One the longest-running bands in bluegrass, Special Consensus recently celebrated 40 years with Long I Ride, an album that showcases the group’s current lineup and also acknowledges those who have helped out along the way. Chicago-based banjoist Greg Cahill has been at the helm of Special C since its inception in 1975, and has seen the band through the myriad personnel changes that have kept the soil fertile, the sound current and the energy up. Cahill, Rick Faris (guitar), Nick Dumas (mandolin) and Dan Eubanks (bass) are all exceptional pickers — as is expected in a band with the institutional qualities of this one — but also outstanding high baritone/tenor vocalists, a refreshing pause from the more typical baritone bluegrass vocal. It takes a lot of magic dust to make a band run for this long and remain at the top of its game, and Greg Cahill has found the wellspring. CY WINSTANLEY
Special Consensus
