There are few musicians with as impressive a resume as Ricky Skaggs, touring this year with his excellent band Kentucky Thunder. He’s a member of the Country Music, Bluegrass, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. He’s won 15 Grammys. He has 11 No. 1 country singles, four No. 1 country albums, and seven No. 1 bluegrass albums to his name. But, as Skaggs told me in a recent interview, it’s his Christian faith he’s most proud of.
Listening to Skaggs for years, I knew he was a religious man. But seeing him live in early January, I was amazed at how central religious faith is to his act. “We don’t start our show with gospel, we don’t want to hoodwink people,” said Skaggs. But about halfway through the show guitarist Dennis Parker, a former alcoholic who spent time in jail, offered a riveting personal testimony of faith and redemption that left many in the audience in tears and elicited congratulatory applause.
Early in his career, Skaggs would sometimes hear complaints from audience members about his openness about his faith. “One guy wrote a letter complaining that he didn’t pay $100 to hear a sermon. So I sent him a check for $100,” Skaggs recounted. “We play great music with such quality and such finesse. These musicians are at the top of their game. I feel like God wants us to earn the right to share with the audience. It just is something we should do. They see that we’re just
