Sirius Satellite Radio has announced that 13-time Grammy award-winning bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs will take over its Sirius Bluegrass channel (65) for an entire week. Skaggs Place will premiere on March 23 at 3 pm ET. The launch of Skaggs Place coincides with the release of Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass - Tribute to 1946 and 1947. The album which will be in stores from March 25, honors Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, specifically that aggregation that was together during those ground-breaking years.

The channel will feature Skaggs’ own music, both old and new, as well as some of Ricky’s favorite bluegrass artists, and will include personal introductions from the artist himself. Ricky will also share his feelings about his love for bluegrass and talk about his favorite bluegrass acts.

The bluegrass star and 13-time Grammy award winner Ricky Skaggs was recognized as a child prodigy for his remarkable musical talent. Skaggs began performing bluegrass with his family at the age of 17 and went on to release 10 mainstream country hits before returning to the bluegrass music fold. Skaggs recently received the 2008 Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album Grammy award for his record Salt of the Earth.

Skaggs Place continues Sirius’ tradition of creating exclusive artist branded channels dedicated to iconic figures at the top of their game. Recent exclusive channels launched on Sirius include Rolling Stones Radio, Grateful Dead Channel, E Street Radio, JAY-Z Nation, and Garth Brooks Radio, among many others.

To learn more about Skaggs Place please visit Sirius Bluegrass online.

Spring Break usually means a quick sprint to southern beaches for college students eager to escape the grind of their studies. For serious-minded students at Berklee College of Music, spring break each year means a trip to Nashville to learn more about opportunities in Music City, meet alumni working in town, and attend sessions with top industry pros.

Tonight at the Tuesday Night Opry in Nashville, they will also be on hand when Ricky Skaggs accepts an honorary doctorate from Berklee. The Boston institution notes that…

Skaggs’ virtuosity, his rich musicality, and his commitment to the deep roots of American music make him a deserving recipient of a Berklee Honorary Doctorate.

Berklee awarded a similar honor to Earl Scruggs in March of 2005 and to Loretta Lynn in 2006. They have also been awarded to jazz and pop luminaries like Duke Ellington, Billy Joel, Sarah Vaughn, Dizzy Gillespie and Paul Simon.

The presentation will be a part of the Tuesday Night Opry radio broadcast, which can be heard on WSM AM 650 and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com. If you want to listen in, that segment is scheduled during the final half hour, from 9:30-10:00 p.m. (EDT).

GAC’s cameras will be on hand to record the ceremony, which they will air during this weekend’s edition of Opry Live.

Our friend Dave Hollender is in Nashville with the Berklee contingent, and he will try to get us some more details about the Opry event as well as the students’ various activities in town during their break.

There is yet even more great bluegrass and acoustic music available from your radio (and computer) today (2/29). Tonight’s - and tomorrow’s - Grand Ole Opry broadcasts feature a number of favorite performers.

The Friday Opry boasts performances from The Grascals, The Whites, Jesse McReynolds and The Del McCoury Band. It airs in the Nashville area (and much of the central US) on WSM-AM 650, and live online at wsmonline.com, from 7:00-11:00 p.m. (ET).

The Saturday Opry show features Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Mike Snider, Bobby Osborne and The Del McCoury Band, and runs from 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Skaggs’ segment will also be carried on GAC TV ’s Opry Live at 8:00 p.m.

Just before Christmas John reported advanced news regarding the forthcoming Ricky Skaggs CD Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass - Tribute to 1946 and 1947 on Skaggs Family Records.

Although the official release date isn’t until March 25th, audio samples from the 12-song album, which pays tribute to Bill Monroe and the ‘Original Bluegrass Band’ (Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Howard Watts) who created the genre in 1946 and 1947, are now available on the Skaggs Family web site. There you will also find a special pre-order deal from the record company, where orders placed before the release date will have their copy autographed by Ricky Skaggs.

The album features material drawn from early recordings made by Monroe’s Original Bluegrass Band. Full track listing is as follows ….

As well as the members of Kentucky Thunder (Jim Mills, Paul Brewster, Andy Leftwich, Cody Kilby, Mark Fain) two guests are featured - both former Blue Grass Boys - Earl Scruggs adds his banjo to the mix on Goin’ Back to Old Kentucky and Del McCoury provides vocals on The Old Crossroad.

