For their first Mountain Home Music Company single of 2025, Benson — that’s the duo of award-winning banjo player Kristin Scott Benson and her acclaimed mandolinist husband, Wayne Benson — dial back the tempo, the mood and the calendar for an early 80s entry from not-yet-renowned singer/songwriter Harley Allen, who passed away in 2011.
The son of bluegrass legend Red Allen, Harley placed “Things Have Changed” at the close of his 1983 solo debut, which achieved classic status among bluegrass insiders after Allen moved to Nashville and began writing hits for artists like Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton and Dierks Bentley. Plucked from there by Benson, it was ripe for revisiting by the pair, along with longtime pal and reigning IBMA Guitar Player of the Year Cody Kilby, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out bassist Kevin McKinnon, and guest singer Dustin Pyrtle.
“We're excited for this song to finally come out,” says Kristin. “We love the lead vocal by Dustin Pyrtle, and the sentiment of ‘Things Have Changed’ is universal. It seems things do change so fast these days. Downtown Nashville is different every time I go! But even in small towns, you feel it, both physically and relationally with the people who live there. I love the line, ‘I'm sort of glad that Mom and Dad ain't around.’ That melancholy embodies the mood of this guy who goes back home and feels an overall sense of loss.”
Tipping their hat to the original recording with the same sparse instrumentation and mandolin kickoff, Benson retain the song’s original air of resignation while bolstering Pyrtle’s strong yet wistful vocal with a masterclass in tasteful, creative accompaniment.
“Wayne and I love to play this slower tempo on mandolin and banjo,” Kristin notes. “He gets to tremolo and I get to play fun chord-based banjo. I always enjoy playing this kind of banjo backup.”
Adds Wayne, “I've always loved Harley Allen and certainly do love this song. Dustin Pyrtle seemed like the perfect singer to reach out to, and man! Did he ever deliver the goods on this one!”
"Things Have Changed" is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music and TIDAL. Listen to it HERE.
