Biography

Benson is the latest creative endeavor of award-winning banjo player Kristin Scott Benson (five-time IBMA Banjo Player of the Year, recipient of the Steve Martin Award for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo and member of the GRAMMY-nominated Grascals) and her husband, award-winning mandolinist Wayne Benson (25-year veteran of the seven-time IBMA Vocal Group of the Year, Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out). This distinctive collaboration — their first as jointly featured artists—serves to bring a shared musical vision of the Bensons to life, as they embrace the modern music landscape of streaming and other digital outlets. “Red Mountain Wine” is their fourth release.
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For their fourth Mountain Home Music Company single, Benson — that’s the husband-wife duo of acclaimed mandolinist Wayne Benson and award-winning banjo player Kristin Scott Benson and a stellar supporting cast — double down on the bluegrass of their last release with a blistering take on a sleeper from the 1970s, “Red Mountain Wine.”

Though Benson’s rendition makes the song sounds like a dyed-in-the-wool ‘grasser, and though it’s been found mostly in the repertoire of new old-time string bands, “Red Mountain Wine” actually came from the pen of Cajun country-rocker Floyd “Gib” Gilbeau, who wrote and recorded it in the early 1970s, shortly before joining the Flying Burrito Brothers. “This is an old song that a lot of people have done,” notes Wayne Benson, before adding, “But we know it from the Lost & Found,” a staple on the bluegrass festival circuit for over 40 years. “I believe one of Kristin's banjo students was playing it as part of her band, similar to the Lost & Found cut. Then, Kristin had the idea of speeding it up and turning it into a barnburner.”

For help in creating their own version, the Bensons turned to a couple of long-time friends — guitarist Cody Kilby (Travelin’ McCourys) and singer Mickey Harris (Rhonda Vincent & The Rage), with whom Kristin once worked in a band led by Mountain Home labelmate Chris Jones’ wife Sally — a more recent one in the person of fiddler Jim VanCleve, and a newer one still in bassist Paul Watson, who regularly appears in the band of another labelmate, Carley Arrowood. Starting with Kristin’s driving banjo, the cut races through the song’s 3 verses, alternating solos from the two principals and a final chorus before wrapping up, in true bluegrass fashion, just under the two minute mark.

“This one is straight-ahead bluegrass with plenty of mandolin and banjo playing,” Kristin Scott Benson summarizes. “Uptempo and lots of fun to play!”

About Benson
Benson is a collaborative effort between two of bluegrass music's most treasured instrumentalists: Wayne and Kristin Scott Benson. With decades of experience in top-tier bands, both have established themselves as stalwarts in the community. After years of paving separate musical paths, the two finally decided it was time to integrate their identities and create something new together. Benson is their first combined effort, despite having been married for over 20 years.

Wayne Benson is a 25-year veteran of the seven-time IBMA Vocal Group of the Year, Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out. He is on the short list of mandolin players who have signature models with Gibson Musical Instruments.

Kristin Scott Benson is a five-time IBMA Banjo Player of the Year and recipient of the Steve Martin Award for Excellence in Bluegrass and Banjo. She has been a member of the GRAMMY-nominated Grascals since 2008.