Alan Bibey and Wayne Benson, two award-winning mandolin players, have joined together to create “The Mandolin Chronicles.” The album, to be released March 12 on Pinecastle Records, showcases the pair on 10 instrumental tunes and one vocal tune, “Another Night,” featuring IIIrd Tyme Out’s Russell Moore. Bibey and Benson wrote six songs on the album, co-writing three of them. Other musicians joining them on the album include Ron Stewart on banjo and fiddle, Wyatt Rice on guitar, and Harold Nixon on bass. The Mandolin Chronicles is now available for pre-order from Pinecastle Records at www.pinecastlemusic.com.

Bibey and Benson were destined to record “The Mandolin Chronicles.” Both men are widely known for their virtuosity on the mandolin as well as their widely revered ancient Gibson mandolins on which they weave their sonic tapestry. Appropriately, Gibson has produced signature model mandolins for both men.

Bibey was nominated in 2003 for a bluegrass album Grammy with a group he led called BlueRidge for the album Side By Side. He was awarded the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music In America (SPBGMA) “Mandolin Player of the Year” in 2007, 2009 and 2010. He has been nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) “Mandolin Player of the Year” several times.  With various projects he has been involved with over the years he has won IBMA’s “Recorded Event of the Year,” “Instrumental Recording of the Year,” and “Album of the Year.” He has been on the cover of Bluegrass Now, Bluegrass Unlimited and Mandolin Quarterly.

“This is one of the most special and purely fun projects I’ve ever been a part of,” Bibey said.  “It reminds me of how much fun I had as a kid exploring the mandolin. The band really brought our originals to life as well as all the others. Love the live feel!”

Benson was named SPBGMA’s “Mandolin Player of Year” for five consecutive years in the early 2000s. He performed with “The Wreckers” (Michelle Branch) in 2006 and appeared on The Tonight Show, CBS This Morning, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The View as part of their publicity tour. As a part of IIIRdTyme Out, Benson has won IBMA “Vocal Group of the Year” from 1994-2000 and countless SPBGMA awards.