The Gospel Music Association has announced the nominees for the 2008 Dove Awards, and their bluegrass categories are chock full of familiar names.

The awards will be announced at the 39th Annual Dove Awards on April 23 in Nashville, TN.

The Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year nominees are:

• He’s In Control from Austins Bridge by Austins Bridge; Justin Rivers, Mike Kofahl, John Ramsey (writers); Daywind Records
• I Will Find You Again from Lifetimes by Little Roy Lewis, Earl Scruggs, Lizzy Long; Wayne Haun, Joel Lindsey, Cindi Ballard (writers); Vine Records
• Love Will Be Enough from Salt of the Earth by Ricky Skaggs & The Whites; Janis Ian, Paul Overstreet (writers); Skaggs Family Records
• Salt of the Earth from Salt of the Earth by Ricky Skaggs & The Whites; Jim Rushing, Ronald Scaife (writers); Skaggs Family Records
• The Key To Heaven from Flyin’ High by The Lewis Family; Caleb Collins, Lyn Rowell (writers); Vine Records

In the Bluegrass Album of the Year category, we have:

• God’s Masterpiece - The Marksmen; Mark Wheeler (producer); Rural Rhythm Records
• Lifetimes - Little Roy Lewis, Earl Scruggs, Lizzy Long; Wayne Haun, Kevin Ward (producer); Vine Records
• Salt Of The Earth - Ricky Skaggs & The Whites; Ricky Skaggs & The Whites (producer); Skaggs Family Records
• Tell Someone - Kenny & Amanda Smith Band; Kenny & Amanda Smith Band (producer); Rebel Records
• Where No One Stands Alone - Paul Williams & The Victory Trio; Paul Williams (producer); Rebel Records

Congratulations and best of luck to them all!

When you watch televised awards shows, you always hear about “awards presented earlier in the day.” Well, that is when the niche music awards are presented, including ones of particular interest to readers of The Bluegrass Blog.

The 2008 Grammy Award for the Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album goes to Salt Of The Earth, from Ricky Skaggs & The Whites.

Congratulations, guys.

When I saw Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder perform in 2005, they dedicated a portion of their show to reminding the audience that the following year (2006) would mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of bluegrass music.

It is widely held that bluegrass was born when Bill Monroe performed with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs at The Grand Ole Opry in 1946, along with Chubby Wise and Howard Watts. Though Monroe had named his group The Bluegrass Boys before these men joined the band, it was this combination of musicians who gave the music we now know so well its defining parameters.

Skaggs made a point of referring to this event, and the music that these pioneers made, before the band played a number of songs from that era, in a style remarkably faithful to the original recordings. I’m not sure if this is still a staple of his live show, but I’m sure it will be next year when his next CD hits.

Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and ‘47’ is scheduled for release on March 25, 2008. The 12 tracks are envisioned as a tribute to the Original Bluegrass Band, comprised of songs they recorded over that seminal two year stretch. The list is one sure to stir the passions of any die-hard traditionalist.

Why Did You Wander		Mighty Dark To Travel
When You’re Lonely		Toy Heart
Remember the Cross		Bluegrass Breakdown
Mansions For Me		Little Cabin Home On The Hill
I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling		I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky
The Old Cross Roads		Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong

And Skaggs has the band to pull this off. Banjo picker Jim Mills is a serious student of Earl Scruggs’ music, and tenor singer Paul Brewster can soar as high as Monroe ever did. Skaggs is, of course, a gifted vocalist and a fine Monroe-style mandolinist himself. Fiddler Andy Leftwich, though a youngster, can surely emulate these “ancient tones,” and guitarist Cody Kilby and bass player Mark Fain are equally up to the task.

Ricky said that the idea for this CD came to him when he came across some live recordings of Monroe’s band in ‘46 and ‘47, and he felt that he had a chance to both honor the men who brought this music to life, and also tell their stories in the music.

“We wanted to tell their stories through music, honoring their arrangements and their tempos, bringing 1946 to the present for the next generation of listeners. Every generation needs to be educated. If you don’t tell the stories of the fathers (of the music), the next generation will forget. That’s what this record is about.”

Yep… 2008 is shaping up to be a fine year for recorded bluegrass music.

