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Special Guests
Saturday, April 5, 2003
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Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
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RICKY SKAGGS was born in eastern Kentucky
in 1954 and got his start in music playing the mandolin when he was five
years old. By the age of ten, he had already performed with Bill Monroe,
Flatt and Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers -- the artists considered the
triumvirate of bluegrass. In his teens, he was taken under the wing of
bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley. Skaggs performed and recorded with J.D.
Crowe & The New South, and also served a stint as bandleader with
Boone Creek before turning his attention to country music in the late
'70s. He spent time playing in Emmylou Harris' Hot Band, then struck out
on his own with the release of Waitin' For the Sun To Shine, which
was released in 1981. He hit the top of the country harts and stayed there
for much of the '80s, racking up eight Country Music Association awards
and four Grammys before deciding to return to bluegrass. His 1997 release,
Bluegrass Rules (Rounder Records) set a new standard for bluegrass
and earned the International Bluegrass Music Association's 1998 Album
of the Year honor, as well as a 1999 Grammy nomination. Other recent recordings
include Ancient Tones (Rounder) and Soldier of The Cross
(Skaggs Family Records). His latest CD, Big Mon: The Songs of Bill
Monroe (2002, Skaggs Family Records), is a tribute to Bill Monroe,
the father of bluegrass, and features performances by John Fogerty, Bruce
Hornsby, Charlie Daniels, and Joan Osborne. Skaggs performs tonight with
his band, Kentucky Thunder: Mark Fain (bass); Jim Mills (banjo); Paul
Brewster (guitar); Darren Vincent (guitar); Cody Kilby (guitar), Andy
Leftwich (mandolin and fiddle) and Luke Bulla (fiddle).
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