Ricky Skaggs

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Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Ricky Lee Skaggs
Born	(1954-07-18) July 18, 1954 Cordell, Kentucky
Genres	Country, bluegrass, gospel, folk
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, session musician, bandleader, producer, arranger
Instruments	singer, mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle
Years active	1960s-present
Labels	Sugar Hill, Epic, Rounder, DCC, Atlantic, Camden, Rebel, Hollywood, Legacy, Skaggs Family
Associated acts	Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, J. D. Crowe and New South, Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band, The Whites, Kentucky Thunder, Bruce Hornsby
Website	http://www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com/

Ricky Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954) is an American country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster and banjo.

Biography

Early career

Skaggs was born in Cordell, Kentucky. He started playing music at age 5 after he was given a mandolin by his father, Hobert. At age 6, he played mandolin and sang on stage with Bill Monroe. At age 7, he appeared on television's Martha White country music variety show, playing with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. He also wanted to audition for the Grand Ole Opry at that time, but was told he was too young.

In his mid-teens, Skaggs met a fellow teen prodigy, guitarist Keith Whitley, and the two started playing together with Whitley's banjoist brother Dwight on radio shows. By 1970, they had earned a spot opening for Ralph Stanley and Skaggs and Keith Whitley were thereafter invited to join Stanley's band, the Clinch Mountain Boys

Skaggs later joined The Country Gentlemen in Washington, DC, J. D. Crowe's New South. For a few years, Skaggs was a member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band. He wrote the arrangements for Harris's 1980 bluegrass-roots album, Roses in the Snow. In addition to arranging for Harris, Skaggs sang harmony and played mandolin and fiddle in the Hot Band.

Neotraditionalism and experimentation

Into the 1990s and 2000s, Skaggs has embraced his bluegrass roots, as well as experimenting with new sounds. With his band, Kentucky Thunder, he is a perennial winner of Grammy Awards and International Bluegrass Music Association for best bluegrass album.

Ricky Skaggs jams with the Old Crow Medicine Show at the Grand Ole Opry on February 23, 2013

"I always want to try to promote the old music, as well as trying to grow, and be a pioneer too," Skaggs once said.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, he shared the stage with Vermont-based jam band, Phish.^[1] On March 20, 2007, Skaggs released an album with rock musician Bruce Hornsby.

In 2008, Skaggs released an album he recorded with The Whites on his Skaggs Family Records label.

In 2008, Skaggs recorded a bluegrass version of "Old Enough" by the Raconteurs with Ashley Monroe and the Raconteurs. He played mandolin on the track as well as sharing vocals with Jack White, Brendan Benson, and Ashley Monroe.

In 2011, Skaggs with other Bluegrass musicians featured with Irish band, The Brock McGuire Band on their album 'Green Grass Blue Grass'. An exploration of the connection between Irish Traditional Music and American Bluegrass and Appalachian music.

In 2012, Skaggs had collaborate with Barry Gibb on the song, "Soldier's Son" which was released on Music to My Ears.

Personal life

Skaggs has been married to Sharon White of The Whites since August 1981.^[2] They have a daughter, Molly, and a son, Lucas.^[3]

Discography

Main article: Ricky Skaggs discography

Awards

Grammy Awards

1983 Best Country Instrumental Performance: New South (J.D. Crowe, Jerry Douglas, Todd Phillips, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs) for Fireball
1984 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Ricky Skaggs for Wheel Hoss
1986 Best Country Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist): Ricky Skaggs for Raisin' The Dickins
1991 Best Country Vocal Collaboration: Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner & Vince Gill for Restless
1999 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Bluegrass Rules!
1998 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals: Clint Black, Joe Diffie, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt & Dwight Yoakam for Same Old Train
2000 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Ancient Tones
2000 Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Soldier Of The Cross
2003 Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for A Simple Life
2004 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Brand New Strings
2006 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Instrumentals
2006 Best Musical Album For Children, "Songs From The Neighborhood, The Music Of Mr. Rogers"
2008 Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Ricky Skaggs and The Whites for Salt Of The Earth
2009 Best Bluegrass Album Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass 1946 & 47

