Kristin Scott Benson — Stringworks

Label: Mountain Home Music Company

String works is a mesmerizing album showcasing Kristin Scott Benson’s abundance of musical gifts. On it, the four-time winner of the IBMA Instrumental Performer of the Year Award for Banjo offers an agreeable half instrumental, half vocal collection of twelve songs. The material chosen allows us to hear aspects of Benson’s musicianship that might not be heard while she is onstage as part of The Grascals.

Bluegrass instrumental breaks are usually best appreciated during a live performance. Often, on a record, even the most compelling solo comes across as mere connective tissue between vocal verses. Not so with Kristin Scott Benson; her playing is just as essential as the most familiar of choruses.

Essential Downloads: “All I Want Is You,” “Great Waterton,”  “Till The Day Breaks.”

To preview or purchase this album on iTunes, click here.