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“The Prodigy.” The man who, according to mega-legend Chet Atkins, “Single handedly saved country music.” An established music legend in his own right, with thirteen number one singles, eight Country Music Association Awards along with twenty-three nominations, four platinum-selling records, seven Grammy Awards; whose name could match up to these stats? Ricky Skaggs, a true son of Kentucky, that’s who.

            Born deep in the heart of Bluegrass Country – both figuratively and literally – Skaggs was, as is often said of prodigies, put upon this earth to make music. Born into humble beginnings in the tiny northeastern Kentucky town of Cordell in 1954, Skaggs began playing music at a very early age, after his father gave him a mandolin at the age of five. Before his daddy had the time to teach Ricky how to play, the child had learned the instrument himself, and by the end of 1959, he had performed on stage during a Bill Monroe concert, playing "Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man?" At seven, Skaggs had even played on television with two of the most famous bluegrass musicians of that or any time, Flatt & Scruggs.

            By his teens Skaggs was well established as an accomplished singer and multi-instrumentalist. In 1971 he went pro, when, together with the late country singer Keith Whitley, he was invited to join in the band by none other than bluegrass luminary Ralph Stanley. Before he was twenty years old, Skaggs’ reputation as a fresh, creative and exciting performer was solidified through near-constant tours and live appearances and recordings with masters of the craft such as J.D. Crowe & the New South, including the influential progressive-bluegrass sounds of that band’s 1975 self-titled release, to which he lent his mastery of the mandolin, fiddle, violin, viola and vocals. And he was only twenty-one years old.

            The mid- and late-70s saw Skaggs with an outfit of his own, Boone Creek. The progressive sounds of bluegrass evolved into what became termed as “newgrass,” a sound that embodied many of the elements of traditional bluegrass with Western Swing, honky tonk and even jazz, thanks to Skaggs’ admiration of the legendary guitarist, Django Reinhardt. It was during this time that Skaggs teamed up with Emmylou Harris, joining her Hot Band in 1977.

            By the 1980s, Skaggs’ resume was already polished. Still in his 20s, Skaggs was charting his own course, and, with musicians like George Straight, brought the rootsy, traditional sounds of country music back from the abyss of the “Urban Cowboy” sensation of the time. In the span of only a year – 1982 to ’83 – Skaggs became a solo star. He scored five straight number one singles – “I Don’t Care,” “Heartbroke,” “Crying My Heart Out Over You,” “I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could” and “Highway 40 Blues.” It was during this time that he ushered into an exclusive club, becoming the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry.

            The 90s saw the emergence of slick, commercial country music; as the brand of country Skaggs had become known for began to diminish in radio play, he soldiered on. Numerous concerts and appearances, new records – including eight consecutive Grammy-nominated albums from his own label, Skaggs Family Records – and a return to his roots – bluegrass music – marked the rest the 90s and the beginning of the 21^st Century.

            This year marks Skaggs’ 38^th year of playing music professionally. He has grown from a child prodigy to a megastar to a sort of elder statesman of the roots, Americana, Country and Bluegrass music genre. With a full schedule of events throughout the year, as a solo artist and with his outstanding band, Kentucky Thunder, Skaggs is responsible for maintaining the old ways while remaining visible and appealing to a new generation of fans and musicians. And that’s what brings us here together, to anticipate the show Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder will perform at RiverPark Center on October 10.

            The gig is part of a much larger, and wholly Kentucky-born, event: The Alltech Fortnight Festival. Throughout late September and mid-October, and at venues across the Bluegrass State, the Festival offers acts as varied as Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert in Lexington to Mary Chapin Carpenter in Midway, Kentucky to the Decembrists in L’Ton to our subject at hand, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder in Ashland on October 8 and, of course, here on the 10^th.

            Alltech’s Fortnight Festival is designed to involve the entire state in the excitement of music and the annual Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington next year. Horses and bluegrass music – what’s more Kentucky that that?