Out To Lunch 2025

Chicago-based bluegrass outfit Special Consensus has covered a lot of musical territory in the half a century since banjoist Greg Cahill founded the band in 1975. 

Two-time GRAMMY nominees and six-time International Bluegrass Music Association winners, the group has amassed an expansive discography of over 20 releases including 2020’s CHICAGO BARN DANCE which highlighted the important role the Windy City played in the early development of bluegrass music.

With their latest release GREAT BLUE NORTH, Special Consensus turns their gaze northward, across the great lakes, to Canada. The album offers a thoughtfully curated collection of well-known and obscure songs from Canadian writers and features collaborations with some Canada’s most notable bluegrass and folk musicians. 

Taken as a whole, GREAT BLUE NORTH expands Special Consensus’s musical footprint, furthering their legacy as Chicago’s premiere bluegrass ambassadors and establishing them as torchbearers for the international reach of bluegrass music. Cahill adds:  We hope the international bluegrass community will enjoy the new music and join us in celebrating the fact that bluegrass music truly has no borders!”

GREAT BLUE NORTH is the 21st Special Consensus recording. The Gordon Lightfoot song from the album “Alberta Bound” received the 2023 IBMA Collaborative Recording of the Year Award and the accompanying video won the IBMA Music Video Of The Year Award in September 2024. 

Special Consensus have been coming to Ireland biennially since the mid ‘90’s and have established an extensive legion of fans over the years. Always a special Out to Lunch show.