We just heard from Greg Cahill, Special Consensus founder and fearless leader, about how they are spending their Christmas vacation…

“Just a note to let you know that we are in Brent Truitt’s Nashville studio this week recording 6 new songs for an 18 song Special C 2010 release on Pinecastle Records simply called 35th Anniversary. I can’t believe I will have been touring and recording with the band for 35 years in 2010!

The new recording will feature 12 songs from previous Special C releases along with the new songs – all original compositions performed by myself on banjo and veteran Special C bass player David Thomas – along with recent addition Ryan Roberts (Eastern Canada Songwriter of the Year and Best Bluegrass Album of the Year) on guitar and newest member Rick Faris (formerly of the KS-based Faris Family Band) on mandolin.

Wishing The Bluegrass Blog and the bluegrass community a very Happy Holiday season!”

We heard this morning from Greg Cahill, banjo player, founder and leader of Special Consensus – Special C to their close friends. Greg also serves as the Board Chair of the International Bluegrass Music Association.

He sent along word of some changes in the band lineup for next year, as well as a number of other bits of news as Special C prepares to celebrate 2010 as their 35th Anniversary picking and singing bluegrass music.

Mandolin player/singer/songwriter Ashby Frank will be leaving The Special Consensus in January 2010. He has been with the band for 2 ½ years and has decided to work as a free-lance musician and to play select tour dates with the Mashville Brigade, the excellent aggregation of class-A musicians from various nationally renowned bands that plays at The Station Inn in Nashville on Tuesday nights. Ashby wrote the title song of the most recent Special C release Signs, which has been on the bluegrass charts since it’s release in March. Be sure to look for Ashby and The Mashville Brigade at a festival near you and of course at The Station Inn on any Tuesday when in Nashville.

The Special C welcomes Faris Family Bluegrass Band veteran musician Rick Faris on mandolin and vocals. Rick has toured throughout the US and Canada singing and playing guitar and dobro with the family band since 1998. The Faris Family band won several SPBGMA awards over the years and Rick was awarded SPBGMA Midwest Guitar Player of the Year in 2005 and 2008. He is also an excellent luthier, building guitars, dobros and mandolins when not on the road. We are very proud to have such a consummate musician joining our ranks and look forward to working with Rick in the New Year.

2010 is a banner year for The Special C; the band will celebrate the 35 year anniversary of the formation of the band as a touring and recording unit. To celebrate this milestone, the band will be in the Nashville studio of veteran producer/engineer Brent Truitt in December to record a new “special” anniversary release for Pinecastle Records, scheduled for a spring 2010 release. Brent has produced and recorded the past six Special C recordings and this “35th Anniversary” recording will include numerous songs from previous (now out of print) Special C recordings. The new band motto echos the words once written by Buck Owens: “where does the good times go?”

A 35 year anniversary concert is scheduled for October 23, 2010 at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and will feature performances of songs from The Special C repertoire with the current band along with numerous Special C alums that have appeared on band recordings.

Other Special C news is that the band will begin a new agency representation with Maria Nadauld’s California-based Above the Bay Booking agency in January; we look forward to working with Maria, who has recently booked a January 2010 tour of California for the band.

This past Friday, Special Consensus spent the day in Nashville doing radio spots and celebrating the release of their latest CD. Fearless leader Greg Cahill sent along this report.

The Station Inn in Nashville was the site for The Special C album release concert for the new Signs recording on the Pinecastle Records label on Friday, April 24. We enjoyed seeing friends, fans and family members and had a wonderful time playing songs from the new release and bringing up to the stage many of the great musicians in attendance (including Special C bass player alum Tim Dishman and his wife Tina Adair Dishman, Brandon Godwin, Nora Jane Struthers, Robin Roller).

There was plenty of delicious cake for all, supplied by our great friend Megan Lynch. and the best homemade cheesecake in the land made by Ashby’s Mom. A truly enjoyable and memorable evening for us and we greatly appreciate the support of so many friends and fans.

The Special C visited with XM Radio host Kyle Cantrell in the XM Nashville studio earlier that afternoon for a Track by Track review of the new Signs recording. Be sure to listen to the Bluegrass Junction show on June 10 to hear our very enjoyable visit with Kyle and to hear every track on the new recording.

The band also visited later in the afternoon with Nashville Public Radio Bluegrass Breakdown host Dave Higgs for an interview and live performance of several songs from the new Signs recording. We told stories about the songs and about ourselves, which of course included a good deal of laughter and (mostly) friendly banter.

Here are a few more photos sent along by Special C mandolinist Ashby Frank. 

              

The following article, originally titled Greg Cahill – Reflections From On The Road, appears in the current issue of British Bluegrass News (Spring 2009). He composed it upon returning from a three week tour by Special Consensus in the British isles earlier this year.

BBN has graciously allowed us to reproduce it here, believing it conatins valuable insight and information for other US bands considering a tour of the UK.

I have just returned home from a wonderful tour of Ireland, Scotland, England and back to Ireland with The Special Consensus. The band has completed this bi-annual tour since the early 1990s and we have developed many great friendships with promoters, friends and fans alike.

This tour was quite lengthy – we arrived in Dublin on January 13 and played shows every night from January 14 through February 3, and returned to the USA on February 4. Although we were pretty tired by the 21st day of concurrent performances, we truly had a wonderful time and greatly appreciate the support of everyone who came out to hear the band.

For travelling bluegrass bands, touring and performing to audiences in different countries is a most interesting and very enjoyable experience. Every town in every country has its own history and personal identity, which makes for a wonderful learning experience. Different cultural perspectives and habits, from types of meals served, food preparation, drinks indigenous to the region, political and religious opinions, etc., make each town and city a "brave new world" to explore before even arriving at the concert venue.

One of the first factors to consider when contemplating scheduling a tour of foreign lands is airfare. It is always very helpful to determine the best destination city that might be a "hub" of sorts to begin a tour, and it is also very cost effective to book round trip airfare whenever possible. I always check several airfare options to have at least a general idea of the major travel expense before scheduling any dates so I have an idea of how much money will be necessary to pay travel expenses and then pay the band. This information is invaluable in determining what fee to request per show and then how many bookings it will take to earn the desired amount necessary to make the tour feasible.

It seems that most "full time" professional touring bands in the US are used to long drives between engagements. It is not unusual for a band to play at a festival in Kentucky one day and, perhaps after an all-night drive, appear at a festival in Minnesota the next day. The Special C drives to about 70% of the shows and flies to the other 30%. Our impression of the scene in the UK and Ireland is that a three hour drive is considered quite long, whereas this is more the norm for US bands. It also seems to us that bands in mainland Europe fall somewhere between these drive time parameters; they may be comfortable with even a five or six hour drive but would also certainly balk at a 10 or 12 hour all-night drive. I would certainly suggest that bands planning a tour of different countries plot the drives when scheduling the shows to be sure they will be able to comfortably get to each show (and "comfortably" is relative to the usual band tour experience). (more…)