Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Country Music Hall Of Fame
Clearly country-and-bluegrass greatRicky Skaggsdidn’t think it could get any better than havingGarth Brooks, whom he called “the biggest name in country music anywhere in the world,” induct him into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Strumming the Gibson F-5’s sturdy strings, Skaggs then traded verses with Brooks, also a Hall of Famer, on “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” the anthem of country music that traditionally closes the ceremony.
Just how extraordinary was the moment? Imagine the Smithsonian letting the original Star-Spangled Banner be run up a flagpole for the singing of the national anthem.
The mandolin’s appearance capped the three-hour invitation-only ceremony in the CMA Theater that also featured the posthumous inductions of country queen Dottie West, whose three-decades-long career included such hits as “Country Sunshine” and “A Lesson in Leavin’,” and fiddle virtuoso Johnny Gimble.
In Brook’s induction remarks, he credited Skaggs,Reba McEntireand George Strait — now all in the Hall — for singlehandedly saving the sanctity of country music in the early 1980s.
“Reba and George were holding it down, but the winds of change were blowing so hard,” Brooks recalled. “Skaggs came at the right time, and … those three held it down long enough untilRandy Travisshowed up and nailed it to the floor.”
For the Sunday event, Brooks flew in from South Bend, Indiana, where he’d performed the night before at a sold-out Notre Dame Stadium concert. He honored Skaggs in performance as well, joining singer-songwriter Larry Cordle and celebrated mandolinist Sierra Hull on Skaggs’ 1983 No. 1 hit “Highway 40 Blues,” which Cordle wrote.
Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Country Music Hall Of Fame
Chris Stapletonalso came to play, offering “Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn” in honor of Skaggs’ years in Emmylou Harris’ groundbreaking Hot Band. Skaggs and Harris, who was also in attendance, sang it as a duet on Harris’ bluegrass-infused 1980 albumRoses in the Snow.
After Brooks and museum CEO Kyle Young unveiled the plaque that will hang in the Hall of Fame rotunda, Skaggs offered his gratitude to “the fathers and mothers that are in this Hall [who] literally built bluegrass and country music from the ground up.”
It was the very same instrument Skaggs played on Sunday night — 58 years later — and he talked to it like a lifelong friend.
Ricky Skaggs.Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Country Music Hall Of Fame
“Most people, they credit Mr. Monroe for starting bluegrass,” Skaggs said, speaking directly to the mandolin, “but I can tell you, he couldn’t have done it without you.”
“It’s the sound,” he told the audience. “Did you all hear that sound? It causes your gut to feel warm. It’s amazing.”
source: people.com
