This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2011)

Katy Hill (born 15 April 1971) is an English television presenter, who worked on the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter for five years.

Biography[link]

Born in Poole, Dorset, her father, Chris Hill, was the local vicar and he now takes biblical tours to Israel - and will complete his 81st tour in October 2011. Hill has two siblings, an elder brother Simon and a younger sister Naomi. She gained 9 'O' levels and 4 'A' Levels at St. Edwards Church of England School in Romford, Essex and before she started presenting she worked in a record shop.^[1] Katy worked for free in Local radio station BBC Essex, to gain the experience required to become a presenter.

Career[link]

Hill began her media career with voluntary work in Essex at EastWard Hospital Television, and presented Katy's Capers on BBC Radio Essex, before transferring to Nickelodeon. While working for BBC channel controllers and the Head of Children's Television, as a BBC secretary she bombarded the Editor of Blue Peter with ideas and showreels, which resulted in an audition.

On 23 June 1995, Hill joined the CBBC TV programme Blue Peter^[2] and left on 19 June 2000. Her assignments included living in Mongolia with a family for a week, training with the England football squad for a World Cup special, joining the Cirque du Soleil and of course, making things from yoghurt pots and sticky backed plastic. She won the 2000 Children's BAFTA Award for Best Presenter, for her time on Blue Peter. She returned to Blue Peter for one episode on 30 March 2010 for the final programme to feature the dog Mabel.

As a result of her work on Blue Peter, Hill also presented Live & Kicking, Top of the Pops, Football Fever (she supports Newcastle United) and The Millennium Quiz Show with Michael Parkinson. She also presented the BBC's Holiday and went on to present the weekend breakfast show on 95.8 Capital FM. Katy has written for numerous magazines including a regular column for Cosmopolitan Hair & Beauty, Hello! and Closer. In both 2000 and 2001, she presented the final of Song for Europe, the competition to select the United Kingdom's entry for the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2004, she appeared on the Channel 4 reality TV show, The Games, in which she came overall second in the female contenders, winning 5 out of the 7 required disciplines. After Neil Fox quit as the long-running host of the networked Hit40UK (also in 2004), Katy - previously one of his stand-ins - was recruited, initially to co-host with Hirsty, each Sunday, from the studios of Capital Radio in London. Katy chose to leave after a year due to other commitments, and Hirsty eventually went on to host the programme alone. During her time presenting Hit40UK, Katy had her ears pierced for the very first time, in order to sport large hoop earrings at the producers request for TV appearances. She co-presented the concert held in Trafalgar Square where the host of the 2012 Olympics was announced, for which London was a candidate. When London was announced as the victor, Hill was seen cheering and shouting with joy with Olympian Kelly Holmes. She is the face of Arm & Hammer and has already done three campaigns for the company.^[3]

Katy currently resides in Oxfordshire, following a period of time in Los Angeles, USA.

In May 2010, Katy joined women's lifestyle website iVillage.co.uk as a weekly blogger. Her blog, ""Here Are Two We Made Earlier"", explores her day to day experiences of motherhood from a 'refreshingly honest' angle.^[4]

In late December 2010, Hill acted as relief co-presenter on ITV's breakfast channel Daybreak, where she continues to work as a presenter.

Personal life[link]

Hill married childhood sweetheart and record producer Andrew Frampton in 1999. The marriage lasted two years before they divorced. Hill then began dating fellow Live & Kicking TV presenter Trey Farley. Hill became engaged to Farley after he proposed to her whilst on holiday in Venice, and the couple married in Tuscany on 4 July 2004.^[5] The couple lived in Los Angeles,^[6] and have a daughter called Kaya Sky born on 17 July 2006 weighing 9 lb 6oz, at Kingston Hospital in Surrey.^[7] They also have a son, Akira Seven.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Katy Hill at the Internet Movie Database
• Katy Hill web page
• EastWard Hospital Television
• Katy Hill's iVillage Blog

Earl Scruggs
Scruggs in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Earl Eugene Scruggs
Born	(1924-01-06)January 6, 1924 Shelby, North Carolina, U.S.
Origin	Shelby, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	March 28, 2012(2012-03-28) (aged 88)[1] Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Bluegrass, country, gospel
Occupations	Bluegrass artist
Instruments	5-string banjo, guitar
Years active	1945–2012
Labels	MCA Nashville Records
Associated acts	Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, Earl Scruggs Revue
Website	earlscruggs.com
Notable instruments
A 1934 Gibson Granada previously owned by Don Reno and Snuffy Jenkins, and "Nellie", a 1935 Gibson RB-3 flathead[2][3]

Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style (now called "Scruggs style") that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Although other musicians had played in three-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe to fill the banjo slot in his group, the Blue Grass Boys.

