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Special Consensus

Band · Active 1979–present · Chicago, Illinois · specialc.com
Contemporary Bluegrass

The Special Consensus is the Chicago-based bluegrass band founded by banjoist Greg Cahill in 1975 and still touring 50 years later — an urban-traditionalist group that has been both a major recording act (22+ albums, two Grammy nominations, eight IBMA awards) and a “farm team” that launched the careers of Robbie Fulks, Chris Jones, Josh Williams, Rick Faris, Ashby Frank, and others.

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  • Founded in Chicago in 1975 by banjoist Greg Cahill, who had been jamming with Chicago bluegrass players since his graduate student years in the early 1970s at the University of Chicago Folk Festival.
  • Cahill has appeared on all 22+ Special Consensus recordings. Received the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2011, served as IBMA Board Chair/President 2006–2010, and was inducted into the SPBGMA Hall of Greats in 2020.
  • Launched the Traditional American Music (TAM) Program in 1984 to introduce bluegrass to schools; Cahill estimates the program has reached approximately one million students.
  • Long-running farm-team alumni include Josh Williams, Chris Jones, Robbie Fulks, Dallas Wayne, Rick Faris, Ashby Frank, Dustin Benson, David Thomas, and many others.
  • Current lineup (circa 2024–2025): Greg Cahill (banjo), Greg Blake (guitar, lead vocals — 2023 and 2025 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year), Brian McCarty (mandolin), Dan Eubanks or Nico Humby (bass).
  • Signed to Compass Records. Recent album catalog: Scratch Gravel Road (2012, Grammy-nominated), Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute to John Denver (2014, two IBMA awards), Long I Ride (2016), Rivers and Roads (2018, IBMA Album of the Year and Grammy-nominated).
  • Chicago Barn Dance (2020, celebrating the band's 45th anniversary) earned the 2020 IBMA Song of the Year award for the title track, referencing the WLS “National Barn Dance” — a precursor to the Grand Ole Opry.
  • Great Blue North (2023) featured Canadian guests and earned the 2023 IBMA Collaborative Recording of the Year for the Gordon Lightfoot song “Alberta Bound”; the video won the inaugural 2024 IBMA Video of the Year (tied with Authentic Unlimited).
  • Been All Around This World (Compass, June 2025) was the 50th-anniversary album, produced by Alison Brown, featuring band alumni Rick Faris, Ashby Frank, Robbie Fulks, Chris Jones, Dallas Wayne, and Josh Williams alongside the current lineup.
  • The band has toured every state in the continental U.S. as well as over a dozen countries, with biennial tours of Ireland and the UK. Greg Cahill has additionally released solo albums (Lone Star with Jethro Burns and Byron Berline; Blue Skies and Night Skies with Don Stiernberg).
  • Greg Cahill
    Played on recordings with Special Consensus
  • Rick Faris
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  • Dan Eubanks
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  • Nick Dumas
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  • David Thomas
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  • Jamie Clifton
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  • Josh Williams
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  • Justin Carbone
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  • Tim Dishman
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  • Al Murphy
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  • Alan Johnson
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  • Andy Dye
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  • Ashby Frank
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  • Celia Woodsmith
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  • Courtney Hartman
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  • Dallas Wayne
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  • Dennis White
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  • Don Stiernberg
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  • Dustin Benson
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  • Ed Walsh
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  • Jenni Lyn Gardner
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  • Joe Cox
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  • Kimber Ludiker
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  • Larry Gillis
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  • Marty Marrone
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  • Ollie Shea
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  • Randy Kohrs
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  • Ray Pohlman
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  • Rob Ickes
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  • Ron Stewart
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  • Scott Salak
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  • Tim Crouch
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  • Tim Wilson
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