Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder closed the 30th year of Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman on Thursday with some sing-along gospel songs and a whole lot of pickin’ and grinnin’.
“To be able to bring bluegrass music back to the very stage where it was first heard is something I celebrate every year at the Ryman,” Skaggs told American Songwriter on Friday after the show. “With a totally sold-out crowd of like-minded people, it was really overwhelming.”
Skaggs and his boys lined up across the stage and tore through foot-stomping bluegrass favorites, including “Lost and I’ll Never Find The Way,” “How Mountain Girls Can Love,” “Appalachian Joy,” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” which Skaggs said was one the night’s highlights for him.
“That was Mike Rogers’ new arrangement of the old Bill Monroe classic, ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky,’ and it connected so well with the audience,” Skaggs said. “Another thing that was sweet was just hearing all the cheers for my bandmates in Kentucky Thunder as they played solos and sang all night long. It was very heartwarming for me. This band is beyond amazing.”
Skaggs also peppered the audience with a few of his country hits and laugh-out-loud stories throughout the night.
He laughed about Larry King insisting “Highway 40 Blues” was his best song and remembers how pleased Bill Monroe was when “Uncle Pen” earned significant country success.
Skaggs said that Monroe wrote the song about his uncle. Skaggs always loved the song and often played it in soundcheck. Then he started playing it at shows and people loved it. Skaggs recorded it for his “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown” album. He remembers beloved country radio personality Bob Kingsley saying on air that the song should be his next radio single.
“We just thought we’d try it,” Skaggs said on stage. “We’d had eight or nine of 10 (hits) in a row. He was excited about it, and we did put it out.”
The song topped the country music charts. Skaggs remembers playing the Grand Ole Opry one night, and Monroe came in his dressing room.
“He was huffing and puffing,” Skaggs recalls. Imitating Monroe’s voice, Skaggs quoted him: “Ricky, boy I got a check in the mail today, and boy it was a powerful check. It was a powerful check. It had a lot of zeros. You can record all my songs if you want to.”
Skaggs did record many of Monroe’s songs, but nothing else matched the success of “Uncle Pen.”
Skaggs used the Ryman stage to announce his return to the venue on Dec. 22 for his Christmas show – further highlighting country music’s Mother Church is his favorite place to play.
“I’ve played stages all over the world in my seven decades of making music,” Skaggs said. “That room for acoustic music is just right. When I had the audience singing a couple of ancient gospel songs acapella, it really took me back to the original sounds heard in that auditorium when it was called Union Gospel Tabernacle.”
The Ryman Auditorium hasn’t used that name since 1904, and the singer reiterated that he wasn’t around to hear those early voices fill the room. But he said his spirit was touched deeply as everyone sang together.
“I might have heard some of those saints of old joining in with us last night,” he said. “It brought tears to my eyes.”
Skaggs closed the show with “Rawhide.”
Tickets are available for Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Christmas now at www.ryman.com.
Photo Courtesy of Skaggs Family Records
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