Early life[link]

Scruggs was born near Shelby, Cleveland County, North Carolina, to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs, a farmer and bookkeeper, who played banjo and died when Scruggs was four years old. His older brothers, Junie and Horace, plus his two older sisters, Eula Mae and Ruby, all played banjo and guitar. Scruggs' mother played the organ.^[4] He grew up in Cleveland County, North Carolina.^[5]

Career[link]

Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945, and quickly popularized his syncopated, three-finger picking style. In 1948 Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt left Monroe's band and formed the Foggy Mountain Boys, also later known simply as Flatt and Scruggs. In 1969, they broke up, and he started a new band, the Earl Scruggs Revue, featuring several of his sons.

On September 24, 1962, singer Jerry Scoggins, Lester Flatt and Scruggs recorded "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies, which was released October 12, 1962. The theme song became an immediate country music hit and was played at the beginning and end of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs appeared in several episodes as family friends of the Clampetts in the following years. In their first appearance (season 1 episode 20), they portray themselves in the show and perform both the theme song and "Pearl Pearl Pearl".

On November 15, 1969, Scruggs played his Grammy-winning "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on an open-air stage in Washington, D.C., at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, becoming one of the very few bluegrass or country-western artists to give support to the anti-war movement.^[6] In an interview after his performance, Scruggs said:^[7]

I think the people in the South is just as concerned as the people that's walkin' the streets here today ... I'm sincere about bringing our boys back home. I'm disgusted and in sorrow about the boys we've lost over there. And if I could see a good reason to continue, I wouldn't be here today.

In January 1973, a tribute concert was held for Scruggs in Manhattan, Kansas. Among the artists playing were Joan Baez, David Bromberg, The Byrds, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Doc and Merle Watson. The concert was filmed and turned into the 1975 documentary film Banjoman.^[8]

Awards and honors[link]

Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in 1969 for Scruggs' instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". They were inducted together into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1989, Scruggs was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship. He was an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. In 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 1994, Scruggs teamed up with Randy Scruggs and Doc Watson to contribute the song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Earl Scruggs and Tim Cooney

In 2002 Scruggs won a second Grammy award for the 2001 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", which featured artists such as Steve Martin on 2nd banjo solo (Martin played the banjo tune on his 1970s stand-up comic acts), Vince Gill and Albert Lee on electric guitar solos, Paul Shaffer on piano, Leon Russell on organ, and Marty Stuart on mandolin. The album, Earl Scruggs and Friends, also featured artists such as John Fogerty, Elton John, Sting, Johnny Cash, Don Henley, Travis Tritt, and Billy Bob Thornton.^[9]

On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year, he and Flatt were ranked No. 24 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.

On September 13, 2006, Scruggs was honored at Turner Field in Atlanta as part of the pre-game show for an Atlanta Braves home game. Organizers set a world record for the most banjo players (239) playing one tune together (Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"). On February 10, 2008, Scruggs was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

Personal life[link]

Scruggs' wife and manager, Louise, died on February 2, 2006, aged 78, at Nashville's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.^[10]

Death and funeral[link]

Scruggs died from natural causes on the morning of March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital.^[11][12] His funeral was held on Sunday, April 1, 2012, at the Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee at 2pm and was open to the public. He was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in a private service.

Legacy[link]

At an 80th birthday party for Scruggs in 2004, country singer Porter Wagoner said, “Earl was to the five-string banjo what Babe Ruth was to baseball.” “He is the best there ever was”, Wagoner said, “and the best there ever will be.”^[13]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Guest singles[link]

Music videos[link]

DVDs[link]

• Earl Scruggs – His Family and Friends (2005)

  (Recorded 1969. Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Bill Monroe, Joan Baez et al.)

