Composed

The BMI and ASCAP databases credit Ricky Skaggs with 30 published compositions or arrangements, including:

  • “Meetin’ House Branch”
  • “My Father’s Son”
  • “One Way Track”
  • “Son of Hobert”
  • “That’s It”

Early Influences

  • Hobert Skaggs (father)
  • Dorothy Skaggs (mother)
  • Church
  • Father’s record collection
  • Bill Monroe
  • Stanley Brothers / Pee Wee Lambert
  • Flatt and Scruggs

From the Archives

“I didn’t come to Nashville to sell records—I hoped I did—but it’s really the joy of the music that keeps my heart interested in it. I feel that now that I’m sixty-two years old, gray-headed, and I’m looking back at my life, this is the most fruitful time I feel like I’ve ever had. I’m judging fruit as people I’ve influenced, not accolades from man.”
Quoted by Brit Greenquist in “Ricky Skaggs: The Keeper of Bluegrass,” www.tedxnashville.com, posted November 24, 2017
“He carried the ancient sounds from God knows where. Ralph [Stanley] found it in the music of the mountains, in the hollows, in the people and in the churches. He was my hero and I was blessed to know him, love him and make music with him as a young teenager. The Scriptures tell us ‘God uses the simple things to confound the wise.’ He certainly used Ralph Stanley to bring the music of the mountains to the masses.”
Quoted in “Ricky Skaggs Reacts to the Death of His ‘Hero’ Ralph Stanley,” countryrebel.com, accessed August 18, 2018.
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