Authors: Ricky Skaggs
Recording for my own label gave me the freedom to make music that was in my heart and pursue whatever pet project I wanted to. In my later country days, I'd sometimes be second-guessing myself in the studio, wondering if I had a hit or not. I don't need to worry anymore if radio is going to play a record. Bluegrass radio does not dictate what's cool or what's not in the way that commercial country radio does.
Now, I'd long been wanting to do a gospel album, but my contracts just hadn't allowed for that kind of artistic experimentation. I knew that some fans had come to expect a certain thing from a Ricky Skaggs album, and it wasn't gospel. But every once in a while, Dad would say, “Son, you need to do ya a good gospel album, a
bluegrass
gospel album,” and I'd tell him, “I know, Dad, and I promise I will one of these days.”
So now I was free to follow my heart. I didn't have to sit around a conference table with people from the record-label telling me why bluegrass wouldn't sell to a certain demographic or why a gospel album expressing my Christian faith was bad for my career. I owned the record label, and now I could make good on that promise to my Dad. I aimed high when I made
Soldier of the Cross
. I knew it had to be a keeper. I thought of those classics on the shelf: Bill Monroe's first gospel LP,
I Saw the Light;
the Stanleys'
Sacred Songs from the Hills;
Jimmy Martin's Decca masterwork,
This World Is Not My Home
; the Louvin Brothers'
Satan Is Real
album, and Flatt & Scruggs's
Foggy Mountain Gospel
. These were all very important albums, to me and to many others.
But mostly, though, I kept one goal in my mind: I wanted to cut a gospel record that Hobert Skaggs woulda loved to hear on a Sunday morning!
There are plenty of gospel evergreens, but I wanted to showcase lesser-known songs, like the title song by Lorin Rowan. I'd seen the Rowan Brothers sing at a festival years before, and the words of that song really spoke to me. A soldier of the Cross lifts up Christ and defends the faith. No matter where he goes. I'm a Christian, and I want to walk the faith. It doesn't matter if I'm playing music in a casino or shopping for groceries in a Kroger's. The Christian life is always a presence. It's not something that you keep in the closet and put on for Sunday.
I sung a cappella on a hymn, “Lead Me to the Rock,” a song that my preaching uncles Roby and Addie Ferguson used to sing, and boy, did they sing it loud! I love singing that hymn, 'cause it gives me a lot of comfort. When the Sauls of this world are chasing me, I know I can always hide in the shadows of my Father's wings, where I'm safe and loved.
What a joy to sing that hymn. In fact, what a joy it was to make that whole album. I'm a “musicianary”âone who brings hope and truth to the lost and hurting through music. I wanted to show that Jesus was alive in my life, and the music was an expression of that truth. James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh unto me and I'll draw nigh unto you.” We're all as close to Christ as we want to be.
One song on the album is very special to me. It's called “Seven Hillsides,” and it was based on a true story about a pastor from eastern Kentucky who had to preach seven fallen soldiers' funerals in one day. He struggles with what to say to the loved ones about their loss, and how to show them the Lord's way. I've gotten a lot of letters from pastors thanking me for the song. They struggled and wrestled with the same issues, and it gave them strength.
With
Soldier of the Cross
we won our third bluegrass Grammy in a row. It wasn't the award itself that thrilled meâit was knowing that making this record had been the will of God.
I
t was a blessing that my mom had a chance to see my return to bluegrass. It set her mind at ease to have me playing the music she and Dad had introduced me to. And she even told me how tickled Dad woulda been that my gospel record got a Grammy!
In those days, Mom was living alone in same house on Brushy Creek, and she'd get lonely there, especially 'cause she didn't drive. She battled depression, same as a lot of folks who've lost their spouse, the partner they've spent their whole lives with.