• Private Sessions (2005)
• The Bluegrass Legend (2006)

Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs

• The Three Pickers (2003)

Flatt and Scruggs

• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 1 (2007)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 2 (2007)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 3 (2007)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 4 (2007)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 5 (2008)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 6 (2008)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 7 (2009)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 8 (2009)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 9 (2010)
• The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 10 (2010)

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Rosenberg, Neil V. (1998). "Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 173–4.
• Willis, Barry R. "Biography of Earl Scruggs". Retrieved October 5, 2008.
• Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com
• at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• on MCA Nashville
• on Rounder Records
• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• Earl Scruggs at the Internet Movie Database
• Los Angeles Times obituary

v t e Bluegrass music Typical instruments Acoustic guitar · Banjo · Dobro · Fiddle · Mandolin · Upright bass Stylistic origins Blues · Country music · Folk music · Old-time music Sub- and fusion genres Traditional bluegrass · Progressive bluegrass · Bluegrass gospel · Czech bluegrass Notable festivals Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Festival · California Bluegrass Association Father's Day Bluegrass Festival · Delfest · Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival · High Sierra Music Festival · Kentucky Festival of the Bluegrass · Merlefest · San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival · South Carolina State Bluegrass Festival · River City Bluegrass Festival · Rockygrass · Telluride Bluegrass Festival · Wintergrass Other International Bluegrass Music Museum · International Bluegrass Music Association · International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame · Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America · Bluegrass Unlimited Category · Portal

Doc Watson
Doc Watson at Sugar Grove Music Festival in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Arthel Lane Watson
Also known as	Doc Watson
Born	(1923-03-03)March 3, 1923 Deep Gap, North Carolina
Died	May 29, 2012(2012-05-29) (aged 89) Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Genres	Blues, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica
Labels	Folkways, Vanguard, United Artists, Flying Fish, Sugar Hill

Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded. He performed with his son Merle for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985, in an accident on the family farm.^[1][2][3]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina. According to Watson on his three-CD biographical recording Legacy, he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.^[4]

An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. Despite this, he was taught by his parents to work hard and care for himself. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, The Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.^[5]

In a 1989 radio interview with host Terry Gross on the Fresh Air show of National Public Radio (NPR), Watson explains how he got his first guitar. His father told him that if he and his brother (David Watson) chopped down all the small, dead, chestnut trees along the edge of their field, he could sell the wood to the tannery and make money. The brothers did the work and Watson bought a $10 Stella guitar from Sears Roebuck while his brother bought a new suit.^[6] Later in that same interview, Watson explained that his first high quality guitar was a Martin Guitar D-18.^[7]

Watson's earliest influences were the roots of country, including the Carter Family and Jimmy Rodgers. The first song he learned to play on the guitar was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland", first recorded by the Carter Family in 1930. Watson stated in an interview with American Songwriter that, "Jimmy Rodgers was the first man that I started to claim as my favorite."^[8] Watson proved to be a natural musical talent and within months was performing on local street corners playing songs from the Delmore Brothers, Louvin Brothers, and Monroe Brothers alongside his brother Linny. By the time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player.^[9]

Career[link]

In 1953, Watson joined the Johnson City, Tennessee-based Jack Williams' country and western swing band on electric guitar. The band seldom had a fiddle player, but was often asked to play at square dances. Following the example of country guitarists Grady Martin and Hank Garland, Watson taught himself to play fiddle tunes on his Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred the technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound.^[1][10] During his time with Jack Williams, Doc also supported his family as a piano tuner.

In 1960, as the American folk music revival grew, Watson took the advice of folk musicologist Ralph Rinzler and began playing acoustic guitar and banjo exclusively.^[5] That move ignited Watson's career when he played on his first recording, Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's. Also of pivotal importance for his career was his February 11, 1961 appearance at P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village.^[11] He subsequently began to tour as a solo performer and appeared at universities and clubs like the Ash Grove in Los Angeles. Watson would eventually get his big break and rave reviews for his performance at the renowned Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island in 1963. Watson recorded his first solo album in 1964 and began performing with his son Merle the same year.

After the folk revival waned during the late 1960s, Watson's career was sustained by his performance of "Tennessee Stud" on the 1972 live album recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken. As popular as ever, Doc and Merle began playing as a trio, with T. Michael Coleman on bass guitar, in 1974. The trio toured the globe during the late seventies and early eighties, recorded nearly fifteen albums between 1973 and 1985, and brought Doc and Merle’s unique blend of acoustic music to millions of new fans. In 1985, Merle died in a tractor accident.^[10]

Doc Watson sculpture on the corner of King and Depot Streets in Boone, North Carolina. The plaque on the bench reads "Just one of the People".

