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)

January

Who are these bluegrass "educators"?

This band celebrates its 38th year in 2013. Many members have come and gone, but the banjoist has remained a fixture from the beginning.

Though based in Chicago, the band has strong ties to Nashville, as two members of the quartet call the Music City home.

A major focal point for this band is introducing young people to bluegrass music. In the past 30 years, it's been estimated the band has performed for more than a million students.

One of its strong recordings is 1996's Strong Enough to Bend.



Significant January dates in bluegrass history

• 2nd: Red Smiley, of Reno & Smiley, died (1972)
• 6th: Earl Scruggs, who passed away last year, was born (1924)
• 10th: Butch Baldassari, founder of the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, died (2009)
• 13th: Jimmy Martin recorded "You Don't Know My Mind" (1960)
• 19th: Charlie Waller (1935) and Dolly Parton (1946) were born
• 20th: Flatt & Scruggs played at Nixon's first inauguration (1969)
• 26th: Charlie Louvin, one half of the Louvin Brothers, died (2011)
• 30th: Reno & Smiley recorded "I'm the Talk of the Town" (1953)

2013 Bluegrass Calendar

A new year, a new calendar. But still the game goes on, or, as Sherlock Holmes would say, "The game is afoot." This year, each month will feature a different bluegrass act. Once again, it will be your task -- if you choose to accept it -- to identify the performer(s). As the title of the calendar suggests, each band is based in or around Nashville, Tennessee.

All the photos featured in the calendar were taken by Alane Anno, a Nashville native. Last year, she became the official photographer for the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass convention, awards show, and fanfest, held each year in Nashville.

Pie

Pie Traynor

Harold "Pie" Traynor got his nickname when he was a child. He frequented a neighborhood grocery store and would often ask for pie. The owner of the store started calling him "Pie Face," which was later shortened to "Pie" by his friends.

A mild-mannered and scholarly player, Traynor was ejected from a game just once in his career. The game was in Brooklyn, and the umpire who gave him the heave-ho was Pete McLaughlin. A call went against him and he supposedly exclaimed, "I'm sick and tired of such decisions!" and then threw the ball, his hat, and his glove.

"So he wouldn't be arrested for indecent exposure," McLaughlin said later, "I bounced him."

Along with his offensive prowess, Traynor was considered the best fielding third basemen of his era. He led the National League in assists and double plays three times and in putouts seven times. He ranks fifth all-time among third basemen in putouts.

And he was tough, too. Often, when balls were hit to his right at the hot corner, instead of backhanding with his glove, he would snare them with his bare hand. Said teammate Charlie Grimm: "I've seen him field a hot grounder over at third base barehanded and get the runner at first."

And, in an age when most ballplayers weren't overly concerned with fitness, Traynor was an exception. In fact, he purposely did not learn to drive so that he would never have an excuse not to walk.

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him no. 70 on its list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century, and Major League Baseball nominated him as a finalist on its All-Century team.

"He was a mechanically perfect third baseman," said Branch Rickey at Traynor's Hall of Fame induction, "a man of intellectual worth on the field of play."

December

Who is this third sacker with the "delicious" nickname?

I was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, on Nov. 11, 1898. My parents had emigrated from Canada.

My given name is Harold, but I am much better known by this "delicious" nickname.

I made my major league debut with the Pirates in 1920. In 1922, I became the Pirates starting third baseman, hitting .282 with 81 RBIs.

I played my entire career with the Pirates, retiring as a player in 1937. During that time, we won two pennants (1925, 1927) and one World Series (1925).

In the 1925 World Series, I hit .347, including a home run off the great Walter Johnson as the Pirates beat the Senators in seven games.

Hitting a homer in the World Series was a big thrill, since I was not a home run hitter (just 58 during my career). But I did drive in more than 100 runs seven times in my career, second all-time among major league third basemen to Mike Schmidt, who did it nine times. My lifetime average was .320, and I struck out just 278 times.

I managed the Pirates for six seasons, from 1934 to 1939, then went into scouting and, after that, radio. In 1948, I was elected to the Hall of Fame, the first third baseman chosen by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

I died in Pittsburgh on March 19, 1972, at the age of 73. Not long before, the Pirates retired my uniform number 20.

Tristram E. Speaker

Tris Speaker

When Tris Speaker arrived in Boston, fresh from his small-town Texas upbringing, he felt a little out of place. So, when asked his name, he got a little creative.

"All I could think about," he said later, "was all the big shots I'd seen and they all had middle initials. I had none, so to add stature to myself, I told them my name was Tristram E. Speaker."

The "E" stuck until after his death.

Arguably the best all-around center fielder before the Mays-Mantle era, Speaker had a career batting average of .345 (6th all-time), 3,514 hits (5th all-time), and 792 career doubles (all-time leader). He is sixth overall in triples and eighth in runs scored.

Defensively, his glove was commonly known as the place "where triples go to die." He still holds the records for career assists, double plays, and unassisted double plays by an outfielder.

Beside being enshrined in Cooperstown, Speaker was also inducted in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1951, the very first inductee.

Two years earlier, Ogden Nash immortalized him in the poem "Line-up for Yesterday":

S is for Speaker,

Swift center-field tender,

When the ball saw him coming,

It yelled, "I surrender."

November

Who is this legendary center fielder?

I was born -- with an operatic first name and an oratorical last name -- on April 4, 1888, in Hubbard, Texas.

I was known by two nicknames throughout my 22-year playing career: the Grey Eagle and Spoke.

As a youngster, I fell from a horse and broke my right arm, forcing me to start throwing left-handed, which I continued to do even after my right arm healed.

I made my major league debut with the Boston Americans (later Red Sox) in 1907. I stayed in Beantown through the 1915 season, helping the Red Sox to two World Series titles as part of the "Million Dollar Outfield" with Duffy Lewis and Harry Hooper.

Following a salary dispute after the 1915 season, I was traded to the Cleveland Indians, where, in 1916, I hit .386. Take that, Lannin! (Boston's owner)

In the tragic 1920 season in which teammate Ray Chapman died after being hit in the head by a pitch, I -- as player-manager -- led the Indians to their first World Series title.

I retired in 1928 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937.

I died on Dec. 8, 1958, in Lake Whitney, Texas, at age 70.