Heartland Arts Fund and continues to participate in the Arts Midwest Performing Arts Touring Program.
Greg Cahill plays banjo and sings baritone and tenor vocals. Chicago born and bred, Greg has been playing bluegrass banjo since the early 1970s and formed The Special Consensus in 1975. Greg has composed many banjo instrumentals and released three albums featuring his unique style: Lone Star (1980) with guests Jethro Burns and Byron Berline, Blue Skies (1992) with fellow Chicagoan Don Stiernberg, and Night Skies (1998) with Don and guests Sam Bush, Glen Duncan and Tom Boyd.
He has appeared on all of The Special Consensus recordings, on numerous recordings by other artists, and on many national television and radio commercials as the banjo player of choice on Chicago's busy jingle music scene. Greg has also recorded with the ChowDogs (Slavek Hanzlik, Dallas Wayne, and Ollie O'Shea) and periodically tours European countries with that band. In addition to conducting workshops at festivals and teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Greg has released four instructional videos and is the former Chairperson of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Bluegrass In The Schools Committee.
In 2004, Greg is currently the president of the International Bluegrass Music Association. David Thomas plays bass and sings lead, baritone, tenor and high baritone vocals. David was born and raised in Limestone County and still resides near Elkmont , Alabama .
His interest in music was sparked by listening to the country band of his uncle and great uncles in the 1980s. David began playing the guitar at the age of twelve and his grandfather, an avid fan of bluegrass music, began taking him to bluegrass music concerts when he was in his early teens. David began playing the mandolin at the age of seventeen and bass at nineteen.
He played guitar, mandolin and bass in regional Alabama-based bands throughout his teenage years and he co-founded a bluegrass band (playing mandolin) called Roanoke in 2003. Roanoke competed in bluegrass band contests throughout the southern states, winning several in Alabama and Tennessee , until David joined The Special Consensus in 2006. There aren t many bluegrass musicians like Justin Carbone born and raised in North Jersey, where you re more likely to grow up as a disappointed Mets fan than a professional bluegrass guitar player.
Justin was ten when he experienced his first festival, The Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival, and met some kids his age actually playing the music. It wasn t long before he found his passion in the guitar and formed a group called Kickin Grass. Kickin Grass sort of modulated into the group 2nd Edition, and a hobby slowly progressed into a decent summer job between college semesters.
In 2002, 2nd Edition won the SPBGMA band contest and the bookings starting rolling in, making attendance a challenge for some of Justin s Economics classes. The following year was filled with life decisions as 2nd Edition made their last appearance on IBMA s showcase stage. Justin graduated from East Stroudsburg University with a B.
S. in Economics and a B.A.
in Management. Justin was a little nervous to find himself re-locating to Nashville, TN to join the Chicago based band Special Consensus. Within months, Special C was in the studio recording a CD to be released on Pinecastle Records.
Justin never had to sing lead before this studio experience and was pleasantly surprised when a song he wrote and sang was selected as the title track. Everything s Alright released in March of 2005. With the help and advice of Greg Cahill, Justin was able to showcase his song writing, singing, and playing on a solo project, which also released on Pinecastle Records in September of 2005 Ron Spears plays mandolin and fiddle and sings lead, baritone, tenor and high baritone vocals.
Ron began playing bluegrass music professionally in his hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah in 1970. He plays all of the bluegrass instruments and has performed with numerous bluegrass and country bands, including the Utah-based bands Cottonwood and The Bluegrass Conspiracy, and the internationally acclaimed Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. In 1999, Ron reformed Ron Spears and Within Tradition, and he continues to play select dates with this band throughout the year.
He joined The Special Consensus in 2004. Ron is also an accomplished songwriter and has had songs recorded by Lou Reid, IIIrd Tyme Out, The Bluegrass Cardinals, The Bluegrass Patriots and The Special Consensus.
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