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Ricky Skaggs first found fame as a child prodigy of sorts, playing bluegrass music with Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, as a 6-year-old.

He later progressed into the more traditional country vein in the '80s and '90s, including 11 No. 1 country hits between 1981 and 1989. This hardly scratches the surface of Skaggs' career, as he has also received 13 Grammy Awards for various albums, collaborations and songs.

Lately, however, Skaggs has returned to his bluegrass roots, winning the International Bluegrass Music Association Award for Instrumental Group of the Year with his band, Kentucky Thunder, eight times between 1998 and 2006, only losing in 2001 to Nickel Creek.

The most recent effort from Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947, sees the band covering 12 songs originally recorded by Bill Monroe and the "Original Bluegrass Band" for Columbia Records in those years.

And not only has Skaggs returned to bluegrass, but he has done it on a phenomenal album, creating a love letter to Monroe's music, from a new musician honoring the talent of the past. These songs represent some of the major portions of bluegrass history; it's even somewhat an example of hero worship - Skaggs clearly has a tremendous amount of respect for Monroe, and it shows in this collection of songs.

Upon listening, it feels as if Skaggs himself wrote these tracks and that the members of Kentucky Thunder were responsible for writing the instrumentation. To someone unfamiliar with the background of the album, this would be the assumption - the musicians playing these songs sound that comfortable in their respective roles.

"Bluegrass Breakdown" is just that: a bluegrass "jam." The various pickers and strummers heard here put nearly any guitarist to shame with the speed and clean sound of their solos, all played at breakneck speed - as if each member who takes a turn to solo wishes to double the pace of his predecessor.

The album's leadoff track, "Goin' Back to Old Kentucky," features more of the lightning quick picking skills present on "Bluegrass Breakdown" but adds in the wrinkle of Skaggs singing an ode to Kentucky, "where the skies are always blue." His slightly nasal twang feels right at home over the pleasant backing music.

When there is a slight break in the vocals, Kentucky Thunder speeds up the picking yet again, elevating the pleasant background music to center stage and tearing through their respective solos.

But the album isn't all about breakneck speed; the band also slows things down (with success) on "Toy Heart." The song is full of harmony - both in instrumentation and in vocals - and the various instruments, which include banjo, fiddle and guitar, weave together to create a smooth background for the vocals to lie on. Skaggs and his backup vocalists gel perfectly here and create a great ballad.

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder own this collection of songs. While they certainly aren't the first group (and probably not even the 50th) to record them, the songs fit this group like a well-worn pair of shoes (or perhaps cowboy boots). It's a great collection, and it does more than simple justice to the music - Monroe himself would probably wholeheartedly approve of this album if he were still alive.

tripp@umd.edu

RATING: 4 STARS OUT OF 5

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