Kentucky Traveler: My Life in Music

Editorial Reviews. From Booklist. *Starred Review* In the s, Skaggs was one hot ticket in Kentucky Traveler: My Life in Music by [Skaggs, Ricky].
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Kentucky Traveler: My Life in Music: Ricky Skaggs: leondumoulin.nl: Books

From child prodigy to the elder statesman for modern bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs has come a long way from the boy who ran the hills and hunted the hollers in Brushy Creek near Cordell in eastern Kentucky. Well written and filled with countless stories of the people both musicians and others who impacted Ricky's life, this great autobiography stays true to the voice of the man who calls himself the Kentucky traveler.

Never once does the book wallow in sentimentality but don't get me wrong - it does not lack in emotional candor or self-reflection, making this story of probably the greatest mandolin player who ever lived so approachable, authentic, likable and oh so real. I highly recommend this book to would-be musicians, bluegrass aficionados, and about else who loves a great story told with love, truth and more than as little bit of humor.

He's "picky ricky" about more than just music. This autobiography is a jewel which frequently had me in tears. I'm familiar with country and bluegrass and am a competent amateur musician. Skaggs was the great hope for country back in the dreadful late 70's, early 80's.

Kentucky Traveler: My Life In Music

His "highway 40 blues" might be my favorite alltime country song. But this bio makes you feel like you are right there. It is worth reading just to understand the history of bluegrass. He is obviously a real God-fearing Christian who wears his religion on his sleeve. If you are family oriented at all, his life story will really touch your heart.

Kentucky Traveler: My Life in Music

You feel like you're almost there the day he had to tell his dad that they wanted him and Keith whitley to play on stage and not his dad. This glorious book is for anyone that loves Eastern Kentucky, bluegrass, country, or wants insight into the music business and history. Ricky Skaggs was the biggest name in country during the 80's. He left bluegrass, but he also brought it with him and returned country and the Opry to its roots.

Then he walked away from it and returned to his real love--bluegrass and gospel.


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  • Book - Kentucky Traveler: My Life In Music?

    • Maybe I'm a little biased because we're the same age and I'm also a musician that was heavy into bluegrass and country--and eastern Kentucky. The bio of Tammy Wynette was also very emotional to read, but by comparison this one at least had a much happier ending. That is what I learned from this book. Jun 16, Hogan rated it really liked it. Very folksy aw shucks auto-bio, with fascinating stories about working with Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, and Emmylou Harris -- among other greats. This book is about his music, but also very much about his Christian faith -- lots of religious content.

    Players and gearheads will enjoy the detailed talk about particular guitars and mandolins and other instruments throughout. Apr 22, Joy rated it really liked it. Skaggs talks about his early life born in in rural Kentucky, his musical parents, and his development as a mandolin,violin,and guitar player. His earliest influence after his parents was Bill Monroe, famous bluegrass musician.

    The book was a good combination of his family, musical development, musical groups he was a part of, his great love for bluegrass, and his love for the Lord. The book qualified as a Christian autobiography. You just can't tell him much. Oct 07, Chuck rated it it was ok. Later on as a teenager, he joined Ralph Stanley's bluegrass band along with his friend and future country music star Keith Whitley; this led to stints with the Country Gentlemen and J. Crowe and the New South. Thereafter, following a brief period with his own influential group Boone Creek, Skaggs was hired by Emmylou Harris.

    Perhaps that experience whetted his appetite for a type of commercial country music that contained echoes of traditional bluegrass; in any case, after leaving Harris, Skaggs fronted his own country band that reeled in a number of Grammys. Eventually, however, with his commercial popularity on the wane and his personal life under strain, Skaggs decided to return to his roots as a bluegrass musician, and for the last fifteen years or so he and his celebrated band Kentucky Thunder have been at the forefront of contemporary bluegrass music.

    Clearly, Ricky Skaggs is an essential part of the history of bluegrass and country music, and Kentucky Traveler tells his story in detail, adding many interesting nuggets that could only come from an insider. Co-author Eddie Dean who also co-authored Ralph Stanley's excellent autobiography Man of Constant Sorrow does a workmanlike job here, usually capturing Skaggs' down-home modes of expression "ain't", "gonna", etc.