I'd visit with her when I could, and we'd sing together like we used to. Sometimes Sharon and I brought the kids, and they loved to hear their mamaw sing old songs like “Heaven Will Surely Be Worth It All.” It really wasn't the same on Brushy Creek without Dad, though, 'cause he was the life of the party and the master of ceremonies. But life has to go on, and you have to try to fill that emptiness the best you can. One morning in 2001, Mom woke up early for a doctor's appointment. There was a lady staying at her place as a caretaker who was gonna drive her into town to the doctor's office. Mama told her she was gonna lie back down and rest while the caretaker finished getting ready, but Mama woke up in heaven!
She had a stroke. It was a merciful way to go. She didn't suffer or have to linger in a hospital. Thank you, Jesus!
My mom was the first person I ever sang with. She poured her sweet mountain voice into me, and she gave me the gift of harmony singing, which I learned at her feet when I could still barely walk. But the most precious gift she gave me was the gift of faith, pointing me to the Cross. Our love for Jesus always drew Mom and me close together, the same way that music did for me and Dad.
All my life, Mom was there when I needed her. Not having her anymore hurt so bad, but it made me feel glad to know that she had gone home. The next year, Sharon's mom had a heart attack and died on Father's Day. Patty White was a powerful Christian woman and another great example of the love of Jesus.
Now both the family matriarchs were gone. These women were so important as mothers and wives and sisters. Mothers are the soul of a family, and they model the faith in a way that nobody else can. I had wonderful grandmothers, I had a great mother and mother-in-law, and I'm married to a great mom. I'm convinced that there is no way that two men can do the work of one woman!
Too often, people like Patty White and Dorothy Skaggs don't get the recognition they really deserve in this life. But God knows their names, and they are both big in heaven. You know, it's better to be known in heaven than to have the praises of men here on the earth. And their prayers for us are felt every day.
In our family, we're blessed to have Sharon carrying on that matriarchal role. It's a big job, and I thank God every day for her. She is a true Proverbs 31 woman: “strength and dignity are her clothing.” She's raised our children to fear the Lord, and to love and honor Him.
Putting God first has made the difference for us. That's what's kept us in love and in tune with the Lord. We've had rocky times, like any couple, but our marriage has never been in jeopardy. I believe God allows us to go through the testing times to help us purify our hearts and make our commitment to each other stronger. We take care of our relationship as husband and wife, and we're happier now after thirty-two years than when we first got married.
We're lucky, too, both of us being musicians and having a shared love and passion. But our faith in Jesus is what helps us stay close when we catch ourselves drifting apart, and that is the intimacy that seals and protects our sacred bond. To us, God is in music, it's part of His nature. Music was created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16).
That goes for the whole family, too. There are always instruments around our house, and there's always some music coming from somewhere. It's a little quieter than it used to be, with Molly and Luke out on their own with bands and ministries they're involved with. But we get together whenever we can and just sit around and have fun making music as a family. Andrew and Mandy both love music, too. Andrew plays guitar and sings bluegrass up in Kentucky, where he lives, and Mandy is always checking out new bands coming through Nashville.
In recent years we've had an annual tradition that started from the living-room sing-alongs we've always had at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every holiday season, we go out on the road with Kentucky Thunder to perform concerts of carols and hymns and traditional favorites, a show we call Skaggs Family Christmas. There's Sharon and Molly and Luke, Cheryl White and her daughter Rachel, and, of course, ol' Mr. Buck, who performs “The Christmas Guest,” a recitation made famous by Grandpa Jones.
Like a lot of the best things in life, this wasn't planned, it just sort of happened. I was on a tour with Kentucky Thunder doing shows with the Chieftains. Sharon and the kids joined me in Baltimore for the show there. We had a few days off before the next date, in Atlanta, so we made it into a road-trip family vacation. My band was driving down from Nashville, but the bus caught fire, and they didn't know if they were gonna make the show.