Here’s another CD that I’ve found the time to listen to. Ricky Skaggs recently released a CD with his wife Sharron and her family, The Whites. The CD is called Salt of the Earth, taking its name from the fourth track on the disc. The CD is released on the Skaggs Family label and distributed by Fontana. The CD was released in September of this year.

Salt of the Earth marks the first time that Ricky and The Whites have collaborated on an entire CD.

The Whites consist of sisters Sharron and Cheryl, along with their father Buck. Joining the Whites and Ricky on the CD are Mark Fain, Cody Kilby, and Andy Leftwich from Ricky’s band. Ricky’s daughter Molly, and a cast of Nashville session players accompany on various instruments.

The disc contains 13 tracks, most of them overtly gospel in nature. The first track is the only one that might not be considered an outright gospel song though it does speak of heaven and God’s love in the last verse.

Several old hymns, including Farther Along, Near The Cross, Blessed Assurance, and The Solid Rock, found their way onto this recording and they are perhaps some of my favorite tracks. These songs seem to be missing from many churches today, and it’s nice to have them here done in a straitforward manner, but with a bluegrass sensibility. Andy Leftwich’s tasteful fiddle really sweeten these old songs.

Lead vocals are shared more or less evenly between the four family members, with Ricky singing one or two more than each of the others. Tight family harmonies are heard throughout. The arrangements are all very appropriate and tastefull, even sparce at times, allowing the listener to connect with the lyrics and not get lost in fancy picking.

For fans of Skaggs, The Whites, and gospel music, this CD will be a welcome addition to the collection.

In a related note, we’ve learned that Skaggs and The Whites will be performing tomorrow, November 10, 2007 on A Prairie Home Companion. Their performance will center around songs from this CD with members of Kentucky Thunder providing accompaniment. Broadcast times vary depending on station so you’ll need to consult the station list for a broadcast in your area.

Alternately, you can tune in live netcast from 5-7PM CST.

Ricky Skaggs and his collaboration with Bruce Hornsby have been the topic of a number of recent pieces on The Bluegrass Blog.

We told you earlier this month about the two appearing on the CBS Early Show with Skaggs’ band, Kentucky Thunder, on July 13, and have two updates that relate to that appearance.

First of all, there is video up on the CBS News site where you can watch their live performance online. They talk to Early Show host Hannah Storm about their musical pairings, and then perform Hornsby’s Dreaded Spoon, a new song with a nice Celtic flair.

Also recently published is a blog post from Nick Bailey, a publicist working for Shore Fire Media who is handling promotion for the Skaggs/Hornsby CD. Nick was in Raleigh, NC for the TV appearance, and has photos and some details on what transpired posted on the Shore Fire blog.

Earlier this month, Ricky Skaggs was interviewed by The Daily Herald newspaper in central Utah. The topic of the piece by Alan Sculley was the recent recorded collaboration by Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby, and particularly a show they were to play in Salt Lake City on July 8.

The interview stirred up a bit of controversy among bluegrass fans, as a quote that was included struck some as insulting towards the IBMA, and perhaps towards bluegrass lovers more generally.

Skaggs, in a recent phone interview, said the “Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby” CD has been a hit in just about every sector except with the International Bluegrass Music Association.

“They’ve got a chart that they do in their magazine and we’re not even on it,” Skaggs said. “We’ve been No. 1 on the Billboard bluegrass charts for seven or eight weeks now. So I think it’s just jealousy on their part. They’re not playing it very much. But, hey, that’s all right. It just shows their ignorance.”

Comments quickly circulated on bluegrass discussion groups, some quite critical of Skaggs, with the forum on Mandolin Cafe being particularly active in response. The BGRASS-L email list also featured two active threads about the article (here and here).

When we first saw this interview, we were struck by the fact that the interviewer had confused IBMA with Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, and their monthly chart based on radio play. We contacted Skaggs Family Records to see if Ricky might want to clarify his remarks, and received the following response.

“There was definitely confusion regarding the BU chart and IBMA. He meant no ill will toward the IBMA organization. He is an IBMA member and active supporter of the organization. Basically, his comments stemmed from his frustration as an artist who was struggling to understand why a record that has spent 10 weeks or more on the Billboard chart (Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby) failed to make the cut on the BU chart.

