Skaggs, Kentucky Thunder return to Cactus Theater

Fifteen-time GRAMMY Award-winner Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder will take the stage at the Cactus Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 19.

Born in Cordell, Kentucky, Skaggs showed signs of future stardom at an early age, playing mandolin on stage with bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe at 6 and appearing on TV with Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs at age 7. He emerged as a professional bluegrass musician in 1971, when he and his friend Keith Whitley were invited to join the legendary Ralph Stanley’s band the Clinch Mountain Boys, according to information from Cactus Theater.

Skaggs then went on to record and perform with progressive bluegrass acts like the Country Gentlemen and J.D. Crowe & The New South, whose self-titled 1975 Rounder Records debut album was instantly recognized as a landmark bluegrass achievement. He then led Boone Creek, which also featured dobro ace and fellow New South alumnus Jerry Douglas. But Skaggs turned to the more mainstream country music genre in the late 1970s when he joined Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band, replacing Rodney Crowell, the Cactus site states.

He became a recording artist in his own right in 1981 when his Epic label debut album "Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine" topped the country charts and yielded a pair of No. 1 hits. Overall, his productive stay at Epic Records would result in a total of 12 No. 1 hits. Additionally, he garnered eight Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1985. Skaggs fit in with young “new-traditionalist” 1980s artists and helped rejuvenate the country music genre after the worn-out “Urban Cowboy” period. But, Skaggs put his own stamp on the country format by infusing his bluegrass and traditional country music roots into the contemporary Nashville sound.

Skaggs’ 1997 album "Bluegrass Rules!", released on his newly formed Skaggs Family Records label, marked a triumphant return to bluegrass, which he’s solidified ever since with a series of GRAMMY Award-winning albums, recorded with his bluegrass band, Kentucky Thunder (8-time winners of the IBMA Group of the Year). Skaggs’ label has also served as a home for similar bluegrass and roots music-oriented artists including The Whites.

In the past decade, he has been honored with inductions into the Gospel Music Association’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame. In 2018, a landmark year, Skaggs was also awarded membership into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and country music’s greatest honor, the Country Music Hall of Fame. Most recently, he was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 2020 for his contributions to the American music industry.

Tickets for this performance are $80 for the first six rows (A-F); $70 for the last six rows (G-M); $60 for standard balcony; and $140 for balcony box seats, which include concessions.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.cactustheater.com/

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ricky Skaggs, Kentucky Thunder return to Lubbock's Cactus Theater