Kristin Scott Benson Becomes a 5-time IBMA Banjo Player Of The Year

Kristin Scott Benson, banjo player for the GRAMMY-nominated Grascals, won her 5th Banjo Player Of The Year award at last night's International Bluegrass Music Association awards in Raleigh.

Recognized as a top banjoist, Benson, a South Carolina native, is known for her impeccable taste, timing and tone.

"I was really surprised. I'm blessed in so many ways and a lot of people have a hand in this award, right along with me. It's not mine, alone," says Benson. "Getting to play my banjo for a living is more than I ever expected, so this is all icing on the cake. To God be the glory!"

This IBMA award comes a year after Benson won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, which seeks to bring recognition to outstanding accomplishment in the field.

In August, Benson and The Grascals released their latest album, Straighten The Curves, featuring hit songs "Heartbreak Hall Of Fame" and "Haggard" and their latest single, "Callin' Your Name." Listen to the new album HERE.

About Kristin Scott Benson
Kristin Scott Benson, winner of the 2018 Steve Martin Prize For Excellence in Banjo & Bluegrass, is also a five-time International Bluegrass Music Association Banjo Player of the Year. She has been a member of the Grammy-nominated bluegrass band, The Grascals since 2008. Her most recent solo album, Stringworks, was released by Mountain Home Music Company in 2016.​

Kristin grew up in South Carolina, surrounded by a musical family. She started playing mandolin and stepped on stage for the first time at the age of 5. After receiving a much-anticipated banjo for Christmas when she was 13, Kristin became enthralled with the instrument and spent her teen years studying the playing of all the banjo greats from Earl Scruggs to Bela Fleck. After high school, she attended Nashville's esteemed Belmont University, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Music Business.​

Kristin has attained a national identity as one of the top bluegrass banjo players, exhibiting impeccable taste, timing, and tone. With an attentive ear to back-up, she is known and respected as a true team player:

"There was one grass ceiling no woman could cut through-until Kristin Scott Benson came along, that is. Almost two years ago, she joined The Grascals. Not to front the band, not to sing, not to be eye candy, but instead to drive the group with her five-string banjo. Until then, no woman had ever been hired to play one of the most defining of the bluegrass instruments in an A-list, festival-headlining, all-male band....It's a high profile gig, as Kristin takes the banjo where no woman has taken it before." - Larry Nager for Bluegrass Unlimited - "Kristin Scott Benson - Cutting the Grass Ceiling"  October 2010​

In addition to Stringworks, Kristin has recorded two prior banjo albums, Straight Paths and Second Season.  Both received stellar reviews, as well as an IBMA nomination for Instrumental of the Year for the self-penned, "Don't Tread on Me," on Second Season.

 

 

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