Ricky is passionate about his music, he’s passionate about the music that Skaggs Family Records releases, and it’s very frustrating to him as an artist and as a label head when everyone seems to be embracing the music except for his core audience, which is the bluegrass community, for whom he never hesitates to show his support.

It would be difficult for any artist of his caliber not to take that personally.”

In truth, Skaggs’ remarks might be more accurately seen as directed towards bluegrass radio, or more specifically those who report for Bluegrass Unlimited’s chart. To what degree those who were offended by Ricky’s remarks are mollified, we’ll have to wait and see.

You can read the full Daily Herald article online.

Just a quick reminder about a live performance Brance told us about last month.

Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs will be appearing on this Friday’s (7/13) edition of the CBS Early Show, along with Ricky’s band, Kentucky Thunder. They will perform songs from their recent collaboration, Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, live from Raleigh, NC.

The show is part of the CBS Summer in the City concert series.

The Early Show airs from 7:00-9:00 a.m., with video posted online shortly after the show concludes each day.

Flip to the show while you’re getting ready Friday morning, or check out the video highlights later in the day.

This post comes from our semi-regular correspondent, Richard F. Thompson. He writes from England, where he is also a longstanding contributor to British Bluegrass News, a quarterly print publication where he also briefly served as editor.

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder are to play some dates in the UK at the end of July through to early August. This tour will be immediately preceded with a show in the Republic of Ireland.

The anchor date for this forthcoming tour is Skaggs’s appearance at the BBC Radio 2-sponsored Cambridge Folk Festival, in the Cherry Hinton Hall Grounds, Cambridge, on July 29.

The other dates are as follows …

While in Europe the twelve-times Grammy Award winner and eight-times IBMA Instrumental Group Of The Year Award winners will play a date in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, on July 27 at Music In The Park in Stromovka Park, Prague.

The venues vary from a 17th century Irish castle, 45 miles from Dublin, to a new 2,350 capacity purpose-built music venue in Greenwich, London, and the grounds of a late Tudor style hall, to a civic hall named after the 10th century founder of a Black Country city.

Ricky Skaggs is a familiar visitor to the UK, as he reminds interviewer Alan Cackett in the July edition of Maverick magazine:

“We came over with Reba McIntire about eight years ago, and that was fun. We have ploughed some pretty deep ground in the UK in the mid-1980s.” Those early tours opened up a new market and have really paid off for him. Skaggs adds, “I love playing in the UK, so much of the music originated in the Celtic regions. I feel like it is part of returning home with some of its music and we have tried to get over there as often as we can.”

“It is going to be a tight ten days of work, but it is going to be a really good tour. It should be fun to play for our friends and neighbours!”

The all-star line-up of Kentucky Thunder includes Andy Leftwich (fiddle), Cody Kilby (lead guitar), Mark Fain (bass), Darrin Vincent (baritone vocals, rhythm guitar), Paul Brewster (tenor vocals, rhythm guitar) and Jim Mills (banjo).

Skaggs’s latest albums are the eponymous collaboration with Bruce Hornsby (Sony/Legacy) and Instrumentals (Skaggs Family).

The Early Show on CBS is sponsoring a series of six concerts this summer with different artists. It’s all part of the Great American Vacation series. The six artists booked for the concert series are quite disparate and include such rock stars as Hootie & the Blowfish, and country outlaws Big & Rich. Add to that, bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs in collaboration with pianist Bruce Hornsby.

Skaggs and Hornsby take the stage for CBS on July 13th in Raleigh, NC. The pair will be backed by Skaggs’ band Kentucky Thunder, and will perform songs from their self-titled duet album which we’ve told you about previously.

The duo is on a west coast tour for the remainder of this month, but after June they only have the CBS show and one other for the remainder of the summer. They will go back out together later this fall for another tour, and I’m told they already have more dates booked together for 2008.

Skaggs’ schedule shows him and Kentucky Thunder with a full line up of bluegrass festivals and shows for the summer period between the two Hornsby tours. So if you need a Kentucky Thunder bluegrass fix you should be able to find it this summer.

Rebel Records has reissued two more bluegrass classics as download only releases, available only from eMusic and iTunes. Both were originally released on LP in the early-to-mid 1970s.

