More on the new Special C. CD and 2017 tour

On 16 April, under the title 'New release from old friends', the BIB posted news of Long I ride, the latest Compass Records CD from the Special Consensus, whose leader Greg Cahill has been bringing the band to Ireland since 1995. The CD is due for release on 10 June. While we're waiting, John Lawless has published on Bluebrass Today much more detail about it, including an interview with Greg.

The album was conceived as marking 40+ years of the Special C., with present and past members contributing material. The Bluegrass Today feature includes two videos from the Compass Records YouTube channel: the title track, and a real barn-burning rendition of Josh Graves's 'Fireball', with twin banjos and twin mandolins, and with the dobro and guitar played by Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley (who will be the concert stars at the Dunmore East Guinness International Bluegrass Festival in August).

You can also see 'Fireball' on YouTube. A video trailer for the album can be seen here. The Special C. are due back in Ireland between 12 Jan. and 6 Feb. 2017 - dates are on their online tour schedule (so you can begin planning where to catch them), and will soon be on the BIB calendar.

Update 27 May: The dates - seventeen in all (as well as six dates in England and Wales) - are now on the BIB calendar; the Special C. schedule also has online booking links and location maps.