Watson played guitar in both flatpicking and fingerpicking style, but is best known for his flatpick work. His guitar playing skills, combined with his authenticity as a mountain musician, made him a highly influential figure during the folk music revival. Watson pioneered a fast and flashy bluegrass, lead guitar style including fiddle tunes and crosspicking techniques which were adopted and extended by Clarence White, Tony Rice and many others. Watson was also an accomplished banjo player and sometimes accompanied himself on harmonica as well. Known also for his distinctive and rich baritone voice, Watson over the years developed a vast repertoire of mountain ballads, which he learned via the oral tradition of his home area in Deep Gap, North Carolina. His affable manner, humble nature and delightful wit endeared him to his fans nearly as much as his musical talent.

Watson played a Martin model D-18 guitar on his earliest recordings. In 1968, Watson began a relationship with Gallagher Guitars when he started playing their G-50 model. His first Gallagher, which Watson refers to as "Old Hoss", is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1974, Gallagher created a customized G-50 line to meet Watson's preferred specifications, which bears the Doc Watson name. In 1991, Gallagher customized a personal cutaway guitar for Watson that he played until his death and which he referred to as "Donald" in honor of Gallagher guitar's second generation proprietor and builder, Don Gallagher. ^[12] For the last few years, Doc had been playing a Dana Bourgeois dreadnought given to him by Ricky Skaggs for his 80th birthday.

In 1986, Watson received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award. Also in 1994, Watson teamed up with musicians Randy Scruggs and Earl Scruggs to contribute the classic song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Later life[link]

In 2000, Watson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts from U.S. president Bill Clinton.^[13] In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.^[14]

In his later life, Watson scaled back his touring schedule. Watson was generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners David Holt or Jack Lawrence. On one occasion, Watson was accompanied by Australian guitar player Tommy Emmanuel at a concert at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas. Watson also performed, accompanied by Holt and Richard, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco, California in 2009, as he had done in several previous years.

Watson hosted the annual MerleFest music festival held every April at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The festival features a vast array of acoustic style music focusing on the folk, bluegrass, blues and old-time music genres. It was named in honor of Merle Watson and is one of the most popular acoustic music festivals in the world, drawing over 70,000 music fans each year.^[15]

In 2010, Blooming Twig Books published "Blind But Now I See" by Dr. Kent Gustavson, the first comprehensive biography of the seminal flatpicking guitarist.

Personal life[link]

In 1947, Doc married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of popular fiddle player Gaither Carlton. Watson and Rosa Lee had two children — Eddy Merle (named after country music legends Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis) in 1949 and Nancy Ellen in 1951.^[5]

In late May 2012, Watson was listed in critical condition but was responsive at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after undergoing colon surgery.^[16] Watson fell at his home earlier in the week, after which he was sent to Watauga Medical Center in nearby Boone, NC. Watson was not seriously injured in the fall, but an underlying medical condition prompted the surgery which required him to be airlifted to Winston-Salem.^[17] Watson died on May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist at the age of 89.^[18]

Discography[link]

Awards & honors[link]

Grammy awards[link]

• 1973 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording (Including Traditional Blues): Doc Watson for Then And Now
• 1974 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording: Merle Watson & Doc Watson for Two Days In November
• 1979 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Doc Watson & Merle Watson for Big Sandy/Leather Britches
• 1986 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for Riding The Midnight Train
• 1990 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for On Praying Ground
• 2002 Best Traditional Folk Album: Doc Watson & David Holt for Legacy
• 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2006 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Bryan Sutton & Doc Watson for Whiskey Before Breakfast track from Not Too Far From The Tree by Bryan Sutton

References[link]

External links[link]

• Doc's Guitar : A site dedicated to the guitar and music of Doc Watson
• Podcast of Doc Watson and Jack Lawrence performing live at the 1996 Florida Folk Festival from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)
• Live 1977 recording of "The Cuckoo Bird" by Doc and Merle Watson from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)
• Live 1996 recording of "Shady Grove" by Doc and Jack Lawrence from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)
• MerleFest
  • MerleFest official website
  • "Doc's orders: No heavy metal at MerleFest" 2007 article in the Hook weekly
• National Public Radio
  • Guitarist Arthel 'Doc' Watson Interview on NPR's Fresh Air
  • Morning Edition's Bob Edwards interview Doc Watson from 1985
  • Morning Edition's Bob Edwards interview Doc Watson from 1989
• Prairie Home Companion
  • Doc Watson & Taj Mahal August 9, 1986 (db.etree.org)
  • October 23, 1999
  • February 14, 2004

