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Ricky Skaggs
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 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, 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. Skaggs took Rodney Crowell's place in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band in 1977, and the band's excellent Roses in the Snow album showcased Skaggs' versatility. Two number one hits came out of his 1981 album Waitin' for the Sun to Shine, and the awards started arriving. 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.
Ricky Skaggs (born July 18, 1954 in Lawrence County, Kentucky) is a country music musician, singer and composer. Skaggs' first major professional break came in 1970 when he joined Ralph Stanley's legendary bluegrass band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. He is an acknowledged virtuoso on the mandolin and also plays fiddle, guitar, banjo and several wind instruments and for part of his career was a member of Emmylou Harris's "Hot Band". He wrote the arrangements for Harris' highly revered bluegrass-roots album, Roses In The Snow. In addition to arranging, Skaggs also sang harmony and played a number of instruments on the album, including mandolin and fiddle.
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Artist Biography - Ricky Skaggs
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 Skaggs moved to Nashville in 1980 where he produce his debut album, Waitin' For The Sun To Shine. The album produced four chart singles including two back-to-back number ones. Building on that success he went on to almost single-handedly rescue country music from the doldrums it found itself in the 1970s. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1982 - at that time the youngest member to be included. He racked up an impressive 18 Top Ten singles with 12 topping the charts. Skaggs picked up dozens of industry awards in the ensuing years including four Grammys and eight awards from the Country Music Association.
His dedication to the music and the traditional bluegrass style has endeared him to many fans and he has become a country music icon. Says Skaggs, "I always want to try to promote the old music as well as trying to grow and be a pioneer, too." Singer-Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs started his career in Bluegrass playing mandolin and guitar with the Stanley Brothers in 1970. He kept developing his skills as both a sideman and a leader throughout the '70s, working mostly in Bluegrass. He was also a member of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band for a couple of years. In the early '80s, he had a streak of mainstream country (a genre plagued with pop gloss and overproduction) chart success. Skaggs and his sidemen's virtuoso country picking was heavily influenced by Bluegrass. That, when combined with his lean, no-frills production, makes Skaggs' gold and platinum success even more remarkable.
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For more information , enjoy the official homepage of Ricky Skaggs
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