New CD from Special C in 2012

Greg Cahill got in touch over Christmas with some news about the next Special Consensus album, due from Compass Records early next year.

It will be the first recording with the current edition of the band: Cahill on banjo, David Thomas on bass, Rick Faris on mandolin and Dustin Benson on guitar.

Here’s Greg’s overview of the new project:

“We recorded in the Compass Records studio in Nashville and Alison Brown produced. What a joy it was working with her – she is a fantabulous producer and definitely brought out the best in all of us, both the playing and the singing.

Most of the material is original by our professional songwriter friends (Jon Weisberger & Tim Stafford, Brink Brinkman & Tony Rackley, Becky Buller, Dixie & Tom T. Hall, Craig Market, Ryan Roberts, etc.), and even a never recorded song by Harley Allen. Dustin and I each wrote an instrumental (Stuart Duncan played fiddle on Dustin’s tune and Alison played a twin banjo part on mine), and we found a somewhat obscure acapella gospel song by the Golden Gate Quartet that we rearranged for the recording. Surprise special guests appear on the Craig Market tribute song to Bill Monroe, simply titled Monroe.

I am very, very excited about this recording – David, Rick and Dustin gave stellar performances and the only song that is not original is the great Don Gibson song Sea of Heartbreak, which we always liked done in the bluegrass style, but had not heard recorded recently.

The biggest struggle for us is coming up with a title – thinking is much more difficult than making the music!

Looks like a Spring release – hopefully by March – can’t wait!”

We’ll be on the lookout for this one.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.