GRAMMY nominated Bluegrass titans The Special Consensus will make an eagerly awaited return to Barry’s Public House in Grange on Wednesday next January, 14. Doors open at 9pm and admission is €15 on the door.

Formed in the Chicago area in 1975, The Special Consensus is a four-person acoustic bluegrass band with a repertoire that features traditional bluegrass standards, original compositions by band members and professional songwriters, and songs from other musical genres performed in the bluegrass format.

The band has released 17 recordings and has appeared on numerous National Public Radio programmes and cable television shows, including The Nashville Network and the Grand Ole Opry at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

International tours have brought the band to Australia, Canada, Europe, South America, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Special C has appeared in concert with many symphony orchestras nationwide and has brought an informative in-school presentation to schools nationally and internationally since 1984.

Band leader/banjo player Greg Cahill is the former President/Board Chair of the Nashville-based International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), the former Board Chair of the Nashville-based

Foundation for Bluegrass Music and a recipient of the prestigious IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award (in 2011).

The present line-up includes mandolin player Rick Faris, guitarist Dustin Benson and bass player Dan Eubanks. The 2012 band release “Scratch Gravel Road” (Compass Records) was GRAMMY nominated for Best Bluegrass Album and two songs from the 2014 band release “Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute To John Denver” (Compass Records) won IBMA awards for Recorded Event of the Year and Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year.

Duke Special has finished off his next studio album, due for release later this year and a run of solo live shows in January and February will unveil for the first time some of the material from the new album.