CMA (Country Music Association) Awards

1982 Male Vocalist of the Year: Ricky Skaggs
1982 Horizon Award: Ricky Skaggs
1983 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band
1984 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band
1985 Entertainer of the Year: Ricky Skaggs
1985 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band
1987 Vocal Duo of the Year: Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White

IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards

1998 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
1998 Album Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder for Bluegrass Rules!
1999 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
2000 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
2000 Instrumental Album Of The Year: David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Sam Bush, Frank Wakefield, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs & Buck White for Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza
2000 Recorded Event Of The Year: David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Frank Wakefield, Sam Bush, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs & Buck White for Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza
2002 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
2003 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
2004 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
2005 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
2006 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
2008 Recorded Event of the Year: Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother; Featuring Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Marty Stuart, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stephenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddy Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger (artists); Charles Lilly & Bill Wolfenbarger (producers); Swift River Music

BluegrassJournal.com Readers Poll: We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Lewis Family & The Easter Brothers (artists); Jeff & Sheri Easter (producers); Daywind Records

Music City News Country Awards

1982 Bluegrass Act Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs

Other Awards and Accomplishments

R&R Best New Artist
Billboard magazine's Artist of the Year
Musician Magazine- Voted One of the Top 100 Guitarists of the Century
Artist of the Decade- Listeners' Poll Award BBC Radio 2
CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music rank No. 37 in 2003.
Judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards
ACM's Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award 2012

References

↑ "June 22, 2000 Setlist :: Phish". The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
↑ Offstage with Ricky and Sharon Skaggs
↑ Offstage with Ricky and Sharon Skaggs

Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
1997 Interview with Ricky Skaggs
Himes, Geoffrey. (1998). "Ricky Skaggs". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 486–7.
Ricky Skaggs, age 7, plays with Flatt & Scruggs on the Martha White Show
Ricky Skaggs articles, interviews and CD reviews at Country Standard Time
Ricky Skaggs Biography

External links

Official Website
Skaggs Family Records
Ricky Skaggs at the Internet Movie Database
Ricky Skaggs at AllMusic

v t e Ricky Skaggs

Studio albums	That's It Sweet Temptation Waitin' for the Sun to Shine Family & Friends Highways & Heartaches Don't Cheat in Our Hometown Country Boy Love's Gonna Get Ya! Comin' Home to Stay Kentucky Thunder My Father's Son Solid Ground Life Is a Journey Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe Ricky Skaggs and Friends Sing the Songs of Bill Monroe Solo (Songs My Dad Loved) Mosaic Country Hits Bluegrass Style

Collaborative albums	Second Generation Bluegrass One Way Track Skaggs & Rice Bluegrass Rules! Ancient Tones Soldier of the Cross History of the Future The Three Pickers Brand New Strings Instrumentals Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby Salt of the Earth Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 Music to My Ears

Live albums	Live in London Live at the Charleston Music Hall Cluck Ol' Hen

Compilation albums	Favorite Country Songs Super Hits

Notable singles	"You May See Me Walkin'" "Crying My Heart Out Over You" "I Don't Care" "Heartbroke" "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could" "Highway 40 Blues" "You've Got a Lover" "Don't Cheat in Our Hometown" "Honey (Open That Door)" "Uncle Pen" "Something in My Heart" "Country Boy" "You Make Me Feel Like a Man" "Cajun Moon" "I've Got a New Heartache" "Love's Gonna Get You Someday" "Love Can't Ever Get Better Than This" (with Sharon White) "Lovin' Only Me" "Let It Be You" "Heartbreak Hurricane" "Hummingbird" "He Was On to Somethin' (So He Made You)" "Life's Too Long (To Live Like This)" "Same Ol' Love" "Cat's in the Cradle"

Related articles	Discography Epic Records Mark O'Connor

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 46947643 LCCN: n91112398 ISNI: 0000 0000 5514 3464 GND: 134523601 BNF: cb13899835v MusicBrainz: 1a14063c-9dca-48d5-98c3-89748c74562b

Persondata
Name	Skaggs, Ricky
Alternative names
Short description	American singer
Date of birth	July 18, 1954
Place of birth	Cordell, Kentucky
Date of death
Place of death

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