 By the time he was in his midthirties, Kentuckian
Ricky Skaggs had already produced a career's worth of music. At age seven he
appeared on TV with
Flatt & Scruggs; at 15 he was a member of legendary
Ralph Stanley's bluegrass band (with fellow teenager
Keith Whitley). None of his '80s peers, male or female, had better musical
credentials than
Ricky Skaggs. The term "multi-talented" lacks the power to characterize this
extraordinary singer and instrumentalist. Not only can he sing and pick with the
best in progressive country, his broad and deep experience in traditional music
separates him from the crowd. In the estimation of many, he is without peer as a
combination vocalist and instrumentalist (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo).
After playing with
Ralph Stanley for three years,
Ricky Skaggs moved on to progressive bluegrass bands
the Country Gentlemen and
J.D. Crowe & the New South. With his own band,
Boone Creek, he mixed the old and the new, adding
Django Reinhardt.
Ricky Skaggs took
Rodney Crowell's place in
Emmylou Harris'
Hot Band in 1977, and the band's excellent Roses in the Snow album showcased
Ricky Skaggs' versatility. Two number one hits came out of his 1981 album Waitin'
for the Sun to Shine, and the awards started arriving.
Ricky Skaggs is largely responsible for a back-to-basics movement in country
music. He showed many that a bluegrass tenor with impeccable taste and enormous
talent could sell traditional country in the '80s, a time when pop music had
invaded the land of rural rhythm.
During the early '90s,
Ricky Skaggs and his traditional music were hit hard by the slick sounds of
contemporary country, and consequently, his records ceased to sell as
consistently as they had ten years earlier. Columbia Records dropped the
musician from their label in 1992 due to poor sales. However,
Ricky Skaggs continued to perform concerts and festivals frequently, as well as
host his own syndicated radio program, The Simple Life, which hit the airwaves
in 1994. The following year,
Ricky Skaggs returned to recording with Solid Ground, his first album for Atlantic
Records. Life Is a Journey followed in 1997, and two years later he released
Soldier of the Cross. Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe followed in 2000 and was
re-released in 2002 on the Lyric Street label as Ricky Skaggs and Friends Sing
the Songs of Bill Monroe. In 2003,
Ricky Skaggs released Live at the Charleston Music Hall on his own Skaggs Family
label. ~ David Vinopal, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book
Ricky Skaggs for your next corporate or private event.
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