Today I had the honour of meeting Greg Cahill and his Band, Special Consensus, from Chicago, who are on their 10th 0r 12th tour of Ireland and England, and celebrating the fact that under Greg's guidance, they have been making quality acoustic Bluegrass music for the past 35 years. One of the things that keeps their sound so fresh is the fact that they are constantly changing, always welcoming new young talent into the Band. This is very much in the style of Bill Monroe, whose Centenary we celebrate this year. Bill had the ability to travel all over the USA and if he needed to, he could always find musicians who were competent enough to stand in at short notice. This is now probably the case with Special Consensus, who have passed so many fine players, singers and writers through their hands. The band did a fine live set for the Pat Kenny Radio Show, and also took time to record a Bill Monroe song, and a short interview for Roots Freeway which will go out on Saturday night next at 11pm on RTE Radio One. Watch out for Special Consensus on their current tour. You can check details on the bluegrassirelandblog, which will also give you details of other forthcoming Irish tours by visiting Bands from the US. Niall, January 12 2011.