Folks these days know Ricky Skaggs as a successful band leader, vocalist and mandolinist, but when That’s It was released in 1975, Skaggs was a journeyman bluegrass pro working for JD Crowe and The Country Gentlemen. The 12 tracks are mostly instrumental, with favorites like Red Apple Rag, Florida Blues and Sweet Georgia Brown included along with a few Skaggs vocals.

Joining Ricky on this record were Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Tom Gray and Ed Ferris on bass, Marc Pruett on banjo, and Terry Baucom on fiddle and guitar.

Audio samples can be found in the iTunes Music Store.

Roy McMillan & the High Country Boys were known for hard driving, original North Carolina bluegrass in the 1970s, and High Country was their debut release on Rebel. The 12 tracks were all written by band members, primarily Roy McMillan himself.

You can also find audio samples for High Country in iTunes.

Also recently re-released in digital form by Rebel, available from eMusic and iTunes, are these other classics:

Speaking of Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby…

Yesterday’s edition of The New York Times carried a review of their concert this Tuesday night in the Big Apple.

Mr. Hornsby, who is fluent in piano idioms from gospel to modern jazz, aligned his solos with bluegrass timing — fast, twinkling, unsyncopated lines, sometimes playing parallel to Andy Leftwich’s fiddle parts — but also, at some points, refracted the harmonies through dissonance-laced jazz chords. Mr. Skaggs, who plays all sorts of stringed instruments, usually stuck to mandolin, playing solos that darted and twanged at sometimes dizzying speed or trading breaks with Mr. Leftwich, Cody Kilby on guitar and Jim Mills on banjo. They gently stretched the mountain-music idiom in songs like “Stubb,” which distantly hints at Eastern music, and “Gulf of Mexico Fishing Boat Blues,” with a chorus in odd meter, 5/4 time.

You can read the entire review online at the Times’ web site (free subscription required).

Thanks to The Mayor of Bluegrass for alerting us that Ricky Skaggs will be appearing on the Conan O’Brien show tonight at 11:30 PM CST.

Skaggs will be appearing with Bruce Hornsby and performing a tune from their duet CD.

If you’re inclined to stay up that late, be sure to tune in and hear Ricky pick one.

The newest music and interview feature on the AT&T blue room includes a live performance from Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder with Bruce Hornsby, filmed during a recent show at BB King’s club in New York City.

There are live video clips of The Dreaded Spoon, Mandolin Rain and The Way It Is, all taken from Bruce and Ricky’s joint CD, Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, plus several interview segments about how they came to record together and select material for the CD.

To see the Skaggs and Hornsby clips, click on the blue Live Performances tab in the upper left portion of the AT&T blue room main page, which will display the various artist segments currently available. When you click on the name, the videos will be displayed in a new pop up window.

Here’s a fun video clip which has made the rounds on the Internet a number of times. It features a seven year old Ricky Skaggs performing with Flatt & Scruggs on their television program. He sings Ruby and plays his mandolin on Earl Scruggs’ normally instrumental version of the song, Reuben.

This clip appears to be taken from a “bootleg” copy of the footage, as the time code appears throughout. Perhaps a subsequent edition of the Flatt & Scruggs DVD collections recently released by Shanachie will include this classic bit of bluegrass history.

You can watch the Skaggs clip on YouTube.

http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/flatt-scruggs-tv-shows-on-dvd

Yesterday’s edition of The Washington Post included a brief review of the new release from Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, which Brance mentioned earlier this year.

It features both Skaggs and Hornsby as vocalists and instrumentalists, with Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder band as the primary rhythm section. The music includes mostly new compositions from the pair, plus reworked versions of Hornsby hits - including a minor key rendition of Mandolin Rain. The CD is spirited and stylistically diverse, though the most talked-about track, a up tempo bluegrass cut of Rick James’ Super Freak, may not amuse after the first listen.

Audio samples are available in the iTunes Music Store.

Hat tip to Katy Daly at BluegrassCountry.org.

If you don’t have any other plans tonight, you may want to tune into the Grand Ole Opry on GAC TV. Ricky Skaggs will be on the televised portion of the show. Other bluegrass artists scheduled to perform at Del McCoury and Bobby Osborne.

The show airs at 8PM ET on GAC. You’ll need to check your local listings for cable channel info. GAC is also carried on DirecTV channel 326, and Dish Network channedl 167.