'Iron & Wine Meets Ralph Stanley'

Nashville, TN (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) - 14-time Grammy winner Ricky Skaggs recently told Billboard that his new solo album 'Ricky Skaggs Solo (Songs My Dad Loved)' is 'kind of Iron & Wine meets Ralph Stanley.' The stark, raw arrangements certainly would not feel out of place on Sam Beam's earlier output, while the deep mountain music on the album looks back at an era when Stanley was producing classics like 'Little Maggie,' which is featured on the record. Skaggs said the albums sound came from thinking "if I could've gotten my dad into the studio, this is how I would've wanted him to sound.'

The album itself pays tribute to Skaggs' father Hobert, who began teaching him mandolin at the tender age of 3. According to Skaggs' mother, as she sang in their Eastern Kentucky house, a 3-year-old Ricky would join in with harmonies as he played with toys. When Hobert heard that Ricky was singing, he bought him a mandolin and taught him to play, fulfilling a promise to himself made years earlier.

Hobert lost his brother and musical partner Okel in WWII, and he vowed to himself that if he ever had a child that showed interest in music, he'd buy a mandolin and teach the child to play in order to honor Okel. After buying young Ricky his first mandolin and teaching him the G, C and D chords, Hobert had to go away for work for two weeks. When he returned he was shocked to find his son singing and changing chords in the right place.

The songs on the new album were some of the very tracks a young Skaggs learned back in those early years in Kentucky, songs that would lead him down his musical path. The album also highlights Skaggs' versatility, as he plays every instrument and sings every note on the album. It's a solo album in the truest sense of the word.

Check out Ricky's version of 'Little Maggie' here: https://www.shorefire.com/media/Little_Maggie_20090813_140837.mp3