Article on Doc Watson and other western NC guitar players [2]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2010)

Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Richard Lee Skaggs
Born	(1954-07-18) July 18, 1954 (age 57) Cordell, Kentucky
Genres	Country, bluegrass Gospel Music, Gospel
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, session musician, bandleader, producer, arranger
Instruments	singer, mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle
Years active	1960s-present
Labels	Sugar Hill, Epic, Rounder, DCC, Atlantic, Camden, Rebel, Hollywood, Legacy, Skaggs Family
Associated acts	Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, J. D. Crowe and New South, Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band, The Whites, Kentucky Thunder, Bruce Hornsby
Website	http://www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com/

Richard Lee "Ricky" Skaggs (born July 18, 1954) is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster and banjo.

Biography[link]

Early career[link]

Ricky Skaggs was born in Cordell, Kentucky. He started playing music at age 5 after he was given a mandolin by his father, Hobert. At age 6, he played mandolin and sang on stage with Bill Monroe. At age 7, he appeared on television's Martha White country music variety show, playing with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. He also wanted to audition for the Grand Ole Opry at that time, but was told he was too young.

In his mid-teens, Skaggs met a fellow teen prodigy, guitarist Keith Whitley, and the two started playing together with Whitley's banjoist brother Dwight on radio shows. By 1970, they had earned a spot opening for Ralph Stanley and Skaggs and Keith Whitley were thereafter invited to join Stanley's band, the Clinch Mountain Boys

Skaggs later joined The Country Gentlemen in Washington, DC, J. D. Crowe's New South. For a few years, Skaggs was a member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band. He wrote the arrangements for Harris's 1980 bluegrass-roots album, Roses in the Snow. In addition to arranging for Harris, Skaggs sang harmony and played mandolin and fiddle in the Hot Band.

Neotraditionalism and experimentation[link]

Into the 1990s and 2000s, Skaggs has embraced his bluegrass roots, as well as experimenting with new sounds. With his band, Kentucky Thunder, he is a perennial winner of Grammy Awards and International Bluegrass Music Association for best bluegrass album.

"I always want to try to promote the old music, as well as trying to grow, and be a pioneer too," Skaggs once said.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, he shared the stage with Vermont-based jam band, Phish.^{[citation needed]} On March 20, 2007, Skaggs released an album with rock musician Bruce Hornsby.

In 2008, Skaggs released an album he recorded with The Whites on his Skaggs Family Records label.

In 2008, Skaggs recorded a bluegrass version of "Old Enough" by the Raconteurs with Ashley Monroe and the Raconteurs. He played mandolin on the track as well as sharing vocals with Jack White, Brendan Benson, and Ashley Monroe.

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

Grammy Awards[link]

• 1983 Best Country Instrumental Performance: New South (J.D. Crowe, Jerry Douglas, Todd Phillips, Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs) for Fireball
• 1984 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Ricky Skaggs for Wheel Hoss
• 1986 Best Country Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist): Ricky Skaggs for Raisin' The Dickins
• 1991 Best Country Vocal Collaboration: Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner & Vince Gill for Restless
• 1999 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Bluegrass Rules!
• 1998 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals: Clint Black, Joe Diffie, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Pam Tillis, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt & Dwight Yoakam for Same Old Train
• 2000 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Ancient Tones
• 2000 Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Soldier Of The Cross
• 2003 Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for A Simple Life
• 2004 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Brand New Strings
• 2006 Best Bluegrass Album: Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for Instrumentals
• 2006 Best Musical Album For Children, "Songs From The Neighborhood, The Music Of Mr. Rogers"
• 2008 Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Ricky Skaggs and The Whites for Salt Of The Earth
• 2009 Best Bluegrass Album Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass 1946 & 47

CMA (Country Music Association) Awards[link]

• 1982 Male Vocalist of the Year: Ricky Skaggs
• 1982 Horizon Award: Ricky Skaggs
• 1983 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band
• 1984 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band
• 1985 Entertainer of the Year: Ricky Skaggs
• 1985 Instrumental Group of the Year: Ricky Skaggs Band
• 1987 Vocal Duo of the Year: Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White

IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards[link]

