Special C

Special Consensus (l. to r.): Rick Faris, David Thomas,
Dustin Benson, Greg Cahill

In 1975, Greg Cahill got together with some college friends and formed Special Consensus. Those friends have long since departed, but Cahill remains, the glue that holds it all together.

The band's first album came out in 1979; the most recent project, the Grammy-nominated Scratch Gravel Road, was released last year. In all, the band has 16 recordings, and Cahill has played on them all.

He has also released three solo recordings and four banjo instructional videos. In addition, he teaches at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and served on IBMA's board of directors from 1998 to 2010, the last four years as board president. In 2011, he was awarded IBMA's Distinguished Achievement Award.

My favorite Special C recording, from 1996 (l. to r.:
Bobby Burns, Diana Phillips, Cahill, Colby Maddox)