Kristin Scott Benson "Second Season" (Pinecastle Records)

Something old and something new in the way of CDs is aimed dead-on at the banjo pickers among us.

The “old” is a Rounder Records’ CD reissue of Tony Trishka’s Hill Country, a landmark album of sorts originally release on vinyl in 1985. It’s a highly cherished and probably well-worn album among the veteran shade-tree pickers in Bluegrass Land. The “new” comes from Kristin Scott Benson’s Second Season, which Pinecastle Records recently released.

While Trishka’s reissued gem is aimed squarely at pickers, Kristin Scott Benson’s CD, with some nice vocals spicing up the incredibly tasty instrumental work, may have a wider appeal.

Kristin Scott Benson, still showing a lot of youth in her appearance, is actually a rather seasoned veteran of the bluegrass circuit. In recent years, she’s been a mainstay of Larry Stephenson’s band and a fixture with Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time. Now, she’s the rookie with The Grascals, one of the busiest and most recognizable newer bands in the business.

Second Season kicks off with an instrumental fire bomb, “Don’t Tread on Me,” which Kristin Scott Benson wrote. While the banjo razzles and dazzles on this opener, the stellar lineup of bandmates Kristin Scott Benson assembled for this project also steps out front for pieces of the fast-paced melody.

But it was the second tune on the CD that really grabbed me, a Jamie O’Hara/Kieran Kane song called “Imagine That.” I was first introduced to that song several years ago by a lovely friend of mine, Lisa Groth, who’s a gifted vocalist and guitarist right here in my central Illinois neighborhood. The only time I’ve ever heard this song prior to this new Pinecastle release, was Lisa’s rendition (and it’s a dandy, I should let you know).

In the liner notes, Kristin Scott Benson notes that she, Mickey Harris (of Rhonda Vincent’s The Rage) and Kentucky Thunder member Cody Kilby used to perform this song when they were members together in Sally Jones & The Sidewinders. They reunite here with this version with Harris taking the lead and Jones doing a guest shot on the harmony vocals. It’s a charming song that really captured my interest in this CD, and it’s performed so well on Second Season.

Besides Harris and Kilby, the mainstay band on this CD includes David Grier, Andy Todd sharing bass duties with Harris, and Shad Cobb and Jim Van Cleve on fiddles. Oh yeah, the mandolin player, how could I have forgotten? It’s Kristin Scott Benson’s hubby Wayne Benson, well known to IIIrd Tyme Out followers.

Although I can fake my way through Cripple Creek on the five-string (no variations or ad libbing, please), I’m far removed from being a banjo critic’s critic. I’m just like you: I enjoy what my ears tell me is good listening. Having said that, I confess to my own ears leaning to the five-string being packaged a little out of the box. As testament thereof, my favorite banjo player (the one my ears like the best) is Jens Kruger of The Kruger Brothers. Jens has taken the banjo so far from the box (I say that in a very good, complementary way), that an army of sleuths couldn’t locate the box for his banjo these days.

So, it’s with the complete intent of a compliment that I detect a bit of Jens Kruger’s classical music style coming through in a few select moments on Kristin Scott Benson’s CD. That holds so true on the artist’s own instrumental composition, “Far Enough Away,” which is about as sweet as it comes in five-string banjo work. In the liner notes introducing “Far Enough Away,” Kristin Scott Benson mentions she enjoys “the softer side” of the five-string. It’s certainly easy for me to say the same after repeated listenings of this particular track.

Another highlight is “No Southern Comfort,” a Jon Randall/John Scott Sherrill tune, sung on Second Season by Josh Williams with Harris and Kristin Scott Benson adding the harmonies. It’s a flowing, melancholy track that stands out.

Traditionalists also get their just dues with with the well-worn banjo anthem, “Bugle Call Rag,” Bill Emerson’s “No Steering, No Breaks,” (What a great name for a hot banjo tune, eh?) and the very traditional sounding gospel, “The Gospel Way,” sung by Kristin Scott Benson’s former boss Larry Stephenson.

Cordle, another former boss, also steps up to the microphone with his rendition of a Kevin Welch song, “Something ‘Bout You.”

Second Season is a well-performed collection and mix of songs that will easily please bluegrass and acoustic music fans.

Trishka’s CD, on the other hand,is aimed squarely at the instrumental fanatics out there. It’s 1985 lineup of musicians has become the cream of the crop in the first decade of the 21st century. Allow me to drop some names: Tony Rice, Adam Steffey, Ron Stewart, Tim Stafford, Mark Hembree, Barry Bales, Mark O’Connor, Blain Sprouse. Did I mention Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Dudley Connell? Del and brother Jerry McCoury and Ronnie McCoury? Co-producer Bela Fleck? The iconic Sonny Osborne?

Convinced yet?

One player who shows up on this project that made me smile is the great WSM on-air radio personality Eddie Stubbs, who also is a hot fiddler and well known for the years he spent packing around a fiddle, rosin and bow on the Johnson Mountain Boys roster. Stubbs shows up here fiddling on two tunes, a Trishka-written instrumental, “Stop Action,” and the traditional “Mississippi Sawyer,” which he performs here in one of those old-timey duets with just Trishka on banjo.

Another highlight is “Sunny Days,” although it could have been appropriatedly named “Sonny Days,” since it was co-written by Sonny Osborne and Trishka. It’s a duet banjo piece with Osborne taking the melody line and Trishka playing harmony to it. As if that’s not enough, Fleck steps in to take a solo on the song.

As much as I enjoyed the album, I’ll have to say the written words — the liner notes — are as enjoyable as the music. The reissue package — and it’s one of those generous packaging efforts (thank you, Rounder Records) — includes Trishka’s original 1985 liner notes, along with some enjoyable new additions by Ron Thomason of Dry Branch Fire Squad and and fellow banjo plucker Tom Adams. In fact, Adams’ lengthy dissertation does not merely qualify as a liner “note;” it’s a well-written, highly entertaining essay.

Longtime five-string fanatics can now scrap their original vinyl issue of this recording, although some may think that would be akin to throwing away a Bible. Newcomers to the instrument will be well served by it.