Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

About This Event

Fifteen-time GRAMMY® Award winner Ricky Skaggs is one of the most influential figures in modern country and bluegrass music. A Kentucky native, Skaggs began playing mandolin as a child, performing with bluegrass legends Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs before joining Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys alongside Keith Whitley in 1971. His career later took him through groundbreaking bluegrass groups including the Country Gentlemen, J.D. Crowe & the New South, and Boone Creek before joining Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band and launching a celebrated solo career in country music. His 1981 debut, Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine, produced two No. 1 hits, and his years at Epic Records yielded 12 No. 1 singles and eight CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year. Skaggs helped lead the new-traditionalist movement of the 1980s by bringing bluegrass and traditional country influences into the contemporary Nashville sound. In 1997, he returned to his bluegrass roots with Bluegrass Rules! and has since built a remarkable legacy with his acclaimed band, Kentucky Thunder. His many honors include induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Musicians Hall of Fame, National Fiddler Hall of Fame, IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, and Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as the 2020 National Medal of Arts.