Bluegrass Royalty Ricky Skaggs Ascends New Peak With 'Honoring The Fathers of Bluegrass,' out March 25, 2008

Hendersonville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Skaggs Family Records) - Ricky Skaggs is bluegrass royalty, a 12-time Grammy winner (winning the Best Bluegrass Grammy an incredible 4 times in the last decade) and widely credited with the genre's revival in recent years. With 'Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and '47,' out March 25 on Skaggs Family Records, Skaggs shines the light on two of the most fertile years in bluegrass history. Drawing inspiration from historic recordings of Bill Monroe with the world's first 'bluegrass' band (Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise and Howard Watts), this album brings the bluegrass journey full circle.

In 1945 there was no genre of music called bluegrass, but just two years later the genre had been firmly established by Monroe and his band. With 'Honoring the Fathers' Skaggs hopes not only to celebrate the work of Monroe and his pioneering band, but educate younger fans on bluegrass' beginnings.

The album's genesis came when Skaggs discovered a stash of live recordings that document the 'Original Bluegrass Band' at its peak. 'We wanted to tell their stories through music, honoring their arrangements and their tempos, bringing 1946 to the present for the next generation of listeners,' says Skaggs. 'Every generation needs to be educated. If you don't tell the stories of the fathers (of the music), the next generation will forget. That's what this record is about.'

Comprised of 12 songs that Monroe and his band recorded in '46 and '47, the album marks a new pinnacle for Skaggs, a landmark in a career with no shortage of landmarks - from playing the Opry at 7 (with Flatt and Scruggs) to multi-platinum country superstardom in the '80's to an astonishing run of success since returning to bluegrass in 1997. Skaggs position is firm as one of the country's true musical treasures and icons. He could perhaps even be called a modern day country music Midas.

'Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass' tracklisting (not sequenced):
Why Did You Wander
When You're Lonely
Mighty Dark
Toy Heart
Bluegrass Breakdown
Remember the Cross
I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky
Mansions For Me
Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong
Little Cabin Home On The Hill
I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling
The Old Cross Roads