Fort Worth ‘so full of life,’ country, bluegrass star says before his return next week
After over 50 years in the music world, Ricky Skaggs still enjoys picking on his mandolin.
Skaggs, 69, was born in Kentucky and has been playing music ever since his father gifted him a mandolin at just 5-years-old. As a young man in the 1970s, Skaggs entered the world of bluegrass and got a feel for the genre.
In the early ‘1980s, Skaggs launched his country career with the album “Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine.” It was around this time when Skaggs ventured to Fort Worth and was among the first to play at Billy Bob’s Texas. That was in the summer 1981.
“It was a very big shot in the arm for us to play at Billy Bob’s,” Skaggs told the Star-Telegram.
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Over the next few decades, Skaggs would launch his country career into the upper echelon with hits like “Country Boy” and “Uncle Pen”.
Skaggs would eventually return to bluegrass many years later — even giving the gospel genre a spin. In total, Skaggs has filled his trophy case with 15 Grammy’s and countless other awards from the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music.
The “Highway 40 Blues” singer spoke to the Star-Telegram ahead of his North Texas shows in Arlington on May 2 and in Greenville on May 3. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Star-Telegram: I was trying to think of when I first heard a Ricky Skaggs song. I think it was back in 2013, you did an album with Bruce Hornsby. Back then I was obsessed with the song, “The Way It Is.” I was always looking for various versions of the song and found the version that featured you and was like, “Oh, what’s this? Okay, this is what bluegrass sounds like.” Odd first question, but what was it like working with Bruce?
Ricky Skaggs: Well, we always had a lot of fun. The shows were always just so full of life and so upbeat. Bruce is such a great player and entertainer. Just to have him with an acoustic bluegrass band that could follow along with him, wherever he wanted to go. We had great fun, we really did. It was really meaningful and it was great to hear bluegrass music with the addition of his style of piano playing. Which he’s one of my very favorite piano players in the world. I think he’s as unique as dirt. There’s just nobody like him. I’ve heard people try to imitate him and they can do a few riffs. But where he comes from in his mind, he’s just a very unique player and I love that.
ST: He sure is. I really enjoyed going back and doing some research about your life and career. I know you started from a very young age in music. I was curious, growing up you’re already in the scene, but was there ever a different career path or something you thought you might do?
RS: Well, I think I always knew that music was my future and my life. But how I get to it? I had to make a living and especially when I got married, I knew I had to sometimes take jobs that would pay the bills. Pay house rent and stuff like that before I could find a job working in a band. But once I got my own band, things pretty much worked out. I mean, even working with Emmylou [Harris] back in the late ‘70s up to 1980 or 1981, when I left her band. But working with her I mean, I was making enough money that I didn’t have to pick up side jobs and all that. So it was great. I’ve always known that music was my path, for sure.
ST: I think we’re all glad for that. I know the show is in Arlington next week, which is just a stone’s throw from Fort Worth. I was looking back and saw that you actually played within the first few months of Billy Bob’s Texas opening in 1981. It’s well known across the North Texas area and I see that you played there six times in total. What do you remember from playing at Billy Bob’s and what’s that experience like?
RS: Well, it was very meaningful to play there. We were able to get the music to a whole lot of people and especially when we had singles on the radio, it always kind of pushed the needle forward. A big hall like that, you get a lot of exposure and people that missed you the last time through, they’re gonna make sure to see you this time. Maybe people that saw you last time, they’re gonna bring some people with them. It’s that kind of thing and it multiplies. It was a very big shot in the arm for us to play at Billy Bob’s. It wasn’t like a rite of passage, because I mean, there was Merle [Haggard] and a lot of people played there, Willie [Nelson]. It’s been a great venue for many years and for a lot of people, especially a lot of up-and-comers like I was in the early ‘80s. I think it did good for me, for sure.
ST: If you ever come back, they finally took down some of those poles that were in the way. It’s a much better viewing experience nowadays.
RS: Those were some eyesores, for sure. People might get a picture of you, but you wouldn’t see the band or they’d get a picture of you thinking it was just you and they’d get the whole band. It was kind of crazy. [Laughs]
ST: What I enjoy about your music, not only because you dabble in various genres, but you’re not shy about collaborating with different artists. Whether it be Vince Gill, Bill Monroe, Bruce like we talked about earlier, even rock band Phish. What is it about the collaboration process in playing with other artists that may not even be in the exact same genre that you’re used to?
RS: Well, it always scratches you. I did a thing with Jack White and The Raconteurs, song called “Old Enough.” That got a lot of traction for me as an artist and an older cat, playing with these young guys. I don’t mind that at all. I used to be the youngest guy in the band, but now I’m by far the oldest guy. Gosh, I’ll be 70 in July. These guy that are in my band [Kentucky Thunder], they wasn’t even born when I come out with my first country hits back in 1980 and 1981.
ST: As far as your music goes, you’ve ranged from country and bluegrass, to gospel. I was curious, is there any distinction from the music you like listening to, to the music you enjoy playing? Like is bluegrass more fun to play, but you enjoy listening to gospel more?
RS: Well, it’s hard to find stuff on the radio that I’ll just sit and listen to as I’m driving sometimes. Most of the time if I’m driving and happen to go somewhere, I’ll put on either a CD. You know, my SUV still has a CD player if you can believe that. But anyway, I just love much more so how they sound as opposed to listen to XM radio or something like that. I mean, FM sounds awesome and I love that. I listen to not a lot of rock and roll, but I’ve got rock and roll people that I like to hear. Just for the way stuff is recorded and mixed, because I’m really into audio mixing.
ST: As someone with an extensive music background that you have, I was curious how you put together a set list for a show. At this point, do you know what people want to hear or don’t want to hear? Does it change between venues? What’s the science behind the set list?
RS: I love pacing. I think pacing a show live is good. I think if you do too many slow songs in a row, you kind of lose the crowd. We do a lot of instrumentals, because I’ve written a lot of instrumentals and me and the band love playing them together. It’s always great and I think the audience loves to see us play. We honor the fathers — Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers. I always call them the Mount Rushmore of bluegrass. We love doing that.
We love doing gospel and that’s a part of what we do. We do some of the country hits that we can do in a bluegrass fashion. I think people like that, especially going out to Texas, where my country music was really popular out there. I think people appreciate hearing those things again.
ST: Yes sir, definitely love the country hits in Texas. With these North Texas shows coming up in Arlington and Greenville, what can fans expect?
RS: It will just be another great Kentucky Thunder show. Like I said, we love playing and I think the audience really loves seeing us play together as a band. This is just an incredible, incredible band. Probably the best bluegrass band I’ve ever had. These guys, every one of them is hitting on all cylinders. They’re at the top of their game. It’s like having a great football team, I mean, in any situation you can just rely on them to catch the ball.
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder perform at the Arlington Music Hall on May 2 and at the Greenville Municipal Auditorium on May 3.
