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Ricky Skaggs talks with Weekender about his newest album, his father and music, as he prepares to play the Birchmere this weekend Date published: 1/7/2010
By RYAN LITTLE FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR Whether it's country or bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs has always been an artist rich with tradition. He's taken that to a deeper level with his most recent solo album, "Songs My Dad Loved." Skaggs digs into Appalachian folk music and old country-gospel tunes, and executes them with masterful precision and grace. All the music was chosen based on what his father exposed him to early in life--and in a recent interview with Weekender, Skaggs explained. "There were some songs that stood out and I knew if I did this particular project that these had to go on. There were some instrumentals on there and a few things that my dad never got to hear. There was a tune called 'Picking in Caroline' that's a clawhammer banjo instrumental by itself--but I put things like that on there because I knew how much he loved that type of banjo-playing style." Beginning in his earliest years, Skaggs was playing mandolin at the encouragement of his father. Regarding his dad's powerful impact on his life, Skaggs said, "My dad spent the time with me, encouraged me, built me up, and poured into me He went beyond being a father. He wanted to feed the musician in me, not just the son in me, because he saw talent in me as a young child. "He wanted me to go beyond just being OK, and just being a player on the weekends at home. He wanted me to be someone who had enough talent to be an entertainer, to be someone who could actually make a living making music and have a career." The album is a solo record in the truest sense--there are no other musicians; Skaggs plays and sings every note. Skaggs acknowledged it was a real challenge: "That first guitar track is a pretty lonely place to be." However, he's also grateful for the opportunity to make this kind of record. "Thank God for recording techniques today--if we were 40 or 50 years behind, you could never have done anything like this," said Skaggs. Every track is meaningful to Skaggs. "The songs here on this record are really my earliest memories of music," he said. The musical heritage he works with is partly a product of where Skaggs grew up.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 1/7/2010
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