I had an hour to fill on stage as the opening act, and I went into full-panic mode. Sharon said she could sing with me on a few songs, and then Molly piped up, “Daddy, I can help out, too! I can play some clawhammer banjo and sing harmony like we do at home.” That made three, and there was a musician named Jeff Taylor there helping us on accordion and penny whistle, and soon enough we had us a cool little homemade band. Sharon and I sang a few duets to warm up the audience. Then I called Molly on stage, and she did an old folk tune by Jean Ritchie that really wowed the crowd. Our spontaneous show turned into something really special. My booking agent Bobby Cudd was in the audience that night, and he got the idea for us to work up some Christmas songs and play as a family. The rest is history. We added a pianist and a percussionist, and now it has evolved into a festive traveling show that we look forward to every Christmas season. For the past ten years, the Lord has led us to share our tradition in little community churches and big symphony halls, even at the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., with President George W. Bush and Laura. We had a ball. Texas was well represented that night!
The Christmas tour of 2011 was very bittersweet. Our percussionist Tom Roady had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, and he didn't know if he'd be able to go on the road with us. He prayed about it and decided to take a holistic approach and do what he loved, playing music, instead of surgery or chemo treatments. He was in great spirits rehearsing with us, and he told me, “Ricky, I want to be on the road with my musical family, knowing that you all will love me and pray for me every day we're out here. That's all I need.”
On the night before our first show in South Carolina, Tom passed away on the tour bus. It was quite a shock, but we all agreed that the best way to honor Tom's life was to play the show just like he was there with us. So we set up his drum kit on stage as a tribute, and we somehow got through the performance. And you know, we could feel his presence, the same way Sharon can hear her mom Patty's voice singing with her on “White Christmas.” We loved Tom like family, and celebrating that love in song was the whole purpose of the show that night.
Luke and Molly both have worked so hard at their singing and playing, and their confidence has gotten stronger every year. Same with my niece Rachel, who's a wonderful singer, too. To see her and Molly and Luke take the stage as a trio and win over a crowd with their harmony singing makes me a real proud papa and uncle. To know what fine young men and women they've become makes it even more special.
Now I know the joy and pride my dad and mom must have felt as we traveled eastern Kentucky in the early years, presenting our little family music show at churches and radio stations. Being able to share music with my family is worth everything. The greatest success I've had in my life is spiritual success, just knowing my family is intact and my kids love God just as I do.
I
n the past dozen years, me and my band Kentucky Thunder have played in nearly every state and in some foreign countries, too, and we're only just getting started! We take our show just about anywhere they'll have us. My mom used to scold me for working the venues where there's drinking and carrying on, but it's part of the calling. I feel like I've been called on to do more than just put on a show. I go on stage and pay tribute to the forefathers of bluegrass, Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. I talk about my faith and how lucky I feel that God has let me do the thing I love most, and for so long. I get to play the songs I grew up with and keep them alive for a new generation.
So what if folks are having a few beers?
I think.
Maybe the music will touch them
.
We play at churches and high schools and community arts centers, and we also go to county fairs, nightclubs, and even casinos. Some Christians wouldn't be caught dead in a casino or a bar, but people there need to hear about the love of God just as much as people in a church.
But first, you have to get your foot in the door, and bluegrass music is a great door-opener.
In 2000, the Dixie Chicks invited us to open for a few shows on their first headlining tour. They were the hottest thing in country music, and they hired us to give their fans a dose of our bluegrass music. They gave us a stage in these huge stadiums to influence and educate the young kids about the music Natalie and Emily and Martie grew up playing. The girls really thought this would work for their crowd, and it sure did.
Their young audience loved the traditional sound of pure raw bluegrass. Part of the reason we connected with that crowd was that we played so loud. The fans responded to the sheer volume and the musicianship. They'd never heard anything like “Pig in a Pen” blasting through a PA system as big as a truck. It was thrash-metal bluegrass, and it was awesome.
I'll never forget one show on that tour. It was at the University of Tennessee basketball arena in Knoxville. The crowd was stoked. Knoxville is the top market in the world for bluegrass, as far as record sales and radio airplay. So a lot of these folks were already bluegrass fans. They were hollering out for “Rocky Top,” the Osborne Brothers hit and the Tennessee state song. As a rule, we don't ever play it, 'cause somewhere some bluegrass band probably already just did!