Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Christmas
You know “Christmas Time’s A Coming” when 15-time GRAMMY winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member Ricky Skaggs and his ace backing band Kentucky Thunder play all your favorite Christmas songs in their refreshing acoustic style at the Brown County Music Center in Nashville, Ind., on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. The Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Christmas show includes the joyful bluegrass tune “Christmas Time’s A Coming” along with a beautiful rendition of “New Star Shining,” a hit song for Skaggs and James Taylor. Beloved classic songs “Silent Night,” “Deck the Halls,” and “Let it Snow” are fully represented, along with many other special Christmas melodies. Included in this seasonal show are sing-a-longs, rounding out this exclusive assortment of holiday jewels.
ABOUT RICKY SKAGGS
Fifteen-time GRAMMY® Award-winner Ricky Skaggs’ career is easily among the most significant in recent country music history. If Skaggs’ burgeoning trophy case full of awards wasn’t already enough evidence of that fact, consider that legendary guitarist Chet Atkins once credited Skaggs with “single-handedly saving country music.” His life’s path has taken him to various musical genres, from where it all began in bluegrass music, to striking out on new musical journeys, while still leaving his musical roots intact.
Skaggs turned to the more mainstream country music genre in the late ‘70s when he joined Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band, replacing Rodney Crowell. He became a recording artist in his own right in 1981 when his Epic label debut album Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine topped the country charts and yielded a pair of #1 hits. Overall, his productive stay at Epic Records would result in a total of 12 #1 hits. Additionally, he garnered eight Country Music Association Awards–including the coveted Entertainer of the Year trophy in 1985. Skaggs’ 1997 album Bluegrass Rules!, released on his newly-formed Skaggs Family Records label, marked a triumphant return to bluegrass—which he’s solidified ever since with a series of GRAMMY® Award winning albums, recorded with his amazing bluegrass band, Kentucky Thunder (8-time winners of the IBMA ‘Instrumental Group of the Year’). Skaggs’ label has also served as a home for similar bluegrass and roots music-oriented artists including The Whites.
In the past decade, he has been honored with inductions into the Gospel Music Association’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame. In 2018, a landmark year, Skaggs was also awarded membership into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and country music’s greatest honor, the Country Music Hall of Fame. Most recently, he was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 2020 for his contributions to the American music industry. Ricky struck his first chords on a mandolin over 60 years ago, and he continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music, always forging ahead with cross-cultural, genre-bending musical ideas and inspirations.
