Furious Finger Picking Ahead as Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder Play Savannah Music Festival

In 1960 in rural Kentucky, a traveling welder purchased a $5 mandolin from a pawn shop for his five-year-old son, a bright-eyed boy who listened to WSM every Saturday night and dreamed of playing the Opry. His father taught him to play three chords – G, C, and D – and within a year, the boy was playing onstage with the Father of Bluegrass Music, Mr. Bill Monroe.

This may sound like the makings of a country music song, but it’s Ricky Skaggs’s real life. After making his onstage debut with Monroe, the neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer appeared on the Martha White country music variety show with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs at age seven; opened for and later joined the Stanley Brothers’ band, The Clinch Mountain Boys, with Keith Whitley; and went on to play progressive bluegrass in the 1970s with Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band and Boone Creek, a band he formed with Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas.

In 1980, Skaggs launched his solo career and became the youngest musician ever inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1982. In 1989, he produced Dolly Parton’s album White Limozeen, widely considered to be her comeback, before returning to his bluegrass roots.

Along the way, he’s achieved 11 #1 country singles, four #1 country albums, and seven #1 bluegrass albums. He is a National Medal of Arts recipient, a Country Music Hall of Fame member, an International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame member, a Gospel Music Hall of Fame member, a 15-time Grammy Award winner, an eight-time Country Music Association Award winner, and a nine-time Academy of Country Music Award winner, among many, many other accolades.

On April 4, Savannah audiences can marvel at the furious finger picking, multisyllabic notes, and clear, pure vocals of Skaggs and his band, Kentucky Thunder, as they play the 2024 Savannah Music Festival at Lucas Theatre for the Arts.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

This is your sixth time at Savannah Music Festival. Why Savannah and what can the Savannah audience expect from this concert? 

Skaggs: "Well, we love Savannah. It’s a great music town and the festival draws people from all over the country and other nations as well. The people who run [Savannah Music Festival] really are in it for the music. As far as what people can expect, this is a really, really great band of people I have together right now with Kentucky Thunder. I think people will enjoy the level of musicianship that these guys bring. I know we’re looking forward to it and I think it’s going to be a really great show."

I read that your dad bought a $5 mandolin from a pawn shop for you when you were five years old, and I was curious about what having his and your mother’s and other adults’ encouragement meant to you.

"When a young person starts showing musical interest, you should fan the flame on that spark and turn it into a fire. And that’s what Mom and Dad did with me. Some of my encouragement came through getting to play with other people like Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers and Flatt and Scruggs. When I think of the Mount Rushmore of bluegrass, those are the five faces that are up there. Those people were the main encouragers just through their music. A lot of times just being nice is a big deal when you look up to somebody."

What are the iconic bluegrass songs that exemplify bluegrass music?

"Gosh. Uncle Pen is a great one from Mr. Monroe, who wrote it about his fiddlin’ uncle who kind of raised him after his mom and dad passed away. That’s one of those top five bluegrass songs of all time. Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms by Flatt and Scruggs, Lonesome River by the Stanley Brothers, and Angel Band, which was the credit roll on O Brother, Where Art Thou. Man, it’s the most perfect thing ever. It’s just beyond beautiful."

How have different genres of music impacted your work?

"I’ve always appreciated different genres of music. I grew up listening to the Beatles when I was a kid, but I’d look at my dad when my sister would play a record and I’d say, “They ain’t as good as the Stanley Brothers, are they?” And he’d say, 'Nooooo.' I also loved real hard core traditional country music like George Jones and Ernest Tubb. Once I was playing in a club in New York City and after the show, this guy came up to me and said, “I loved your style of fiddle playing. I’d love to give you a couple of records by a jazz violinist named Stéphane Grappelli and Django Rhinehart, a guitar player. They play with the same fire you do.” I’m telling you, it lit me up like a Christmas tree. It just broadened my tastes and made me want to learn that kind of music. I don’t play it that well, but it has found its way into some bluegrass songs that I’ve written."

You’ve been a working musician for more than 60 years now. How has your approach to making music and performing changed?

"I’m more grateful now than ever to get to do what I do. At 69 years old, I’m just thankful that my health is good and that people still want to buy tickets and come out and see us play. I think the great band that I have is a real testament to the staying power of this music. There’s a joy and an excitement in the music, and it’s purpose-driven."

Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals?

"Pray. We pray every night before we go out. It also helps to not be too full on dinner before I go out, but after you play for two hours, you could eat a tennis shoe."

What’s the best piece of advice you got from someone you admired that has been applicable to your career or life?

"A lot of young people want to be like somebody else, and I get that because I’ve learned to play by listening to other people. But when you really think about it, every snowflake is different. If God cares enough about making snowflakes different, how much more does he care about making all of us different? When people ask me for advice, I say, 'Be an original. Don’t be a copy.' We can learn from others, but let your voiceprint be heard."

What’s next for Ricky Skaggs?

"I’m finishing up my studio [in Hendersonville, Tenn.]. I’ve had a studio for about 20 years but we did a pretty big renovation here over the last year. We’ve made great records in the old studio before but this new studio is so much superior to what we had in sound.

It’s not just my studio; other people will be able to rent it and enjoy it. I’ve got an incredible microphone collection and old sound gear that you don’t see in a lot of studios, things I’ve collected over the years that still sound great. We can cut on tape like we used to do when I was a kid or we can cut on digital. As far as recording goes, we’ve got a whole lot of live music that I would love to glean through because we record all of our shows on the road. I’m going to try to do another studio record as well, and I really do want to do live concerts and live feeds from the studio. I’ve got a lot of ideas for the studio, much more than just recording."

This article originally appeared in Savannah Morning News.