Photo by Dan Loftin

Greg Cahill

Banjo
Bluegrass Week 1

Greg plays banjo and sings baritone and tenor vocals. Chicago born and bred, Greg has been playing bluegrass banjo since the early 1970s and formed The Special Consensus in 1975.

Greg has composed many banjo instrumentals and released three albums featuring his unique style: Lone Star (1980) with guests Jethro Burns and Byron Berline, Blue Skies (1992) with fellow Chicagoan Don Stiernberg, and Night Skies (1998) with Don and guests Sam Bush, Glen Duncan and Tom Boyd.

He has appeared on all of The Special Consensus recordings, on numerous recordings by other artists, and on many national television and radio commercials as the banjo player of choice on Chicago's busy jingle music scene. Greg has also recorded with the ChowDogs (Slavek Hanzlik, Dallas Wayne, and Ollie O'Shea) and periodically tours European countries with that band.

In addition to conducting workshops at festivals and teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Greg has released four instructional videos and is the former Chairperson of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Bluegrass In The Schools Committee. In 2004, Greg was elected Vice Chairperson of the International Bluegrass Music Association.