• 1998 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 1998 Album Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder for Bluegrass Rules!
• 1999 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 2000 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 2000 Instrumental Album Of The Year: David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Sam Bush, Frank Wakefield, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs & Buck White for Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza
• 2000 Recorded Event Of The Year: David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Frank Wakefield, Sam Bush, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs & Buck White for Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza
• 2002 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 2003 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 2004 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 2005 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 2006 Instrumental Group Of The Year: Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• 2008 Recorded Event of the Year: Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother; Featuring Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Marty Stuart, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stephenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddy Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger (artists); Charles Lilly & Bill Wolfenbarger (producers); Swift River Music

BluegrassJournal.com Readers Poll: We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Lewis Family & The Easter Brothers (artists); Jeff & Sheri Easter (producers); Daywind Records

Other Awards and Accomplishments[link]

• R&R Best New Artist
• Billboard magazine's Artist of the Year
• Musician Magazine- Voted One of the Top 100 Guitarists of the Century
• Artist of the Decade- Listeners' Poll Award BBC Radio 2
• CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music rank #37 in 2003.
• Judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards

References[link]

• Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
• 1997 Interview with Ricky Skaggs
• Himes, Geoffrey. (1998). "Ricky Skaggs". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 486–7.
• Ricky Skaggs, age 7, plays with Flatt & Scruggs on the Martha White Show
• Ricky Skaggs articles, interviews and CD reviews at Country Standard Time
• Ricky Skaggs Biography

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Skaggs Family Records
• Ricky Skaggs at the Internet Movie Database
• Ricky Skaggs at Allmusic

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt Wakefield (born June 26, 1934) is an innovative American mandolin player in the bluegrass music style. Wakefield is known for his collaborations with a number of important and well-known bands, including Red Allen, Don Reno, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and the Greenbriar Boys.^[2]

Biography[link]

Born into a musical family in Emory Gap, Tennessee, Wakefield by age eight already knew how to play harmonica, guitar and bass. In 1950, his family moved to Dayton, Ohio. At the age of 16 he had switched to the mandolin and began playing music with his brother Ralph on guitar. The duo called themselves The Wakefield Brothers and in 1951, made their first radio appearance playing gospel and old-time music on WHIO in Dayton.

In 1952 Wakefield began a long and to productive collaboration with the bluegrass singer and guitar player, Red Allen. For the next 3 years Wakefield toured with Red Allen and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys. Through the rest of the decade Wakefield also toured with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys as well as the Chain Mountain Boys, with whom he recorded his first 45 RPM—which included his now most famous bluegrass composition, "New Camptown Races". In 1958 Wakefield reunited with Red Allen and his band the Kentuckians. The popular Kentuckians cut many 45s in following years, had a weekly radio show, and even played at Carnegie Hall in 1963. Important CD recordings surviving from this period of Wakefield's career include Red Allen and Frank Wakefield: the Kitchen Tapes and Red Allen: the Folkway Years 1964-1983. In 1960, Wakefield moved to Washington, DC with Red Allen and there began giving private lessons. One of his students at this time was a young David Grisman.

In the mid 1960s Wakefield began playing mandolin with the very popular Greenbriar Boys as well as appearing with Ralph Stanley. Also in this period he began turning to new influences, composing classical mandolin sonatas and arranging classical pieces for traditional blugrass instruments. This innovative style offered him the opportunity to play with the New York Philharmonic, led by Leonard Bernstein in 1967 and an invitation to appear as a guest with the Boston Pops in 1968.

By the 1970s Wakefield launched a solo career. He released his first solo album in 1972 and his second in 1975 backed up by bluegrass heavyweights Don Reno and Chubby Wise. He toured with Jerry Garcia, and New Riders of the Purple Sage and opened for the Grateful Dead. By mid-decade Wakefield began working with his newly formed band, The Good Ol' Boys with whom he would enjoy a productive collaboration until the mid 1980s. Since 1989 he has toured with the Frank Wakefield Band. In 1999 he earned a Grammy Nomination for best bluegrass album of the year for his work on the album Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza on which he played with fellow mandolin greats Sam Bush, David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Jesse McReynolds, Bobby Osborne, Ricky Skaggs and Buck White.

Mandolin player David Grisman said of Wakefield's influence, "He split the bluegrass mandolin atom. Some of us, obviously, will never be the same again." Wakefield continues to record and tour nationally; he remains one of the most colorful, unique and exciting voices in American music.

See also[link]

• Frank Wakefield Tours 1997 to 2007
• Katy Hill
• Frank Wakefield Get Up John
• Moments in time by Kristen

References[link]

External links[link]