Have your questions ready!

A month from today the Special Consensus will begin their 2017 tour in Ireland, in concert at the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire; details of the tour are on the band's website and the BIB calendar.

By coincidence, the current issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine includes 'Bluegrass bass: the final frontier' by Dan Eubanks (above right), the Special C.'s bass player (and a former jazz bassist). It's Dan's answer to the most common question he gets asked as a teacher at bass workshops: 'How do I get better at bass breaks?' He deals with two aspects: getting melody notes through the ears into the left hand by scale practice, and adjusting right-hand position to make playing melodic phrases easier. Dan ends by writing:

I'm always available and open to your questions and, for further study, I'm also all over the country and the world, performing with Special Consensus, so don't be shy if you see us!

*

This issue of BU also includes a review of the Special C.'s latest CD, beginning with the words: 'If you want to know how Special Consensus have managed to stay in business for 40 years, all you have to do is pick up a copy of Long I ride.' Neither the review nor the article are on BU's website, so you'll have to order the issue; but that's all right, as you will then get Pete Wernick's guest editorial on the place of bluegrass in the hi-tech 21st century, and much more.