Kentucky Traveler

July 15, 2013
When he was six years old, Skaggs, who had been playing mandolin and violin at home with his father, met his destiny. One summer night in 1960, the Skaggs family heard that the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, would be playing at a local high school; piling in the car, they arrived at the school, and Skaggs’s father asked Mr. Monroe if the young Ricky could play a song with the Blue Grass Boys. Before he knew it, Monroe was wrapping his big Gibson mandolin around Skaggs’s neck, and he and the band were skittering off on a rendition of the Osborne Brothers’ “Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man?” Skaggs is as cracking good at telling stories as he is at singing high-lonesome melodies and letting his fingers fly across the frets of guitars and mandolins, and he delivers an entertaining and inspiring tale of his boyhood and youth in rural Kentucky and his early days playing with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and later with J.D. Crowe and the New South; his work with Emmylou Harris in her Hot Band; and his rise to fame with his first album, Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine, in 1981. Refreshingly forthright, Skaggs declares that he would have never made it to where he is today without the deep love and care of his family, his wife, Sharon (herself a member of the well-known bluegrass and gospel group, the Whites), and his faith.

Starred review from August 1, 2013
In the 1980s, Skaggs was one hot ticket in country music, raking in Grammys and other awards by the handful. Both before and since that heyday, he's been a bluegrassera hot mandolinist, a fine fiddler, and, when he started a tour minus a lead guitarist, an ace on a D-28 Martin. As he explains in his own voicewhich Eddie Dean, who helped Ralph Stanley forge Man of Constant Sorrow (2009), has made a fluent literary vehiclehis career has been a matter of following a God-given calling. He was also to the manner born, you might say, in mountainous eastern Kentucky. His father was a keen amateur guitarist devoted to bluegrass, who encouraged his early-shown musical bent in near-daily teaching, coaching, and playing sessions that prepared him so well that Ralph Stanley added him to the Clinch Mountain Boys when he was still shy of 16. From Stanley's band, he went to the Country Gentlemen, J. D. Crowe's New South, and Emmylou Harris' Hot Band before stepping out as a leader himself. He tells the stories of that first half of his life and of the rest, too, with natural enthusiasm, innate good nature, and an unflagging, positive Christian spirit that rivals that of one of his nonmusical heroes, Billy Graham.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2013
Legendary bluegrass and country musician Skaggs reflects on his life and career. Born and raised in the eastern Kentucky mountains, the author knew from an early age that he was destined to be a musician. After receiving his first mandolin at the age of 5 in 1959, young Skaggs was given his first big chance only a year later, performing side by side with his idol Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys at a local concert. Skaggs' natural talent had already made him something of a local celebrity--the only reason he got on stage with Monroe was because the crowd chanted for him--but Skaggs' musical roots go even deeper. Raised in a musical home, he recalls his mother singing hymns and other tunes around the house as she did chores. He also tells how his father aspired to be a musician, but the death of Skaggs' uncle in World War II killed the brothers' dream of making it as a duo. As Skaggs' musical talent developed, so, too, did his passionate Baptist faith. For Skaggs, music was synonymous with spirituality. Even after becoming a crossover country music star, Skaggs recalls his mother asking him, "Son, you know who got you here, don't you?" To which Skaggs replied, "Yes, Mama. Jesus did." Skaggs' memoir is not only his personal history, but also a narrative history of bluegrass music and its eventual decline. He is a faithful observer, and among his best anecdotes are those from his time playing with New South at the Red Slipper Lounge in Lexington. Having been superseded by pop country, bluegrass would be bumped to the festival circuit. Years later, Skaggs re-embraced his bluegrass roots, though he doesn't regret his foray into country, and he remains a formidable presence in the music scene as the owner of Skaggs Place Recording Studio and Skaggs Family Records. Lacking the dirt of other high-profile music memoirs, Skaggs' life is an affirmation of hard work, drive and faith.

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