    Overall, there's a lot to like about Kentucky Traveler. Unfortunately, there's also a lot to dislike.

    Despite Skaggs' obvious desire to represent himself as a humble man, he seems to harbor an underlying arrogance that often seeps through the pages. For example, some of the later chapters begin with epigraphs from other writers, extolling Skaggs' musical talents -- an unnecessary form of self-promotion that I don't recall encountering in anyone else's autobiographical writing. Far more objectionable is Skaggs' irrepressible Scripture-quoting that in the worst cases goes on for pages at a time, and it's all the more irritating in light of the simplistic theological glosses that accompany it.

    Granted, Skaggs is a man of religious faith, but there's a big difference between trying to live a Christian life, and thrusting Biblical messages in the face of everyone you meet in defending the latter approach, Skaggs categorizes himself with the apostles Peter and John. Perhaps the height of Skaggs' evangelical temerity is displayed in his description of a conversation he had with Bill Monroe who at the time was virtually on his deathbed.

    Skaggs apparently wanted to satisfy himself that Monroe had "gotten right" with Jesus. One might suppose that the great Bill Monroe, whose legacy includes legendary recordings of bluegrass gospel music, wouldn't have needed that sort of intrusion. Why did Skaggs think otherwise? Well, earlier in the book, he suggested that Monroe and many other first-generation bluegrass musicians were hypocrites, since they "sang gospel music. But they didn't talk about the faith -- most of 'em weren't living it, and they didn't pretend to.

    For them, 'Hymn Time' was great music but just part of the show. Monroe was all right" after all. This episode might be taken to show that embracing a faith doesn't require one to advertise it, but any such interpretation seems to lie beyond Skaggs' grasp. There's a brief moment in the book when Skaggs seems to recognize that his evangelizing may have been over the top: I was too sure of myself in my own conviction. In addition to his preachiness, Skaggs' interpretation of "clean living" seems hypocritical in some instances, and downright silly in others.

    He didn't have much to lose by asking the editor of Country Music magazine to eliminate its "lewd" advertising, but he saw no problem in joining a national tour sponsored by a cigarette company "I tried to explain that I wasn't encouraging anybody to light up or take a chew or dip snuff". And to keep his song lyrics "clean and decent", he insisted on changing the "curse word" "bitch" to "rich" in his cover of one of Guy Clark's songs. On another occasion, he altered a line by Larry Cordle from "sure could use a good cold beer" to "Lord, I ain't been home in years".

    For the most part, the production quality of Kentucky Traveler is very good, enhanced by sixteen pages of photos printed on high-quality glossy paper. Unfortunately, no index is included -- a significant omission in view of the large number of useful entries that one might have contained. Still, its various disappointments notwithstanding, bluegrass and country music enthusiasts will find Ricky Skaggs' autobiography worthwhile.

    It contains plenty of substantive material, and even with its more pompous elements factored out, it convincingly establishes the high value of Skaggs' musical legacy. Mar 05, Jack R. Quite an interesting look into the life and career of this marvelously talented musician. Some reviewers cut Ricky down for including so much commentary on religion and the part it's played in his life and while it might seem a bit excessive at times, the bottom line is that I am actually proud to see Ricky unashamed to profess his faith and y for including his religion in his narrative.

    While it at times might seem excessive, I personally admire that he unashamedly talks about his beliefs and th Quite an interesting look into the life and career of this marvelously talented musician.


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      • While it at times might seem excessive, I personally admire that he unashamedly talks about his beliefs and their importance in his life; perhaps if we had more people involved with kindness, understanding and following God's word, there would be a whole lot less suffering and a lot more happiness in this world today, which seems to be going to hell in a hand basket.

      Dec 11, Elaine rated it it was amazing. Aug 14, Eric Pulsifer rated it really liked it. I mean, this is a good lively account about the origins and evolution of bluegrass, with lots of stories about the greats. But here's the thing. Skaggs touches extensively on his Christian world view.

      See a Problem?

      Understand, this is an autobiography and his faith is a big part of who he is, so it really belongs. Besides, good luck trying to separate bluegrass from its Gospel roots. Still, for the secular reader, this will get in the way. Even though I am a Christian, I found the music taking a back seat to his faith.

      But again, I get it.