Chicago Barn Dance

It's safe to say that every country music fan has heard of the Grand Ole Opry. What few people know is that the Grand Ole Opry was ‘inspired’ by the WLS National Barn Dance, a weekly radio broadcast originating from Chicago. Sponsored by Sears, Roebuck and Company, the National Barn Dance was heard on the airwaves from 1924 to 1968. The show, first hosted by George Hay, featured the country stars of the period including Gene Autry, Hank Williams, Bill and Charlie Monroe, and Patsy Montana. Soon after Hay moved to Nashville to become the programme director at WSM, he launched the Grand Ole Opry in 1928.

Founded by Chicago native Greg Cahill, Special Consensus is a bluegrass quartet with 45 years of touring and recording experience. Chicago Barn Dance serves as a tribute to the Opry's precursor by highlighting songwriters and songs related to the Windy City. One of the best examples, Robbie Fulks’ ‘East Chicago Blues’, cuts a deep country blues groove over which mandolinist Nate Burle and Fulks relate a first-person account of Bill Monroe's journey from Kentucky farmer to Chicago oil worker.